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Show . THE READERS COURTROOM ! . Bottle From Balcony Brings Suit I By Will Bernard, LL.B If a Moviegoer Is Hit By A Bottle From the Balcony, May He Collect Damages? One hot summer day, a theater owner decided it would be a clever stunt to sell pop to the customers. That evening, a high-school boy bought a bottle of root beer and sat down in the first row of the balcony. bal-cony. At an exciting moment in the picture, the boy unconsciously let the bottle slip out of his fingers A retired opera singer decided to do some teaching in her home. Soon she had lessons going from dawn 'till dark and even took over the coaching of an entire choral group. Unfortunately, her neighbors neigh-bors did not take kindly to this artistic endeavor. After fretting awhile, they went to court for a stop-order claiming that the singer's sing-er's property was restricted to "residential purposes only." The woman argued that she was using her house "mainly as a residence," but she was defeated. Is Bullfighting Legal If the Matadors Don't Use Swords? A promoter had a bright idea one day. Why not put on a "humane" bullfight? Why not arm the matadors mata-dors with wooden canes, instead of swords, so the bulls wouldn't get hurt? He rented a stadium, imported im-ported several bulls, and set a date for the big show. Promptly local - V DROP DEAD and it dropped squarely on top of a man sitting downstairs! The blow raised quite a lump on the man's head, and he later filed a damage suit against the theater owner. After considerable oratory on both sides, the court granted the man's claim. The judge figured that, if the owner wanted to sell pop to customers in the balcony, he should have sold it in paper cupsl A girl was driving along the highway when a truck suddenly backed into the road. She swerved sharply-and crashed into a tree. Injured, the girl filed a damage action against the trucking firm. However, when she took the witness wit-ness stand she admitted that she . had been driving without a licensp The judge said that both the girl and the truck driver had violated the law, but he decided the case in favor of the girl anyhow. His Honor pointed out that the truck driver had caused the accident. officials went to court for a stop-order. stop-order. The promoter argued that he was taking the cruelty- out of bullfighting bull-fighting but the court was not convinced con-vinced and banned the show as a "public nuisance." The judge pointed out that the lack of swords made things safer for the bulls but riskier for the matadors! "The state is much more interested in the safety of its citizens" quoth His Honor "than in the safety of the bulls." |