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Show . THE READER'S COURTROOM , Rolling Car Gathers Damages By Will Bernard, LL.B ' Is It Your Fault If Your Parked Car Rolls Down a Hill? A woman drove to a beauty parlor par-lor and parked her car in front of the shop. As it happened, the street had a sharp slope. The woman had no sooner stepped inside the shop than her car began to roll It ca- A woman paid a high price for an Oriental rug, after the dealer assured as-sured her that it was a valuable antique. It wasn't long before the woman realized that the rug was neither antique nor valuable in other words, that she had been "stung." Nevertheless, she continued con-tinued to use the rug for two years. At last she decided to take legal action against the dealer, and she filed suit to get her money back. But the court ruled that she was too late. The judge said that, by waiting she couldn't complain. May One State "Dump" Its Criminals into Other States? A man was tried and convicted on a charge of violating the state liquor laws. The judge imposed a $500 fine and "exiled" him from the state for five years. Promptly the man appealed the case to the supreme court, claiming that the reened over the curb and finally came to rest halfway through a cafe window! When the cafe owner sued for damages, the woman solemnly sol-emnly swore that she had set the brakes tightly and left the car in gear. But the court held her responsible re-sponsible anyhow. The judge commented com-mented drily that the car's actions spoke ' louder than the woman's words I A druggist received a shipment of perfume, but refused to pay for the merchandise. When the dealer sued for his money, the druggist insisted that the perfume was delivered de-livered in unsalable condition. The dealer thereupon told of a telephone tele-phone conversation in which the druggist bad said that "everything came in OK." The latter objected to this testimony, saying that telephone tele-phone conversations are "too unre-liable" unre-liable" as legal evidence. However, the court disagreed and accepted the dealer's story. banishment order was unconstitutional. unconstitu-tional. And the Supreme Court agreed. The judges said it would be poor policy "to let one state dump its criminals tnto other states." Such a practice, added the court, "might well provoke retaliation by states that are on the receiving end!" |