Katrina Rescuer is sued by Boat Owner

But the question here is not whether Washington should have commandeered the boats, but whether (after all was said and done) the boat owners might have deserved compensation for any boat that was lost.

Considering the millions that we now know were wasted on cash cards for booze and strippers, luxury hotel rooms, empty trailers, etc., couldn't $12,000 be found to compensate this owner for use of his boat in rescue operations?

In questions of damage to property, the default rule is that the owner bears the loss. This is why you buy insurance policies covering damage to or loss of your property. To recover damages from a third party, the owner must establish that the third party is legally liable for the loss.

If his boat had simply sunk or rendered a total loss due to water damage, there would be no question that Lyons would bear the loss. I don't see an explanation of why his insurance policy didn't cover $12,000 of the replacement value, but perhaps he was underinsured.

To recover damages from a third party, the owner must establish that the third party is legally liable for the loss.

Hence the lawsuit against the guy who took it.

If his boat had simply sunk or rendered a total loss due to water damage, there would be no question that Lyons would bear the loss.

Yes. But it didn't.

You all can have the last word; I'm done flogging this horse.

mark is in fact an attorney..a damn good one too. he was my attorney for 3 years in a case that was emotionally devastating and as for his "sole" well he is a great person who has soul, a heart, intergrity, education and character.
mark is a hero and if none of you see that, your blind. i lived in pass christian, mississippi and i would have loved for someone to come by with a stolen boat to save my ass.

Guess I am blind. I don't know if this is the "Mark Morice" of question but the article below on a "Mark Morice" has a problem with taking property of others.

Judge acquits former student president in prosecution for theft of newspapers

01/25/1994 LOUISIANA --

A judge in mid-January acquitted a former student government president accused of criminal mischief for asking fraternity brothers to get rid of an edition of the Southeastern Louisiana University school newspaper, the Associated Press reported. "As attorneys stated, this is a 'college prank.' It should have been addressed by normal school disciplinary proceedings," state District Judge James Kuhn wrote. The judge found the student, Mark Morice, not guilty of criminal mischief, noting that one of the students who removed the copies of the Lion's Roar said that Morice withdrew his request to take or destroy the paper, the AP reported. Judge Kuhn held that the issue of intent was not proven beyond a reasonable doubt in the bench trial in Amite in early January. Campus police charged Morice in March with a felony theft count, the AP reported. Police said Morice, a former student member of the Board of Trustees for State Colleges and Universities, had friends take 2,000 to 3,000 copies of an issue of the paper that had an unfavorable story about student government. A Tangipahoa Parish grand jury indicted Morice on the misdemeanor criminal mischief count in June.

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