Posted on 02/05/2005 12:26:24 PM PST by beyond the sea
DURANGO, Colo. (Reuters) - A Colorado judge ordered two teen-age girls to pay about $900 for the distress a neighbor said they caused by giving her home-made cookies adorned with paper hearts.
The pair were ordered to pay $871.70 plus $39 in court costs after neighbor Wanita Renea Young, 49, filed a lawsuit complaining that the unsolicited cookies, left at her house after the girls knocked on her door, had triggered an anxiety attack that sent her to the hospital the next day.
Taylor Ostergaard, then 17, and Lindsey Jo Zellitte, 18, paid the judgment on Thursday after a small claims court ruling by La Plata County Court Judge Doug Walker, a court clerk said on Friday.
The girls baked cookies as a surprise for several of their rural Colorado neighbors on July 31 and dropped off small batches on their porches, accompanied by red or pink paper hearts and the message: "Have a great night."
The Denver Post newspaper reported on Friday that the girls had decided to stay home and bake the cookies rather than go to a dance where there might be cursing and drinking.
It reported that six neighbors wrote letters entered as evidence in the case thanking the girls for the cookies.
But Young said she was frightened because the two had knocked on her door at about 10:30 p.m. and run off after leaving the cookies.
She went to a hospital emergency room the next day, fearing that she had suffered a heart attack, court records said.
The judge awarded Young her medical costs, but did not award punitive damages. He said he did not think the girls had acted maliciously but that 10:30 was fairly late at night for them to be out.
The article should have stopped at, "He said he did not think"!
Damn girls and their cookies. It's about time somebody put them in their place.
This whole little fiasco is rather silly but those girls really should've signed the cards. I can see why a woman might be upset by the anonymous gift.
I find it interesting that the 'victim' in this case waited until the next day to go to the hospital, thinking she had had a heart attack.....
seems kinda pathetic - maybe she should disconnect her doorbell. Chances are none of the neighbors will be checking on her in the future.
However, I have to say, a doorbell ring at 10:30 pm would get my heart started...but..I have a phone, and guns,,so,,,I could always choose not to answer it and...well,,this is a bit much
These girls were fined for this? This country has lost its collective mind!
When I saw the headline I thought the darlings had added a little maryjane to the cookies!
;-)
Once again, proof that no good deed goes unpunished.
A bit late I would agree, but Pullleeeaze. The women is obviously rowing with one oar in the first place if a knock on the door at 10:30 at night sends her into a neurotic panic. Think this judge skipped his Thorazine as well. If this is a glowing example of the need for reigning in the Judiciary, I don't know what is
No good deed goes unpunished.
I hate the posting police, but this is like the 10th time this has been posted.
Well, not really a "fine," per se. A civil judgment for medical costs to be paid to the psychotic plaintiff.
"This country has lost its collective mind!"
BINGO!
Cookie monsters strike again!!!!
Oops. You beat me to it.
Next time my girls want to make some really intimidating, scary cookies, I will now know to tell them to just go curse and drink instead.
Man, what a crazy world.
I just want to add...
...Oh brother
She didn't call the cops either. Bet her son is an attorney or something along that line.....and they know the judge.
I wish I had some contact info for the families of the girls. I think I could break free a couple hundred dollars to help their good deed be punished a bit less.
I'll bet Justice Resnick (Ohio Supreme Court resident Democrat, stopped for DWI, refused to take a breathalyzer test) doesn't receive a fine of $900.
Oy, I just can't get off this story. Let's compare two threads posted on the same day: "Teens fined for giving cookies to neighbor" and "3 Guantanamo Detainees Ordered Released"
Does anyone else think something is seriously wrong here?
I thought Colorado was a normally-sane place. I'd expect something like this from New Jersey or California, but Colorado?
I wouldn't be willing to bet the judge and the woman are paddling with one oar between 'em.
If there's any move to pass the hat for an attorney for the girls to appeal this bizarre ruling, I'll throw in my $20!
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