Posted on 02/25/2003 7:16:34 AM PST by Cagey
The family of a convicted burglar who was electrocuted in 1997 when he tried to break in to a bar in Aurora after-hours and triggered a homemade booby trap has been awarded a $75,000 jury verdict to be paid by the owners of the bar and the property.
Larry Harris was wrong to try to break in to George O's Place, but the bar and property owners share responsibility for his death, the Kane County jury reasoned in ordering the wrongful-death payout after a two-week trial.
Frustrated after three burglaries at his tavern in a month, Jessie Ingram installed the homemade security system in late July 1997. He jury-rigged the inside of the bar's windows so anyone breaking in would get a strong shock, then posted several warning signs outside, including one outside the window Harris broke in through.
Drunk and high on cocaine, Harris, 37, either didn't see or ignored the warnings. He forced open a rear window and crawled in, triggering the homemade, electrified booby trap just five days after it was installed.
In a verdict returned Friday, jurors placed 50 percent of the blame for the death on Harris, but assigned the bar's owners 40 percent and placed 10 percent on the property's owner.
No criminal charges were filed.
Jurors weren't allowed to be told that Harris was drunk and on cocaine, nor that he had served time in prison for two burglary convictions.
The verdict sends a message that property owners can't use lethal security systems to defend their homes and businesses, said John Winters, the Chicago lawyer who represented Harris' mother and brother in the civil case.
"You can't set these type of traps because property isn't worth a human life," Winters said, adding that the booby traps might just as easily have been tripped by firefighters or police officers answering an emergency call at the bar.
Ingram was a defendant in the lawsuit but died last year before the case went to trial against the remaining defendants, including his wife, Barbara Ingram.
Barbara Ingram's lawyer said the award left the Aurora woman "devastated."
"She's the victim, and she gets victimized again," said attorney Fred Morelli, who also represented the property owner, Alma Moody of Virginia.
Morelli said the jury ended up giving Harris' family "more than he would have earned in his entire life" and promised to appeal the verdict.
Winters contends there was little evidence linking Harris to the earlier break-ins and said it wasn't clear why Harris was entering the bar through the window around 2 a.m.
"We're never going to know Larry's intent, but we know Jessie's intent," Winters said, noting that, after installing and testing the security system, Ingram then boosted its power to 220 volts from 110 volts. "There was a clear intent to cause harm."
Harris' brother, William, couldn't be reached Monday for comment. In an earlier interview, he said, "I know my brother wasn't an angel, but I don't feel like the way he died was justified."
Probably just looking to borrow a flashlight so he could help an elderly woman across the street.
And, firefighters don't look for alarm signs when answering a call.
Um... If they have any sense, they do.
Are you saying that someone 'pulls the meter'?
THAT IS the *only* way to be safe ...
And when pulling up to the scene of a fire, firefighters don't walk around the building in the dark with flashlights reading signs. The scene is assesed and if an entry is advisable, firefighters will enter the building. Who knows what these warning signs looked like? They could have been written on a cocktail napkin.
Wheels are wobblin' real good, now.
...they're just about off completely, kid.
Just checked and you're right. Mainly what got Pappy riled was TV shows and movies where firefighters dashed from room to room making meaningful eye contact with one another.
ECM: 'pulls the meter'
SOP with both departments.
Booby traps are different.
I don't dispute the traps being illegal as our various government agencies have passed many laws designed at protecting the criminal and the victim can just suck wind.
The laws vary from state to state as to what type of force, how much force, what direction the piece of human debris was headed when the victim used force etc. etc.
Governments tend to be more trouble then they are worth. They tell us they only LEOs may use force but they know fully well that LEOs are a reactive solution at best and only in rare occasions can LEOs be pro-active in preventing crime. Then the same pieces of communist s#$% tell us we cannot protect ourselves.
Time has long passed when we should have used our 2nd Amendment rights to bring our government under control and now I believe it is too late. We have lost the protection of our constitution and the government is free to impose any unconstitutional law it can sneak past the less than supreme (political) court.
No, stealing is "flat-out wrong." My life is a stretch of time from point A to point B. I willingly exchange a portion of that time in labor to create goods. Anyone trying to lay claim to the goods I have created is trying to lay claim to a portion of my labor, indeed a portion of my life. He can go straight to hell...
If he wants me to respect his rights to life, liberty, and property he'd best start by respecting mine. Once he takes the gloves off, the gloves are off...
The last jury i sat on was weighing the case of a man who was found to be in possession of a few grains of cocaine at a car wash. After careful deliberation, we came back with a guilty verdict. After the trial was over, the judge came in the jury room and told us that the defendant had numerous priors and had the tracks in the arms to prove current use. We all breathed a sigh of relief, as none of us were told anything prior to our decision
Not true. You are allowed the use of 'force' in self defense. Here in the great state of Tejas you are allowed to shoot burglars should they enter your dweling ...
"The verdict sends a message that property owners can't use lethal security systems to defend their homes and businesses, said John Winters, the Chicago lawyer who represented Harris' mother and brother in the civil case."
[Shaking my head] American lawyers prove day after day that Shakespeare was right. Please, please Freepers, vote for Republicans at all levels, from the Presidency down to the dog catcher, until we rid the vermin we call lawyers from our judicial system through tort reform.
However, the fact that this crook or his survivors got one red cent is an outrageous travesty.
Depending on the jurisdiction, yes. The general rule is that property is not worth a human life. You can use deadly force only if the perp is threatening the safety of you or another, but some states, notably Texas, have differing baseline rules. The issue is whether the existence of the bad guy in your home can safely be assumed to be a threat to safety, and not just property. Different states (and courts, and legislatures) have different opinions on the answer, and rule accordingly.
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