Free Republic

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - The finger that a woman claimed she found in a bowl of Wendy's chili was severed in the tailgate of a truck during a work accident, an employee of an asphalt company said. Pat Hogue, an estimator with a Las Vegas asphalt maintenance company, told the San Francisco Chronicle for a story in Sunday's editions that a man he was working with lost the tip of his finger on a job five months ago. Both men were working with James Plascencia, the husband of Anna Ayala - the Las Vegas woman who claimed she found the...

The Las Vegas man whose severed fingertip ended up in a cup of Wendy's chili gave his mangled digit to a co-worker to settle a $50 debt -- but had no idea it would be used in an alleged scheme to swindle the fast-food chain, the man's mother said Tuesday. San Jose police have refused to name the man whose finger they believe ended up in the chili. But the man's mother, reached by The Chronicle on Tuesday, said the finger belonged to her 36-year-old son, Brian Paul Rossiter of Las Vegas. "My son is the victim in this,'' Rossiter's...

San Jose police investigating the origin of a finger they say was planted in a bowl of Wendy's chili said Tuesday that they were receiving assistance from Mexican law enforcement officials. On Tuesday, KGO Channel 7 reported that Mexican police had searched a ranch north of Guadalajara on Monday that belonged to relatives of the husband of Anna Ayala, the 39-year-old Las Vegas woman in jail accused of planting the finger in her chili. San Jose police spokesman Enrique Garcia confirmed they were receiving cooperation from Mexican authorities but did not say which agencies were assisting or what help they...

A Windsor hairstylist who suffered "recognizable psychological injury" after discovering a dead fly in a bottle of Culligan water has been awarded more than $340,000 in damages. Waddah (Martin) Mustapha, who operates two outlets of Martin's Coiffure and Spa at the Radisson Hotel and Casino Windsor, claimed "nervous shock, emotional distress and resulting anxiety, depression and physical and psychological conditions" arising from a breach of contract with Culligan. "It's long overdue," Mustapha said of the settlement. On Nov. 21, 2001 Mustapha and his wife Lynn, who was seven months pregnant, were preparing a new bottle of Culligan water to put...

SAN ANTONIO - The human finger retrieved from a bowl of Wendy's chili in California may have come from a Nevada woman who had a digit bitten off by a pet leopard there in February, an animal rescuer asserted Wednesday. Wild Animal Orphanage Director Carol Asvestas said she witnessed the biting while on a rescue mission in Pahrump, Nev., and provided Wendy's with photographs she took before and after the Feb. 23 incident. Police in San Jose, Calif., where a lawsuit was filed against a Wendy's franchise and later withdrawn, are following up on the information Asvestas provided, according to...

GAINESVILLE Florida's Board of Governors voted 10-3 today to reject a proposed chiropractic school at Florida State University that was sought by powerful lawmakers, but vehemently opposed by some FSU medical faculty. The board did not agree there was a need to create the nation's first chiropractic school at a public university, especially when state funding is so scarce and it could damage the school's reputation. The project has been embroiled in controversy since last year when state lawmakers put $9 million in the state budget for a school. Instead it was a pet project for then Senate President Jim...

Litigation Excessby Chris Shugart, 29 Dec, 2004The state of California may have its financial woes, but there's at least one industry that's managing to prosper in spite of the state's economic problems. Ironically, this industry may very well be contributing to the state's poor economic health. Though perhaps not an industry per se, the lucrative world of civil lawsuits puts billions of dollars into the pockets of trial lawyers every year.According to a report compiled by Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse, lawsuits cost Americans $205 billion in 2001, and these costs are on the increase every year. California has been particularly...

Cops blamed for ATV crash Fred Musante, Editor December 29, 2004 A 21-year-old New Haven man who led Hamden police on a high-speed chase on his all-terrain vehicle before crashing into a utility pole last summer wants the town to pay his medical bills. Britt Martin, of 75 George Street, claims that Officer Stephen DeGrand and four other unidentified officers were responsible for his injuries because they violated a Police Department policy to discontinue high-speed pursuits when the risk exceeds the need for immediate apprehension. Continuing the police pursuit was "reckless, unnecessary, and unwarranted," Martin's complaint said. Police Chief Robert...

Two dozen San Francisco schoolkids sporting white turtlenecks and Santa hats got a very un-Christmaslike civics lesson the other day when they showed up at Union Square hoping to delight Christmas shoppers with holiday carols. "They just wanted to set up next to the Christmas tree and sing,'' said Donna Vargas, one of the parents who escorted the fifth- and sixth-graders from San Francisco Day School on Friday's outing. Instead, they got the boot. Seems they didn't have a city permit -- so after a brief run-in with the park's security, the kids were shooed away. "How can children not...

Lawsuit advice Excerpts from Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse’s "Legal Consumer Guide": o Don’t believe everything you see in an ad: Many reputable lawyers don’t advertise. o Don’t hire a lawyer who calls you on the phone or visits you: This is against the legal rules of professional conduct. o Make sure you understand what you’re paying for and what you aren’t: Find out if your lawyer will take his fee "off the top" or after all expenses are tallied. o Know how you can fire a lawyer: Some contracts specify that even if you fire a lawyer, he still gets...

What highway road signs would look like in 20 years if the blues keep trying to dumb down the general public.

Hell hath no fury like a bitter, lawsuit-minded lover scorned. When Lupe Cyl left her husband, Steven, for a firefighter down the street, he says it was a blow he never saw coming. Months of anger, depression and thoughts of revenge, he admits, consumed him, until he finally thought of a way "to make them pay for what they did to me." Cyl recently filed suit against Lee Bauman, claiming Bauman seduced Lupe Cyl, persuaded her to leave him and, in the end, destroyed his life. Claiming "great mental suffering and anguish," "devastation" and "suffering," his lawsuit seeks unspecified damages....

MARIETTA, Ohio - ...... Mr. Edwards said the "American dream" is on the ballot. "I want you to assume you go in the morning to vote and you just dropped the kids off at school and you're late to work, and your car is about to run out of gas. You walk in to vote and you're in a hurry and you want to make the right choice. So you ask yourself, 'Over the course of the last four years, has my price at the pump gone up? Has the price of college gone up? Is George Bush ever going...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. John Kerry has a simple strategy if the presidential race is in doubt on Nov. 3, the day after the election: Do not repeat Al Gore's mistakes. Unlike the former vice president, who lost a recount fight and the 2000 election, Kerry will be quick to declare victory on election night and begin defending it. He also will be prepared to name a national security team before knowing whether he's secured the presidency. [snip] The prospects for another contested election grow with every poll showing the race neck and neck. Gore prematurely conceded the 2000 race...

The parents of a 16-year-old boy who was taken off life support after reportedly swallowing cocaine is expected to announce a $50 million lawsuit against the Dearborn Police Department Monday afternoon. Quantrell Pryor was stopped by Dearborn police Tuesday at Fairlane Mall when officers believed he was in a stolen vehicle, Local 4 reported. The vehicle was not stolen, but Pryor panicked and swallowed cocaine he had in his possession, according to the report. Pryor's mother said police admitted to seeing her son swallow the cocaine, but he was not taken to the hospital until hours later. The family has...

We all remember the votes that were never counted in Florida 2000. So, while we are all working hard for a positive outcome on November 2nd, we also have to be prepared for a repeat of a 2000 stolen election. Below is a pledge for people to sign, supporting efforts to mobilize and protect the vote on November 2nd and making a commitment to protest starting on November 3rd in the case of a fraudulent vote count. By signing this pledge, you will be joining with thousands of others in the November 3rd Urgent Response Network. Please sign the pledge...

The showing of "Stolen Honor" was cancelled in the Baederwood Cinema (Philadelphia suburb) because of the threat of a lawsuit. The theater will refund all money for tickets purchased.

Democrats got caught with their election playbook open Thursday when a leaked page was published urging operatives to lodge a "pre-emptive strike" of claiming voter intimidation, whether it's true or not. Gleeful Republicans quickly called a press conference after the page from The Drudge Report went online, in which they denounced "a new low in gutter politics" that "played the race card." "They want to rile up the minorities to denounce tactics that do not exist," said Ted Halaby, chairman of the Colorado GOP. Halaby said it was "a criminal act to falsely allege something that does not exist." He...

Jim Long, Commissioner North Carolina Department of Insurance Investigations Division 1201 Mail Service Center Raleigh, North Carolina 27699-1201 COMPLAINT RE: Mr. John Edwards, Raleigh, North Carolina August 23rd, 2004 Dear Mr. Long: I am filing a complaint with your office regarding John Edwards. Mr. Edwards has litigated several cases in the state of North Carolina in the past several years. These cases involved alleged medical malpractice. As will be outlined below, these cases were presented to juries in a fraudulent manner, in order to obtain vast payments from insurance companies doing business in North Carolina in the field of medical...