Legion World Forums LEGION OUTPOST Mission Monitor Board Quislet's Super Law Firm...of Space!

1. Do we have a noise by-law on Legion World? 7:15 a.m. is a tad early for banshee screams. Of course, that's only a personal opinion and I defer to the law.

2. If someone could argue (effectively) that a guy who dresses like a bat is insane, would any evidence he collected (legally or illegally) be thrown out of court? Like if he's nuts, maybe his evidence isn't believable or trustworthy? And if someone won this argument, would past convictions obtained with Batman's evidence be reversed?

I am not sure if we do have any noise ordinances here on Legion World. What with the sounds of statues being blown up on a regular basis, I don't think so. And the time element would be rather subjective as it can be many different time to various Legion Worlders.

First, any evidence obtained illegal would be inadmissible. That would mean that both Batman and Superman, being honorary members of the Gotham City & Metropolis police forces (respectively) could arguably be considered government agents and thus required to obtain warrents barring the exceptions for exigent circumstances and plain view.

As for the sanity of a person giving evidence, that would depend upon the evidence being presented. A set of accounting ledgers concerning Lex Luthor's businesses obtained and presented by Joker or by Lois Lane would still be the same evidence. The person presenting the evidence would have to account for how the evidence was obtained and the handling of the evidence prior to trial.

As far as eyewitness testimony, the credibility would be left to the trier of facts (the jury or judge). I remember a case in my Wills class in which the will was challenged because the testator (the person whose will it is) thought that people lived in his trees and hung meat on the branches. However, the judge found that the will itself dispossed of the man's property in a rational manner. So the will was valid even though the man wasn't of sound mind.


A more Constitutional challenge to Batman's eyewitness testimony would be to say that Batman needs to reveal his identity so that the accused has his/her 6th Amendment right to be able to confront the witness against him/her. Batman's identity would go to his credibility as a witness. If say Batman was a fired Lexcorp employee then the trier of fact could reasonable infer that his testimony is biased and not as credible as if Batman was just some schmuck with no relation to Luthor.

Quislet, Esq.

I have recently been under the verbal harassment of Space Ranger of the Security Office, I wish to employ you in the possibility that I shall have to take this person to court.

Luna

If somebody opposing me in a court case put a voodoo hex on me, could I claim that they're interfering with my right to a fair trial? (Hasn't happened, but I was reading that sometimes dead chickens are placed on courthouse steps to influence a trial, according to voodoo beliefs.)

Luna,

I apologize for such a late response, but I haven't been to the office lately.

Unfortunately, I don't take cases so much as give advise. In this matter, I would have suggested asking Space ranger to sit down and discuss the matter (I do act as mediator sometimes). However seeing as Space Ranger is no more (at least I think he is still no more) I would say that your problem is resolved.

You would have to show causation. i.e that the voodoo hex actually interferred with your right to a fair trial.

Voodoo helps my cases in court; I haven't gotten a speeding ticket that's stuck since 1991!

a lot of officers miss traffic court due to stomach cramps, if you get my drift.

I recommend a houngan even over an attorney.

PFFFFFTTT!!!!!! An attorney could get you money for the harassment. I mean, you must be suffering a lot of trauma from being stopped like that.

For the victims of Kent's houngan, there is real harm i.e. stomach cramps (or worse?) - but if the court system doesn't believe in voodoo, and attributes the damage to other factors, there can't be any relief. It seems to me it's bordering on a religious belief question, but while there may be freedom of religion in the U.S., I don't know how the courts would be set up to handle something like this. They just don't deal with it? Or if you could prove that someone hired a houngan to curse you, could that person be charged with threatening or trying to harm you in general?

FC,

You are correct in that it is a matter of whether the trier of facts (i.e. the jury and only the judge if there is no jury) believes in your version of causation. That is that the curse caused the stomach cramps. If the jury is ull of those who practice voodoo, you might have a shot.

Now you might have a better chance of proving intentional infliction of emotional distress. That is that the person knows you believe in voodoo and did this to cause you emotional pain.

Man, this is a case even Judge Judy wouldn't take on...

Well, I was curious and did some searches, and there are quite a few cases at the federal level involving charges of voodoo - so I guess Judge Judy would have to take it on if it came before her. I just read through a few quickly, in one a judge called it "nonsense", in another, sprinkling 'voodoo' powder in front of someone's office was considered a crime - because it was an unknown powder, in the context of post 9/11 anthrax scares - so the judge wasn't saying he believed in voodoo per se, just that the act was irresponsible and had caused harm.

Being forced to miss 'Smallville' for traffic court is also irresponsible and causes me harm. Can I sue the cops and the courts?

You can always sue. That doesn't mean that you'll be sucessful or not subject to a frivilous lawsuit charge.

I'd sure like to have a law passed that would prevent sporting events and TV shows from being edited for no good reason (apart from the World Trade Center bombing - now THAT was a shocker, all right...)

Write your legislators then.

I am not sure how it would work in Austrailia, but any such law here in the US would be ruled unconstitional as interferring with the free speech rights of the broadcasters.

NOTICE: The law offices are temporarily closed.

Feel free to leave a message. It will be answered as soon as possible. However, the definition of "as soon as possible" could mean weeks or months.

I don't recall authorizing a this closure, so you'd better be surprising me with a grand tour of the great thrift shops of North America or something.

I say we LWers consider a class-action lawsuit against the closure of this office!

So, this guy in a turban sold me this "magic flute" for $25 which he claimed could tame animals by playing it. As it turns out, the supposed "magic flute" was just a toy that he'd paid ten cents for at a toy store. Now, I'm not entirely sure how he made any profit off this sale, since I'm guessing the tranquilizer that he used to fake the effect of taming wild animals must have cost more than the $25 off it. Anyway, what exactly can I do about this?

You could sue him for breach of the implied warranty of fitness for a particular purpose.

An implied warranty of fitness for a particular purpose, sometimes referred to simply as a warranty of fitness, is a warranty implied by law that if a seller knows or has reason to know of a particular purpose for which some item is being purchased by the buyer, the seller is guaranteeing that the item is fit for that particular purpose. This differs from a warranty of merchantability in two ways:

First, the warranty of fitness applies to all sellers, not just professional merchants; and
Second, the warranty of fitness requires the seller to know or have reason to know of a specific purpose to which the property sold is going to be put.

(disclaimer, the above did come from Wikipedia)

So seeing as the guy in the turban was making the claim that the flute could tame wild animals, he would not be able to then claim that he didn't know or have a reason to know that you would attempt to use the flute for that particular purpose.

It does not matter what costs the guy in the turban incurred in selling the flute to you. You have a right to recover the cost of the flute. But you willl have to give back the flute.

But I don't want the flute back!

-- I mean... what if the seller doesn't want the flute back?

The seller could then give the flute to the buyer. However, the seller still has to refund the purchase price.

As punishment - send him to Band Camp!

OK, it's time to redecorate the office. Are there any budding interior decorators out there that want to showcase their talent in exchange for some virtual legal services?

The office will remain open during the redecoration, so please feel free to submit any questions.