July 1, 2006
THESE THREE THINGS DO NOT BELONG TOGETHER:
Suit: NBA Player Watching Porn, Drunk Before Crash (29 June 2006, CBS Channel 13 Minnesota)
MINNEAPOLIS On March 30, Minnesota Timberwolves center Eddie Griffin was drunk and masturbating when he crashed his luxury SUV into a parked Suburban outside a store in Minneapolis, according to a lawsuit filed Thursday by the man whose Suburban was hit in the crash...
...Abed Hassuneh, who is the brother of the victim, said Griffin told him, "That he was masturbating himself going down that street. That's how the accident happened because he was not paying attention. He's paying attention to that video and all of a sudden he's shoveled somebody's car on the top of the sidewalk."Ban driving. Keep drinking and watching porn. Posted by Pepys at July 1, 2006 1:20 PM
Judging by the DVD playing in the SUV, apparently that old tale needs to be modified a bit -- you don't go blind, you just suffer limited sight distance vision.
Posted by: John at July 1, 2006 1:40 PMMultitasking gone wrong.
Posted by: MF at July 1, 2006 1:47 PMCurious case from the legal end. Unless Minnesota tort law is really freaky, why would a suit be filed in a P.D.-only fender-bender? The only possibilities are the defendant being uninsured or grossly underinsured.
There moight be an insurance problem, given the defendant's irregular driving status as mentioned in teh article. Even so, why doesn't the J.O. just pay for the car? Say the total loss on the Suburban is 35K--so just pay it. The only reason to sue would be if the jurisdiction allows punitive damages for fender-benders.
Back home
Posted by: Lou Gots at July 1, 2006 2:30 PMI think it's too early to say if a suit will be filed. However, here in NV, DUI provides the basis for punitive damages. And, if the guy's SUV was totalled, he can make even a soft-tissue claim into $$$$.
Posted by: Pepys at July 1, 2006 2:45 PMPepys: I read the article as P.D. only, to a parked, unattended vehicle.
Posted by: Lou Gots at July 1, 2006 3:26 PMYou're right. Suit filed, car parked.
Posted by: Pepys at July 1, 2006 4:00 PMSo what video was he watching? If you're a pornographer, this sort of publicity has to be your industry's equivalent of getting an Oscar night boost.
Posted by: Pontius at July 1, 2006 10:11 PM