A SUV crashed into an oak tree on Forest Hills Drive in Wilmington Monday night.  The driver of the SUV, 22 year old Raphael Samuel, and passenger Demond Jones, 30, were taken to the hospital.  Female passengers Yashica White, 21, and Shatia Hankins, 25, died on impact.  Samuel died at the hospital early Tuesday morning, while Jones is currently listed in fair condition.  A Wilmington police officer allegedly spotted Samuel’s SUV on Wrightsville Avenue being operated without headlights.  The officer followed the SUV, but did not turn their lights or siren on.  Surveillance video footage from a home security system shows the SUV travelling at a high rate of speed down Forest Hills Drive with the headlights on.  The WPD squad car is seen in the video 10 seconds later travelling at the same rate of speed.  It is estimated that the vehicles were travelling in excess of 65 mph.  It is suspected that Samuel lost control of the SUV and hit an oak tree.

For more information and pictures, please visit the following links:

http://www.wsfx.com/story/16928024/triple-fatal-accident-on-wayne-drive

http://www.wwaytv3.com/2012/02/14/police-identify-crash-victims-say-none-had-seat-belts

How many times have we asked a similar question to a handler on the first confrontation with an unfamiliar dog.  The owner always says no and usually adds the Fido would not hurt a fly.  But don’t be so sure.

A dog is a pack animal and in order to control a dog, we have to be the leader of the pack so to speak.  The dog imprints on its owner, (leader), and loves him or her and of course most never turns hostile towards its owner.  Not so for the rest of the animals in the world, from which the dog is more than ready to protect its owner from at any sense of threat.

So owners beware, your sweet dog could cost you a mint in damages to another person or that person’s animals.

The old law implied that every dog was entitled to its first bite.  After which, the owner could be sued if he bit again.

In North Carolina, given the circumstances, an owner may be subject to liability upon his dog attacking a person or another animal.  Under statutes NCGS 67-4.1 through 67-4.4 has set forth the Dangerous Dogs statute.  This legislation sets forth that a “dangerous dog” is a dog that (1) without provocation has hilled or inflicted severe injury on a person; or (2) is determined by the person or by the board designated by the county or municipal authority responsible for animal control to be potentially dangerous because the dog has engaged in one or more of the behaviors listed in the statue., including (a) inflicting a bite on a person that resulted in broken bones or disfiguring lacerations or required cosmetic surgery or hospitalization;(b) killing or inflicting sever injury upon a domestic animal when not on the owner’s real property; or (c) approaching a person when not on the owner’s property in a vicious or terrorizing manner in an apparent attitude of attack.  Any dog owned or harbored primarily or in part for the purpose of dog fighting or any dog trained for dog fighting is a “dangerous dog”.

Therefore, the first bite exception does not necessarily apply any more as it once did; and if your dog is declared as “dangerous” there is strict liability for its damages.  In other words, if a dangerous dog attacks a person or other animal, the facts seldom matter; it is really how much you are going to pay.  There are some exceptions to the dangerous dog designation and liability such as police animals, hunting dogs, and dogs being tortured or protecting its property from a crime.

Many cities across the county have adopted ordinances and laws concerning the keeping  of, and liability for, certain breeds of dog that statistics show are the most dangerous.  All of the lists, which I called up on the internet  on this subject, contained these ten breeds starting from number ten, Boxer, Dalmation, Chow Chow, Presia Canario, Dobermin Pinsher, Alaskan Malamute, Husky, German Shepard, Rottweiler, and , always number one, the Pit Bull.

The pit bull and its breed of brothers in a study conducted from 1981 to 1992, showed them responsible for one third of the dog attack fatalities.

In 2010, total dog fatal attacks were 34, 350,000 individuals were seen in the emergency room and 800,000 received some type of medical attention as a result. And it was not always as a result of one of the breeds in the top ten.  In 2000, the Los Angeles Times reported that a family’s Pomeranian dog mauled and killed a six month old child in its house.

Therefore, dog owners should be conscience of the potential for harm especially if you own one of the listed breeds.  Secure fences and sturdy leashes are a must. Never take for granted, as granny did, that your dog will not bite even if they are not listed in the top ten no matter how docile and attentive they may be with you and your family.

Having the word Defendant affixed to the end of your name is not pleasant.

A catastrophic vehicle pileup on Florida Interstate 75 has killed 10 people and sent at least 18 to the hospital.  The accident occurred around the Gainesville area shortly before 4 a.m. on Sunday morning.  According to officials, the initial cause of the accident is believed to be a mixture of smoke and fog.  The thick milky smoke was spilling onto the interstate from a nearby brush fire that authorities believe was possibly started on purpose.  As the smoke mixed with fog, visibility became virtually nonexistent.  The State Highway Patrol actually closed I-75 for a brief period of time before the accident because of poor visibility.  Once they reopened the interstate, the accident occurred.  Investigators are unsure which collision happened first, or even how many total collisions there were.  Eyewitnesses describe the scene as akin to “the end of the world.”  There were numerous vehicles burning in the aftermath of the impacts, some with individuals trapped inside.  A motorist who pulled off the highway near the accident said he could not see his hand in front of his face; he only heard the screams of injured drivers and passengers and the sounds of vehicles crashing into fuel-fired mangled wreckage.  The first responders to the scene had to locate the injured by following their agonizing cries for help as they could not see anything.  The accidents spread over an entire mile of I-75 in both northbound and southbound lanes.  The interstate was closed until Sunday evening as an investigation was conducted.  Authorities closed the road again Monday morning because of continued visibility issues.  It is uncertain at this moment who and/or what will be held accountable for the accident.  Whichever way it goes, I anticipate the lawsuits will be plentiful.

For more info check out this link:

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505263_162-57368048/cause-of-deadly-florida-crash-sought/?tag=contentMain;contentBody

This will be Indo Jax’s third trip to India, and the number of girls participating has grown each year. In fact, participation from orphanages will double this year. The program will draw girls from two orphanages in two different locations over two weeks. The charity’s growing popularity among the orphans has allowed Indo Jax to increase its staff to eight instructors and up to five volunteers on this trip, which is more than twice the number on past trips. Paul Wilkes, Director of Homes of Hope, has helped coordinate and fund this excursion. The girls from these orphanages often have horrific stories, and this program is a great empowerment event for them. They have come to look forward to it each year. Indo Jax Surf Charities, a 501c3, needs at least $20,000 to fund this trip. If you are interested in becoming a sponsor and want to learn more, please visit the Indo Jax website online at www.indojaxsurfschool.com/homeofhope2011.php
Check back for more updates from Brandon as he prepares for the trip!

Last year, the North Carolina Legislature placed a “one size fits all” cap on non-economic losses in medical negligence cases of $500,000.00.  Critics of that type of legislation, benefiting only the wrongdoers, and not victims, have repeatedly stated that caps don’t do anything to promote safety.  Well, now the public is going to see the effect of caps played out in front of an international audience because of the tragic loss of life and injuries associated with the Costa Concordia Cruise Ship disaster.

Yesterday, NPR had a discussion about the Athens Convention Relating to the Carriage of Passengers and their Luggage by Sea.  Under that Convention, claims of passengers (or their survivors) would be “capped” under international law because the Convention limits a cruise line’s liability for injuries and deaths to “46,666 Special Drawing Right” (SDR’s), which apparently is an international currency which has a conversion rate today of around $70,000.00 (U.S.).  Most cruise passengers are unaware that if they or a loved one are seriously injured or killed, cruise lines will try to enforce the Athens Convention damage limitation, which is incorporated into all cruise tickets.

So, Sen. Thom Goolsby and other Kool-Aid drinking Republicans in the North Carolina Legislature – wanna trade places with the missing and dead from the Costa Concordia for $70,000.00?

I literally moaned out load when I read the news story surrounding the death of Jasmine Thar, an incredibly vibrant   16 year old from Charlotte who was killed on December 23, 2011 (http://ftpcontent.worldnow.com/wect/PDFs%20for%20stories/accidental%20riffle%20shooting.PDF) when a Remington Model 700 rifle being removed from its case unintentionally discharged, according to the kid who was removing it, causing a bullet to travel through the walls of the home where  23 year old Anthony Blackwell lived, and striking Jasmine, who was killed.  The path of destruction caused by this rifle didn’t end there, as the bullet struck and critically injured Jasmine’s cousin, Jahmesha McMillan, and her aunt, Treka McMillan.

If indeed Anthony Blackwell’s gun was a Remington Model 700, and if indeed, it is determined that this Model 700 Rifle unintentionally discharged, I’m content that no one involved knew about the tainted history of the Remington Model 700 rifle.  Remington, headquartered in North Carolina, started manufacturing the Model 700 in approximately 1962, and the Model 700 bolt action rifle fast became the most popular bolt action rifle in the market.  The Model 700  was manufactured from its inception until, according to Remington, 2007, utilizing a fire control mechanism, including the trigger and safety assemblies, known as the “Walker Fire Control” system.  Since the inception of the manufacture and marketing of the Model 700, Remington has been aware of numerous problems associated with the “Walker Fire Control” system in this rifle, that can “trick” the rifle into firing without anyone actually pulling the trigger, or cause an inadvertent or accidental discharge of the rifle.  Remington acknowledges having received thousands of complaints about unintended discharges associated with the Model 700 rifle.  As far back as March, 1968, Consumer Reports reviewed several “Varmit Rifles”, including the Model 700, and concluded:

“The sixth ranked rifle, the Remington 700, exhibited a potentially dangerous flaw as first tested.  There was so little clearance between the trigger and the trigger guard that when the trigger was pulled with the safety on (something you or a friend might do when sighting down the rifle or trying it for feel) the trigger sometimes failed to return to its forward position.  And with the trigger in the back position, the rifle would fire without warning the next time the safety was moved to the fire position.  The malfunction persisted for more than 100 firings before the trigger wore in and performed normally.  An unwary buyer might have caused a serious accident by then.”

Remington characterized this revelation by Consumer Reports as “embarrassing” for the Company, yet made a conscious decision not to do anything about it.  In 1979, Remington acknowledged that “about 1% of the pre-1975 Model 700’s in the field may be subject to tricking”, meaning that the “safety lever is placed in between the ‘safe’ and ‘fire’ positions, trigger is then pulled, and the safety lever is subsequently moved to the ‘fire’ position and the gun discharges.”  Nevertheless, Remington made a determination not to recall pre-1975 Model 700’s because “that would mean the  recall would have to gather 2,000,000 guns just to fine 20,000 that are susceptible to this condition.”

Our firm has known about problems with the Remington Model 700 since 2000, when we first began the representation of those injured from an unintentional firing of the rifle.  We were absolutely amazed at the data that we gathered, and more amazed that Remington had made a conscious decision not to do anything about the problem.

The problems with the Model 700 were the subject matter of an investigative report by CNBC  in 2010 (http://www.cnbc.com/id/39554936?__source=vty|remingtondoc|&par=vty ), reporting that the trigger mechanism on the Model 700 used prior to 2007 could fire without the trigger being squeezed, confirming Remington’s receipt of thousands of customer complaint, with nearly two dozen deaths and hundreds of injuries being attributed to the inadvertent discharges of the Model 700 Remington rifle.  Mr. Walker, 98 years old at the time of the story, told CNBC that he proposed a safer trigger design in 1948, while the Model 700 was still in the testing stage, but this enhanced design was rejected by Remington because it would add 5 ½ cents to the cost of each gun.

I don’t know why Anthony Blackwell’s Remington Model 700 fired.  I don’t know whether it’s related to this defect that Remington knew about.  What I know is that Remington didn’t issue warnings about the reported incidents involving the Model 700 and its firing mechanism.  I do know (or believe) that Remington made a conscious decision not to do anything about it, choosing profit over people.  Jasmine is dead; her cousin is wounded; her aunt, her parents, and her many friends are grieving and wondering.  Is a defective gun the answer?