My feelings are hurt. Send me $15 million.

DerStrom8

Joined Feb 20, 2011
2,390
The kid is a troublemaker and a fraud. He never built a clock. And he has a history of starting fights in school and causing other trouble. The teachers' suspicions were not entirely unfounded, especially when he refused to explain himself to the police. He talked more to the media than he did to the authorities. I lost all sympathy I ever had for this kid.
 

Papabravo

Joined Feb 24, 2006
21,159
You guys might have a bit more credibility if you had ever been arrested and handcuffed for any kind of reason. He was a kid and he didn't deserve the treatment he got from a bunch of ignorant hicks including the clueless cops.
 

DerStrom8

Joined Feb 20, 2011
2,390
You guys might have a bit more credibility if you had ever been arrested and handcuffed for any kind of reason. He was a kid and he didn't deserve the treatment he got from a bunch of ignorant hicks including the clueless cops.
I get the sense you haven't read into his background....
 

Papabravo

Joined Feb 24, 2006
21,159
One of those 'Ambulance Chaser' lawyers saw a simple opportunity.
Max.
So will they settle or will this case go to trial. I actually think they have a reasonable chance of prevailing at trial. Looks like it might be time to consider a tax increase in that community.
 
he didn't deserve the treatment he got from a bunch of ignorant hicks including the clueless cops.
--emphasis added--

I must confess that I see something in what you're saying! -- I yet the remember the BS I had to endure when purchasing a pressure cooker for 'off label' purposes -- they (i.e. security) didn't comprehend 'vacuum chamber' despite repeated, patient explanation!!!:mad::mad::mad:

Best regards
HP
 

DerStrom8

Joined Feb 20, 2011
2,390
Have you studied the background of the cops and the teachers? He was a kid, and a civilized society would not do that to a kid -- any kid.
I'm not necessarily saying he should have been arrested, I'm just saying it's not entirely unfounded. He has caused trouble before, and what if it was actually a bomb? He should have spoken up and explained himself when the officers asked him what it was. Instead he plead the fifth, which only made him look more suspicious. At that point he was literally asking for trouble. Put yourself in his shoes--If you took apart an alarm clock and put it in a box, and an officer asked you what it was and said it looked like a bomb, wouldn't you want to explain yourself by explaining that it was a science project, and that you'd just taken apart a consumer alarm clock and put it in a case? He was being stupid, and the officers reacted the way they did because he refused to answer their questions about the clock, and made himself appear to be a threat.

My main point is that he should not have received all that positive attention for being so inventive and intelligent. He did not do anything intelligent. On the contrary, he did something very stupid--something that led to these consequences. He most definitely should not be awarded $15 million for not answering the questions the police asked him.
 

#12

Joined Nov 30, 2010
18,224
I'm with Papa on this one. Holding the kid incommunicado and repeatedly demanding he tell them it's really a bomb indicates that this particular town needs some education. I just looked up the requirements to become an Irving, Texas Police Officer and there is no requirement for having read or understood the Constitution of these United States...or to know what a clock is for.

http://www.ci.irving.tx.us/660/Police-Eligibility

He should have spoken up and explained himself when the officers asked him what it was. Instead he plead the fifth, which only made him look more suspicious.
Guess again. He repeatedly told everyone in sight that it was a clock. The part that puzzled him was when the police, after determining it was only a clock, kept asking him what a clock is for. It's for telling time!!!!!!!


Refusing to say, "Clocks are for making bombs" is not the same as, "Taking the fifth".
 

DerStrom8

Joined Feb 20, 2011
2,390
I'm with Papa on this one. Holding the kid incommunicado and repeatedly demanding he tell them it's really a bomb indicates that this particular town needs some education. I just looked up the requirements to become an Irving, Texas Police Officer and there is no requirement for having read or understood the Constitution of these United States...or to know what a clock is for.

http://www.ci.irving.tx.us/660/Police-Eligibility


Guess again. He repeatedly told everyone in sight that it was a clock. The part that puzzled him was when the police, after determining it was only a clock, kept asking him what a clock is for. It's for telling time!!!!!!!


Refusing to say, "Clocks are for making bombs" is not the same as, "Taking the fifth".
Hmm, was thinking I had read that he refused to answer questions and plead the fifth while the officers were speaking to him but I am having trouble finding that article now. However, that still doesn't change the fact that he was known as a troublemaker, which I'm sure did not help his case. It also doesn't change the fact that he has not earned all this praise, and certainly not $15 million.
 

tcmtech

Joined Nov 4, 2013
2,867
Guess again. He repeatedly told everyone in sight that it was a clock. The part that puzzled him was when the police, after determining it was only a clock, kept asking him what a clock is for. It's for telling time!!!!!!!

Unfortunately stuff like that happens a lot more than most of us care to admit to. I know I have had way too many personal experiences where someone tried to make me out to be the bad guy by asking me a question that was so stupid or irrelevant I could not come up with a rational answer to it.

If I had law enforcement officers plus some public school officials in my face asking me what a clock is for I probably would have not been willing to answer that either for concern that either these people are setting a trap or they are outrightly just really that dumb and not worth wasting my breath on. :(
 

Sinus23

Joined Sep 7, 2013
248
I'm surprised it took this long. I suspect the requested amount will damage his case, maybe even kill it.
Same here I wasn't surprised that he wants sue for damages but that amount is really out there. Wasn't there a man that got something like $16 mil just the other day for being in prison since '81 after 2 cops framed him? Or did I just dream it... I couldn't find the article again, though I'm sure I read it earlier today or yesterday:confused:
 

GopherT

Joined Nov 23, 2012
8,009
Wasn't there a man that got something like $16 mil just the other day for being in prison since '81 after 2 cops framed him?
So, what you are saying then, is that the process of being arrested is where the pain an agony is. The guy in prison since '81 must have had a slightly more traumatic arrest since he asked for $16M and this kid is asking for only $15M.

The guy arrested in '81 did get food, clothing and shelter for the past 35 years. I'm surprised the state didn't ask him to pay them back for the unnecessary accommodations.
 

Papabravo

Joined Feb 24, 2006
21,159
I'm surprised it took this long. I suspect the requested amount will damage his case, maybe even kill it.
You may have a point there. Juries can decide the requested amount is too high and adjust accordingly. I don't know if Texas Civil Procedure allows this or not.

When we delegate extraordinary powers to public officials we have an absolute right to expect that they will use good judgement in the exercise of that power. When police and other officials decide to get heavy handed just because they think they can intimidate a 15-year old kid, is when the heavy hand of the court needs to keep them in check. If they lose this case, the heavier hand of their liability insurance company will most definitely be looking over their shoulder.
 
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