DoctorK

As the judge pointed out, either someone whited out part of a line or someone added part of a line, she wasn't sure which. To me, it is probable that the extra stuff was added later for two reasons: first, making a xerox copy of a document with white-out on it (I remember back when we actually used that stuff a lot) the edges of the white-out show because the white out is never exactly the same color or brightness as the paper; second, it makes sense that the top line was short because the top line was a stand alone statement, and the rest of it was a stand alone statement.

I agree that cops are often somewhat arbitrary about probable cause, the flip side is that the odor of smoked marijuana is very strong and pungent (as is tobacco smoke) and very obvious to anyone who doesn't smoke. In this case, maybe the cop made it up, maybe he was mistaken, and maybe he was correct.

However, if I remember correctly she got pulled over because when she drove by the cop, the cop smelled a strong odor of marijuana which suggests that it was being smoked while she was driving.

Absolutely and this Dad seems to be off track in his approach. However, I think there is much more going on with the son than just conflict with an overbearing father. The whole back story of the son sitting around the house doing little but play with the dog and play video games, coupled with him moving in with Mom (who provides him free room and board) and getting a part time job which pays very little, sounds to me like the son has some serious problems. The fact that he left the one therapy session he attended (with father out of the room) very angry sounds like he didn't like what the therapist said and was completely resistant to outside professional input. Overall, this is a mess but I sadly see the son twenty years from now still living off his mother, working occasional odd jobs and sitting around Mom's house mostly playing video games. I hope he gets some kind of help because I think he needs it. YMMV as always.

Am I the only one who, in the case of the church going bible class woman who scammed people out of $1,700, got strong vibes of Tammy Faye Bakker? Also, in this case Corriero was an ass again.

I also live in Florida and the "Palmetto Bugs" (which sounds a lot nicer than damn big roaches) are big enough to rate an extra syllable.

Sounds like being in the Army, but they contribute to this country,not so sure about flop house residents.

I was also pissed off on this case. The law is clear but Acker and Corriero went into contortions to get completely outside of the law to give the SSM something. Corriero (who I am growing to really despise with his legal gymnastics and passive aggressive arguing) blathering about "Lemon Laws" when it is a 15 year old car involved proved he is willing to make stuff up - can anyone tell me if any jurisdiction in the USA applies lemon laws to 15 year old cars in private as-is sales?

Sounds reasonable, if his process worked as he described, why isn't he rich from licensing the process? I am willing to believe that he is a competent gemologist but the comparison to alchemists sounds spot on and he knows less about materials science than he thinks. Meanwhile, I find it hard to imagine a world class organic/inorganic chemist would be working swap meets. The whole mess sounds like one of the history channel's bogus documentaries. I am also not happy for people with academic doctorates referring to themselves as "Doctor" in every day environments. In scientific, technical or academic environments it is appropriate to call me Doctor (though by no means necessary, "Hey You!" works well enough), but outside of that, just don't. My experience has been that the person who is most insistent on being called "Doctor" while opining on scientific or technical issues is the one who turns out to have a PhD in Urban Planning or Medieval Literature; this was especially my experience in politicized DoD environments. If you want to be called Doctor on planes or in restaurants, what are you going to do when you are called on to deal with a medical emergency? As always, YMMV.

Not in any real world.

I understand that you don't have to be totally blind to be legally blind, I had a close friend through years of grad school who was legally blind but still had a driver's license from the same state that paid him benefits for being legally blind. However, I was surprised by the ease with which the plaintiff was able to scroll through her phone messages and call out the dates and times, especially since when we got a glimpse of her phone, it was a normal display without any apparent large type or other accommodations. She certainly seemed to have enough vision to be able to work.

For once, I actually liked the old codger (for the record, I am moving into that status myself and mostly enjoying it) case. Both litigants were polite and clearly stated their cases. Both were convinced they were correct but there was no nastiness between them (personally I think the plaintiff may give the defendant a call and ask her out for coffee and gambling). I understood the plaintiff's point of view but he was just wrong. In the hallterviews, he was polite and acknowledged he had lost and that you can't rely on other people's turn signals, and the defendant was nice and upbeat. A pleasant change.

We all understand the concept of guity pleasures.

Agreed, usually JJ is really hard on squatters but she got so pissed off at the landlord (maybe deservably) that she just went on a tirade.

Smart plaintiff. actually "not a 'charity 'charity'", whatever that means What happened to depreciated value here?

You nailed it. Not just appearance but her mannerisms.

What really got me was one of the holes looked like they had gone through the flooring, the subflooring and into the concrete slab

Wheel chair versus car. To start off, a mobility cart is not the same as a wheel chair and that is what the plaintiff seemed to be sitting in. The defendant was extremely annoying in almost every way, but the plaintiff annoyed me almost as much. She initially called the center lane a break down lane – firstly break down lanes are off to the right every place in the US I have driven, and secondly the drawing showed combined solid and dashed yellow lines on both sides of the center lane, this is a turn lane even though later the plaintiff called it a median. The plaintiff referring to the diagram said that she was crossing at a five degree angle; not that I expect anyone to use a protractor but the angle looked like it was 35 degrees or more. Visibility is an issue, the device is low set and if it approached the defendant from the right it may not have been visible (however, if the defendant had really been alert she still should have seen the plaintiff). There are a lot of people in my area who use these devices and almost all of them have some kind of mast or antenna with a red ball or flag about six or seven feet off the ground which is helpful even when using a cross walk let alone into moving traffic. Speaking of cross walks, the plaintiff said that she was crossing four active and one turn lane where she was (jay walking) because the nearest cross walk was ¼ mile away. At 4 miles per hour (which seems to be about right for these mobility devices) that means that going to a cross walk would add less than ten minutes to the trip. That seems like a small delay to cross safely and avoid crossing four active lanes of traffic (by the way, what was the speed limit there? Around here most roadway like that are 35 to 50 mph which is a risky crossing even for the fleet of foot. I was happy with the verdict because as annoying as the plaintiff was, the defendant was worse and I believe also legally in the wrong, and her whole story about insurance status smelled delusional.

That is why I live alone, but my goldfish has figured out how to bang the floating thermometer against the side of the aquarium to tell me he wants food. Maybe I should evict him?

Don't skip the famous gas station sushi!

That is an important point, but some other aspects don't smell right. At a minimum, I believe the defendant was grossly understating the extent of the fire. In large buildings I have worked in with fire suppression systems, the smoke detectors (which detect smoke particles and gases optically and by ionization) and alarms go off well before any sprinklers activate; the sprinklers are triggered by dangerous temperatures at the sprinkler head (although some more complicated systems control several sprinkler heads over a specific area) and open up at higher temperatures than just the smoke from a grease fire. The amount of soot and swirl patterns looked more like the patterns I saw on OSHA training videos when I was involved in construction which suggest that the flames were substantial and got close to the ceiling. Sprinkler systems and codes vary quite a bit, but I think the defendant left the pan on the stove, left the room and the oil smoked for a while then burst into flames which is negligence. As always, YMMV and other input on fire suppression could be enlightening. ETA: Would renter's insurance cover the smoke and water damaged apartment contents?

I believe this, no risk of poisoning or choking one of the judges. However, would you expect Nick, dazzled by his own ingenuity and originiality, take this precaution in his own restaurant?

I fast-forwarded through most of the show, a mediocre finale for a mediocre season. Nick's idea for using books as plates was just stupid, without even considering the flavors (and possibly unhealthy elements) the food may pick up from the inks, bindery glue and paper. Also, imagine cutting into something like that, on a soggy page of a book, and chewing on shreds of paper. That was sheer performance art, and just as stupid as almost all of the performance art I have ever seen. Also, maybe it was just me but I thought the "hands" plates were just tacky. As always, YMMV.

LOL, I find that that happens to me a lot lately.

So what was the judge doing about this? I understand on an entertainment reality show that you might let an amusing litigant go on and on, but not in a real cort room.