On a lighter note... Can Madonna Sue?

by Laura James

The women who contribute thoughtful essays to this crime and justice site are serious professionals who grapple with profound and controversial legal questions. Hopefully they'll indulge me for considering a relatively frivolous legal issue today.

Some are honestly wondering about the legal ramifications of Madonna's recent fall from a horse, which her publicist blamed on an aggressive paparazzo. Her injuries, thank goodness, don't seem serious. But the incident offers a chance for a bit of exposition and education on the laws of personal injury. Can she sue? Would she win? Could she collect? The answers are sure, maybe, and probably not.

Can she sue?

Anyone with a hundred-dollar bill can file a lawsuit. The Material Girl didn't earn that moniker for nothing, so this one is a gimme.

Would she win?

Assuming that what her publicist says is true -- a photographer jumped from some bushes and scared her steed -- she'd have a pretty good case. If it came down to a he-said-she-said debate, she could get to a jury with it, and the jury would decide who is telling the truth.

Everyone, everywhere, at all times, has a "duty" under the law to act as a reasonable person would act in the same situation. That legal standard is vague, and it's usually up to a jury, and not a judge, to decide whether someone's actions were reasonable under the circumstances. I don't think it requires anything more than common sense to know that startling a horse can cause injury to its rider.

The department that rendered aid to her is releasing its own opinion on the matter. I found their statements rather curious. If Madonna said nothing to them about the photographer, that is neither here nor there. In the usual trip-and-fall, there's no reason for a responder to deeply delve. "How did this happen?" "I fell from my horse." That's as much of a conversation as I'd expect to see reflected in a police report.

Could she collect?

Assuming the jury believed Madonna's version of the dustup and gave her, say, a small verdict to compensate for a few hundred dollars in medical bills and a day or two of mild pain and suffering, collecting would probably be a challenge.

The press says he was a freelancer. Since he had no regular employer that could also be held accountable for his actions, there would be no insured corporate deep pocket to shake down. As a private person, he might own a home and might have homeowner's insurance. But it probably isn't much, and it might not cover such a claim since it arose from his line of business. Most homeowner's policies have limits or exclusions when you're sued because of the work that you do.

Believe it or not, as a rule lawyers do not like to pursue the personal assets of tort defendants (unless they've done something particularly egregious, and even then, I don't know many lawyers who would push to collect personally from an uninsured or underinsured person). If the jury did slam the fellow with a large verdict, he would have the option of filing for bankruptcy and blowing out the judgment there.

So even if Madonna did win a lawsuit against the fellow, she'd probably have a devil of a time getting any money from him. That's not to say I wouldn't take the case. If she needs a lawyer to handle the claim, gosh, I'm available!

Bottom line: While Madonna has credibility problems in general and a lifestyle that most people disdain, the paparazzi aren't doing much better these days in the court of public opinion. Given all the times when some jerk of a photographer sued a star for some stupid dustup, it might be fun to see the shoe on the other foot.

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Women in Crime Ink Welcomes Diane Dimond

Women in Crime Ink is proud to announce the latest addition to our lineup, Diane Dimond. You might recognize the famed crime reporter, author, and cable news anchor as a regular fill-in for CNN’s Nancy Grace. Diane Dimond may be best known for exposing and then explaining to the world the child molestation charges against Michael Jackson. Diane's coverage of Jackson’s criminal trial was seen by millions on Court TV, NBC’s The Today Show, MSNBC, Larry King Live and news outlets worldwide.
Her book on Jackson, Be Careful Who You Love: Inside the Michael Jackson Case, is an explosive tome that details Diane’s exclusive revelations from when she first broke the story in 1993, to the case 10 years later when, once again, she was the first to report the latest charge of molestation.
Diane has been at the center of countless other major news stories as well. She stood in the blood of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman the day their bodies were discovered. A few years earlier, Diane was the first to report the story of rape at the Kennedy compound in Palm Beach, Florida and to identify William Kennedy Smith as the accused. And Diane has been praised for her hard-hitting interviews with a number of infamous prison inmates including: Pamela Smart, a school teacher serving a life sentence for enticing her high school lover to kill her husband; James Earl Ray, the convicted assassin of Martin Luther King, Jr.; Jeffrey McDonald, the convicted killer and subject of Fatal Vision; Kenneth Bianchi, the convicted “Hillside Strangler”; and Diane is the only reporter to have interviewed Richard Allen Davis, the convicted killer of Polly Klaas.
Diane began her broadcasting career in Albuquerque, New Mexico. At KKOB News Radio she wrote and anchored the morning newscasts and her investigative series on corruption within the local sheriff’s department earned her the prestigious Silver Gavel Award for Media and the Arts from the American Bar Association. In 1976, Diane moved across the country to Washington, DC to anchor newscasts for National Public Radio's “All Things Considered.” In 1980, she became Correspondent for RKO, the world's first satellite radio network, where she was assigned to cover Capitol Hill, the White House, and various Washington agencies. Diane became the network's National Political Correspondent and covered the campaigns of both President Ronald Reagan and his challenger Walter Mondale. Finally making a move into television in 1986, Diane’s first TV news job was at the flagship CBS Station in New York. At WCBS, Diane earned several awards for covering such groundbreaking stories as the “Baby M” surrogate mother case. Diane went into syndicated television in 1990, when she became the investigative reporter for the program Hard Copy. Diane's continuing coverage of the Michael Jackson story made the cut for TIME magazine's “Best TV of '93." Diane also made headlines when she acquired and aired the actual interrogation tape of O. J. Simpson being questioned by the Los Angeles Police Department. She then anchored the nationally syndicated program EXTRA and made headlines with her exposé of the deceptive practices of the Jerry Springer Show, among other investigative reports. In 1998, Diane moved to NBC and partnered with Geraldo Rivera to co-anchor CNBC’s nightly newscast, UpFront Tonight. Among other top-shelf stories, she anchored extensive live reports from Washington on the impeachment proceedings against former President Bill Clinton. After moving to MSNBC, Diane hosted the series, “Missing Persons,” anchored major news blocks and, among other stories, covered the historic 2000 Presidential campaign, traveling with three of the candidates, George W. Bush, Al Gore, and Ralph Nader. Diane also became known as the correspondent who spent 35 straight days outside Vice President Gore's residence in Washington as the nation awaited the final, controversial recount of the vote. In 2001, after the September 11th terror attacks in New York City, Diane anchored live programs on the Fox News Channel where she specialized in the network’s continuing coverage of the War on Terrorism. Her live interviews with military and policy newsmakers were often quoted by other news organizations. In 2003, Diane hosted "Hollywood at Large" on Court TV. More recently, Diane has been branching out on multi-media platforms to tell the stories she finds so fascinating. Last year, Diane was picked by the all-women GreenStone Media group to co-host their syndicated morning radio talk show and she can often be heard filling in on other major radio talk shows. She also writes a weekly crime and justice newspaper column. Diane has staked her place in the blogosphere with her own blog as well as a regular column with The Huffington Post.
Now Diane has joined Women in Crime Ink as our newest contributor. When there is a breaking crime story, you can read Diane's take here and you can follow her coverage on CNN, Fox News, truTV (formerly Court TV) and other cable outlets. Please join Women in Crime Ink in welcoming Diane Dimond. Look for Diane's first WCI post tomorrow, on Election Day. Diane will be writing on the one thing missing from this election. We're betting our readers can guess the topic. Feel free to leave a comment below for Diane. She would love to hear from you!

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