Inmates Sue Beer, Wine Cos. for $1B

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

http://news.yahoo.com/idaho-inmates-sue-beer-wine-companies-1b-190211526--abc-news-topstories.html

By Ashley Jennings | ABC News – 6 hrs ago

Five Idaho inmates are blaming alcohol for the crimes that put them in prison and are suing some of the nation's top liquor and wine companies for $1 billion.

Keith Allen Brown, Steven Thompson, Woodrow Grant, Cory Baugh and Jeremy Brown all claim that alcohol led them to their crimes and they should have been warned of the beverages' addictive nature.

"If I was not an alcoholic, the shooting would never have happened," Jeremy Brown said in his affidavit. Brown, 34, is serving a 20- to 30-year sentence for a 2001 shooting that seriously injured a man.

The plaintiffs' crimes range from manslaughter to grand theft. They are currently serving time at Idaho's Kuna facility.

Their lawsuit, filed in Boise's U.S. District Court last month, targets eight defendants, including Anheuser-Busch, Coors, Miller Brewing and the owner of Jim Beam whiskey, American Brands. The inmates claim the companies are responsible for their crimes and should have put warning labels on their products.

"I have spent a great deal of that time in prison because of situations that have arose because of people being drunk, or because of situations in which alcohol played a major role," Jeremy Brown said in his affidavit. "At no time in my life, prior to me becoming an alcoholic, was I ever informed that alcohol was habit forming and addictive."

Keith Brown is serving a 15-year prison sentence after shooting a man to death five years ago. Baugh and Thompson are both serving 3 to 7-years for grand theft and drug convictions. And Grant is serving up to 7-years for drug and aggravated battery convictions.

All five men share the same story about booze.

"I fear the day I am released from prison," Grant, 27, said in his affidavit. "I do not know if I can be a productive member of society and still control the desires and craving to use alcohol."

The inmates do not have an attorney, but Boise attorney Joe Filicetti told ABC News affiliate KIVI that alcohol addiction and its side effects are pretty common knowledge.

"If you put these guys through depositions and you ask them 'What do you know about alcohol?' I think it's pretty common knowledge that it's addictive," Filicetti told KIVI. "It's well known to be addictive. It's well known to be something that causes you to reduce your inhibitions and to do things you otherwise wouldn't do."

The beer and wine companies have not responded to ABC News for comment.

[Penny Lane 8,159]

Pathetic.

Criminals are bad enough. But criminals who don't take responsibility for their own actions are something else.

Edited January 5, 2013 by Evylin

[Darnell 8,478]

huh ? This stuff is covered, at least for a day, in middle school phys-ed classes . Maybe they skipped that day?

Edited January 5, 2013 by Darnell

[dalegg 143]

There must be some way men can file a class action suit in general against women. They also cause us to do things we wouldn't otherwise in our good sense do, and spend money we wouldn't otherwise spend.

We gotta at least go after bikini or lingerie companies.

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

Pathetic.

Criminals are bad enough. But criminals who don't take responsibility for their own actions are something else.

You mean like the people who sue McDonalds for hot coffee, or banning fast food because it can make people fat? How about NYC ban on super sized cola's?

[Penny Lane 8,159]

You mean like the people who sue McDonalds for hot coffee, or banning fast food because it can make people fat? How about NYC ban on super sized cola's?

Yes, all equally stupid lawsuits. Though luckily, hot coffee and fast food doesn't put people in jail. These guys need to own up to what they did. They're criminals, they made their choices.

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

Yes, all equally stupid lawsuits. Though luckily, hot coffee and fast food doesn't put people in jail. These guys need to own up to what they did. They're criminals, they made their choices.

Yet a bar can be sued for over serving.

[Penny Lane 8,159]

Yet a bar can be sued for over serving.

Yup.

[aaydrian 479]

How about NYC ban on super sized cola's?

Guess I'm the only one who doesn't mind this law one bit.

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

Yup.

Brilliant

[Penny Lane 8,159]

Brilliant

And what does that have to do with these CRIMINALS blaming their actions on something else?

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

And what does that have to do with these CRIMINALS blaming their actions on something else?

I agree this lawsuit is bogus, but if you look at the other bogus lawsuits that were won then this might just have some legs. Add the fact that the libs are the ones who have helped screw the tort laws in this country and this is what you end up with today.

[Penny Lane 8,159]

I agree this lawsuit is bogus, but if you look at the other bogus lawsuits that were won then this might just have some legs. Add the fact that the libs are the ones who have helped screw the tort laws in this country and this is what you end up with today.

Right. Of course.

[Ban Hammer 12,829]

admitting to the entire world you're a loser - priceless.

[james&olya 1,121]

admitting to the entire world you're a loser - priceless.

But potentially extraordinarily costly! The way the media makes a household name of the losers who become mass murderers helps recruit those who feel their only way to fame and glory is to shoot up a kindergarten and get a high body count! The firearms industry and the NRA function as enablers.