Katrina rescuer is sued by boat owner

[IChing]

Katrina rescuer is sued by boat owner
He took craft and never brought it back

A Broadmoor man who said he rescued more than 200 residents after commandeering a boat during the flood after Hurricane Katrina is being sued by the boat's owner for taking it "without receiving permission."

Mark Morice, who by the Wednesday after the storm said he "couldn't get more than a block or two without people screaming to me for help," took the boat "out of necessity. . . . I did it for my neighbors."

Among them was Irving Gordon, a 93-year-old dialysis patient who Morice carried from his flooded home, placed in the boat and rescued from distress.
"I don't know where we would be today if it weren't for him," Molly Gordon, Gordon's wife of 65 years, said Friday.

The lawsuit contends that boat owner John M. Lyons Jr. suffered his own distress, in the form of "grief, mental anguish, embarrassment and suffering . . . due to the removal of the boat," as well as its replacement costs.>>>>>snip

http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/frontpage/index.ssf?/base/news-6/1156572434292430.xml&coll=1

[Taverner]

1. Eminent Domain

If I were a lawyer for Morice, I would argue on those grounds.

[Mabus]

9. eminent domain is a government action

he could try to use a common law defense of necessity. "Under common law doctrine, a necessity defense exists where, given no legal alternative, an individual's illegal act is justified because he chooses the lesser of two evils" (from:http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1:103193959/Jobs+plight+revisited~C~+the+necessity+defense+and+the+Endangered+Species+Act~R~+.html?refid=ency_botnm an abstract on an environmental case).

[ashling]

21. Beat me to it

necessity.

Anyway, eminent domain deals with real property. If the police had taken the boat they would have done it under a theory of privelege.

[zreosumgame]

25. I would look into salvage rights

[Kagemusha]

27. Salvage rights would be a horrible defense.

Common law necessity is, on the other hand, perfect.

Arguing salvage would be trying to justify theft by saying the boat was justifiably seized and kept.

...Speaking of kept, why didn't the guy get his boat back? I'm curious, but I see nowhere that says.

[zreosumgame]

24. if he was black he looted it, if white he resuced people

it is very simple, why can't people 'get it' yet?

[saigon68]

38. Ah Yes those Pesky Black looters again

</sarcasm>

[BOSSHOG]

2. I'm on nobody's side here

but how can one suffer grief and mental anquish over losing a boat (during a hurricane?)

[leesa]

7. 'Embarrassment' is the one that got me. Unless he's talking about the

embarrassment of filing this suit.

[havocmom]

8. Easy for those who let their possessions define them

I am what I own, so I better keep buying stuff. <----Fools' mantra in our 'Ownership Society'

We have become a nation of ill mannered, unsocialized two-year-olds.

[BOSSHOG]

10. I guess I'm a beat up old pickemup truck

But I am reliable and comfortable to be with.

[havocmom]

13. You, sir, are a prince among men in many eyes around here.

Reliable, comfortable AND a nobel prince among men!

You are one of the brave and free.

[BOSSHOG]

14. You are so kind

Making me tear up, being complimented when I don't quite deserve it. I'm just a happy member of a happy gang of wack job insane liberals, holding the country together as best we can.

[havocmom]

15. Yeah, well I am just buttering you up

cuz I have a hankerin for catfish and think you might just know where some are waiting :evilgrin:

[proud2BlibKansan]

23. Sounds like a republican trait

[Wiley50]

33. As someone whose home is a sailboat

I'd have to disagree in my case

[marylanddem]

3. What's that old cliche?

Oh yeah - no good deed goes unpunished.

[tanyev]

4. Didn't he have insurance on that boat?

What a selfish pig.

[Strelnikov_]

11. Replacement Value Seems To Be The Issue

From the article:

In January, he received a letter from Mills noting that the Lyons had received less than half the replacement value of the boat and its motor from their insurance.

The letter asked Morice for $12,000 to "settle this matter."


So, it appears he only got what the used boat was worth, and is suing for the difference between a used and new boat.

I would say the Mr. John M. Lyons Jr. is probably a Republican.

[struggle4progress]

26. ... Lyons includes Morice’s law firm as a defendant because, ..

.. as the lawsuit states, “It appears that Mr. Morice took the plaintiff’s boat and motor solely to promote himself and his law practice” ...

“We received an initial demand letter saying Mark never had (Lyon’s) permission,” said Morice’s attorney, Joseph Marin of Marino Criminal Law. “He wanted $12,000 to cover the difference between what the boat was insured for and the replacement costs ... "

Borrowed boat lands Katrina rescuer in hot water
By Richard A. Webster Staff Writer
2006-08-24 3:13 PM CST
http://www.neworleanscitybusiness.com/uptotheminute.cfm?recid=5950

[LeftyMom]

32. Sounds like the problem is that he cheaped out when he bought insurance

If you want replacement value, you pay for that. If you pay for a policy that offers resale vaue, that's what you get.

[petronius]

5. I'd not be surprised if the rescuer loses this one

It's just another example of the fact that what is right and what is legal are not always the same thing...

[nosillies]

6. What a freakin' idiot (I mean Lyons)

So insurance didn't compensate you properly for your boat. Sue the insurance company, jerk. You've got a whole 'nother year to do it now.

[sam sarrha]

12. didnt have 'flood damage' coverage on the boat.. damn!!

[lpbk2713]

16. The article doesn't clearly state if the boat was adrift

but if it was the maritime laws of salvage apply and he could have taken control of the boat. Morice could have actually saved the registered owner from liability for any damages the boat could have caused from it being adrift and out of control. If he took it out of the owner's yard and/or off its trailer that's a totally different situation. But again, the article doesn't specify.

[uppityperson]

17. "Looting" vs "taking"?

Take it to court, get heard by a panel of peers. It is bad that insurance hasn't covered so much loss from things like this. I would be very happy to have this person as a neighbor (the boat taker/rescuer).

[ShockediSay]

34. life or death necessity/justifiability I think was a defense @common law

but this is Louisiana, based on the Napoleonic Code

anything could happen

my bet's on a token award

[uppityperson]

35. sounds about right. I still would like a neighbor like the borrower

Helping people out seems like a good thing. Appropriate what you need to save lives.

[Mabus]

37. In Louisiana it is "justification" not necessity

I had thought about mentioning that Louisiana's laws were based on the Napoleonic Code in my earlier response about using the affirmative defense of necessity at http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=2476781&mesg_id=2476825

But since you mentioned the same reservation in your response that I felt in making mine, I thought I'd go ahead and look it up to see if Louisiana would recognize necessity as an affirmative defense in its courts.

§18. Justification; general provisions

The fact that an offender's conduct is justifiable, although otherwise criminal, shall constitute a defense to prosecution for any crime based on that conduct. This defense of justification can be claimed under the following circumstances:

(1) When the offender's conduct is an apparently authorized and reasonable fulfillment of any duties of public office; or

(2) When the offender's conduct is a reasonable accomplishment of an arrest which is lawful under the Code of Criminal Procedure; or

(3) When for any reason the offender's conduct is authorized by law; or

(4) When the offender's conduct is reasonable discipline of minors by their parents, tutors or teachers; or

(5) When the crime consists of a failure to perform an affirmative duty and the failure to perform is caused by physical impossibility; or

(6) When any crime, except murder, is committed through the compulsion of threats by another of death or great bodily harm, and the offender reasonably believes the person making the threats is present and would immediately carry out the threats if the crime were not committed; or

(7) When the offender's conduct is in defense of persons or of property under any of the circumstances described in Articles 19 through 22. http://www.legis.state.la.us/lss/lss.asp?doc=78335

[antigone382]

18. He used bolt cutters to unchain the boat

So yes, technically he did take the boat from their home...but this was only after trying to ask around to see if he could borrow a boat from someone he knew.

For chrissakes, other people have lost everything; their homes, their communities, even their lives. How can someone be pissed off because they didn't get the full value of their boat? It's not like it's an essential item.

[prole_for_peace]

19. if the boat was chained and the area was flooding

wouldn't the boat have been ruined anyway? flood waters would have covered it. and it isn't morice's fault that they guy's insurance policy wasn't for replacement cost.

[Kagemusha]

28. Yes, the boat would be ruined and become salvage.

What I don't get, okay, if this was THEFT, it would be referred to the police and the insurance company would sue the person who stole the boat to recoup its costs to the plaintiff here. (Notwithstanding that the court system of New Orleans was put in horrible shape by Katrina.)

Something really doesn't make sense here, and NOT because of racial issues.

[Rose Siding]

20. How can he weigh the loss of his boat with the lives it saved?

That is messed up. -and yes, PLEASE take my boat if you can save 200 people with it. Or one. If I had a boat :)

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

22. Wait, so the owner thinks Morice should have left a note?

:wtf:

Does this guy honestly think that a note would have survived the floodwaters? What a tool.

[Corgigal]

29. Good Samaritan Law

could apply here. The boat owner should just contact his insurance company and be done with it.

[HooptieWagon]

30. I think the rescuer was justified in borrowing the boat

However, he should have returned it in the condition it was when he borrowed it. If contacting the owner and returning the boat were not possible, then he should have turned it over to police, and explained the situation. Since it appears he kept the boat, he is probably guilty of theft - not for the initial act, but for not returning the boat afterwards.

The boat owner is due the fair market value of his boat (which it appears his insurance company offered), but I don't see why he should be entitled compensation for embarrassment and the rest of his claims. It doesn't sound like he has a case.

BTW, I'm not a lawyer.

Edit, after reading further:

It appears the rescuer abandoned the boat after using it, and was able to contact the owner's wife. He is probably liable for the market value of the boat, since he didn't make sufficient effort to return it. The article doesn't make clear if the owner is seeking "replacement value" of a new boat, or "replacement value" of a used boat of the same year, model, and condition. The owner is not entitled to a new boat; ie: he cannot profit from the situation; but he is entitled to what the boat was worth. If the insurance is short of that amount, then the rescuer is probably liable make up the difference (and the insurance company should be entitled to restitution of the amount they paid out).

[SoCalDem]

31. Easy solution.. The guy gives back the insurance money

the boat-borrower gives it back and submits a bill to owner for "saving" the boat from hurricane destruction..and for rent for storage ..

They agree to settle with no money changing hands:)

[ckramer]

36. The judge should dismiss the case

It's in a unusual situation.

[uppityperson]

39. Picture of Mark Morice and Ms.Gordon (from nola.com)

86-year-old Molly Gordon (left) visits with Mark Morice following a press conference Friday morning. Gordon credits Morice with saving her 93-year-old husband Irving Gordon's life.

Ellis Lucia / Times-Picayune

[KamaAina]

40. The moran left the keys in the ignition!

But all the boats his friends suggested either sank or already had been put to use, Morice said. On State Street Drive, however, he noticed two boats that appeared usable and used bolt cutters to cut gate locks and check them out. Morice said he took Lyons' because the keys were in the ignition. He said he didn't know who owned it.

Can you say "negligence"? Mr. KamaAina can!