Sunday, Feb. 22, 2004
Lawsuit shit, posted at 8:24 p.m.
Epiphany in Baltimore has moved to epiphanyinbaltimore.blogspot.com This is the e-mail I just sent to the Dog Bite Law website. Dear Mr. Phillips:Thanks so much for your website. It has been an invaluable tool for me.
I am a dog owner and I was hoping you could help me with any advice you might be able to give. I'm a public school teacher in severe danger of being laid off, and cannot incur the costs of an attorney right now.
The alleged attack happened in March 2003. My dog, a chunky Collie/Sheperd Mix with no history of dog bites or violence, apparently attacked a garbageman who was in my backyard responding to my house for unknown reasons. I'm in Baltimore, MD.
A few things:
1. I don't know why the garbage man was there. He was far away from trash pickup, but was trying to get our attention for some reason. The only other time garbagemen have done this at our house, it was to obtain a bribe to take away the trash. I'm not sure why he was in the backyard, although this is the only thing I can think of.
2. He was banging on the side of the house and yelling, and my roommate came downstairs - woken up - and opened the back door. Holding onto his dog, my dog scooted out and ran up to the guy, jumping on him and allegedly biting him. I don't know if he went to the doctor or not, but I think he did. My roommate didn't mean to let my dog out.
3. I was not home at the time, in fact was out of the city. My roommate said that if he was bit, it was very minor, and he thinks he was more hurt by trying to jump over the fence and scraping himself.
4. A police report was filed and because my dog was taken away, as he had to be imprisoned for 10 days to determine if he was dangerous. He was deemed just fine. I paid a very hefty fine for all of this already. I have a very friendly dog. I have tons of people over all the time for house concerts (my venue is called Holden's Lair, after him), and he's very personable with everyone. He's so friendly a dog that I've had people lining up to write affidafits defending his friendliness.
5. His lawyer has never returned any call I've made to them about amicably resolving the case.
6. I have had a lawsuit for $10,000 filed against me. I have nothing to lose and no insurance. I rent, and have not told my landlord about the incident because she's an old woman and I don't want to upset her and don't want to drag her into it if I don't have to.
7. I'm currently at the interrogatory point of the case. I'm drafting my questions and getting a little help from a lawyer friend, who doesn't know a great deal about dogbite cases. I received my interrogatory yesterday from the plaintiff.
8. The one time I was able to talk to the lawyer on the phone, he mentioned that the injuries were surface and minor, and that they had doctor's statements about it. I assume I'll be getting all that when I file the interrogatory. I'm running on the assumption that my dog did bite the guy, but that he was trespassing and it was very minor. He definitely was trespassing, but I don't know where to check on to whether he had a right to be in the backyard, banging on the house, rather than walking around and knocking on the front door. The man is definitely lying in some ways, saying that the dog attacked him in the head (totally untrue) and that I was careless and negligent even though I was not home.
Thanks in advance for your help.
-Epiphany in Baltimore
And, if there are any lawyer types reading this, I'd love some feedback on these interrogatories that I'm working on:
TO: (Lying Bastard Garbage Man), Plaintiff.
By: (Epiphany in Baltimore), Defendant.
You are requested to answer the following Interrogatories:
a. These Interrogatories are continuing in character, requiring you to file supplementary Answers if you obtain further or different information before trial.
b. Where the name or identity of a person is requested, please state full name, home and business address.
c. Unless otherwise indicated, these Interrogatories refer to the time, place, and circumstances of the occurrence mentioned in the complaint or the pleadings.
d. Where knowledge or information in the possession of a party is requested, such request includes knowledge of the party�s agents, representatives and, unless privileged, his attorneys. When Answer is made by corporate defendant, state the name, address and title of the person supplying the information and making the affidavit, and the source of his information.
e. The pronoun �you� refers to the party to whom these Interrogatories are addressed.
1. Name the eyewitnesses to any part of the occurrence and furnish the exact location of such persons at the time of the occurrence.
2. Name any person, not heretofore mentioned, having personal knowledge of facts material to this case.
3. Describe in detail who you are, what your profession is, and why you were at my residence on the date of the occurrence.
4. Explain why you were in the backyard, yelling and banging on the outside of the house, as opposed to going to the front door and knocking.
5. Describe in detail policies of your company in regards to entering without permission the property of a person who you are responding to, including providing any written policies about trespassing and/or entering property without permission and the company�s guidelines for how to get the attention of persons inside a house.
6. Describe in detail any injuries derived from the alleged incident. Provide medical forms proving the injuries.
7. Describe what expenses resulted from alleged incident, including copies of bills and medical records.
8. Describe the �mental anguish� you allegedly suffered, including copies of bills and medical records.
9. State whether you missed work as a result of the alleged incident, and what response or penalties were given by your place of employment. Provide written documentation of missed time.
10. Name all experts whom you propose to call as witness and state their specialty and attach to your Answers copies of all written reports made to you by such experts.
11. Give a concise statement of the facts as to how the occurrence took place.
12. State why none of four phone calls were returned by you or your lawyer, forcing this case to trial instead of an amicable agreement.