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The Problem with the Erin Anderson Verdict

The Problem with the Erin Anderson Verdict

Sexual Assault

Stalking is a close cousin to sexual assault.  Sure there is no physical interaction, but most of the mental damage is the same.  Erin Anderson is a news reporter who recently won a $55M verdict against her stalker and Marriott corporation.  While I’m happy she had a successful day in court, it sets a ridiculous president, and at the end of the day, she really doesn’t get that much.

55 Million Dollars

This is a crazy number for this type of settlement.  Maybe it’s the high profile nature of the case, or maybe it’s because one of the plaintiffs has very deep pockets, but this is not a number anyone in the real world will ever see.  Real world settlements for things even worse than this generally are missing two to three zeros from anything close to this.  If you think a civil case will make you whole again, you are probably going to be disappointed.  Even if you do get a large settlement, it will quickly evaporate through the realities of the situation.

Show me the money?

Unless you are suing a multinational corporation or a multimillionaire, you might not get anywhere close to the award amount.  It doesn’t due you much good to sue a broke person who’s in prison.  And if you are suing someone who could potentially pay you but would lose most of their assets in the process, they will probably file for bankruptcy.  Then it’s game over.

Appeals

If the person/company is not likely to go belly up, they are probably going to appeal the award.  In the case of the Erin Anderson award, it will likely be cut by 1/3 or more.  So when you write off the $28 Million for the actual offender, take a third off the remaining $27 Million and if she is lucky it might end up at $20M.

Lawyers

Everyone has to be paid from your settlement.  If you received victim support through the Victim of Crime’s Act (VOCA), that money needs to be repaid.  Then your typical contingency lawyer is going to take between 30-40% of the award.   So now you are down to about $10-12M.  But wait there is more.

Taxes

Since this lawsuit only dealt with emotional distress and not physical harm, the award is taxable.  This is how a $55M award becomes a $5.5M award.

Final Tally

When all is said and done, you have several absurdities.  The perpetrator ended up paying nothing.  The victim received comparatively little of the actual award.  The lawyers ended up making the bulk of the money received.  The entity who ends up paying was the owner of the location where things took place.  Not exactly an example of enforcing accountability, or preventing this from happening to someone else.  Clearly there was some mistakes made by Marriott, but they were manipulated by someone who misrepresented their reasons for being there.  It’s difficult to protect against people doing things other than we expect them to do.

At the end of the day I hope Erin Anderson gets some peace of mind from the settlement, whatever the final tally.  For Marriott, a few million dollars is probably not going to make a difference.  Still it would be nice if the person responsible were the one made to pay, and not the party with the deepest pockets.

Let us know if we can help you dealing with your family’s sexual abuse situation. For ideas to get started please check out our book on what to do during the early days after disclosure.

Courtroom Insanity

Courtroom Insanity

Parenting

Nothing can truly prepare you for the things that will go on in the courtroom.   You will be asked obscure questions intended to confuse you or make you look less than credible.  You will probably be treated as a lier by the defense attorney.  And you will see a variety of attempts to play things off for the journey that this wasn’t what it is portrayed to be.  There are lots of variations.  Just try not to be too surprised.

Courtroom Dialogue

The following has been circulated for a while, but it puts things in perspective.

Courtroom Testimony
These are things people actually said in court, word for word, taken down and now published by court reporters who had the torment of staying calm and quiet while these exchanges were actually taking place.
ATTORNEY : When is your birthday?
WITNESS : July 18th.
ATTORNEY : What year?
WITNESS : Every year.
____________________________________
ATTORNEY : What gear were you in at the moment of the impact?
WITNESS : Gucci sweats and Reeboks.
_____________________________________
ATTORNEY : This myasthenia gravis, does it affect your memory at all?
WITNESS : Yes.
ATTORNEY : And in what ways does it affect your memory?
WITNESS : I forget.
ATTORNEY : You forget? Can you give us an example of something you forgot?
___________________________________
ATTORNEY : How old is your son, the one living with you?
WITNESS : Thirty-eight or thirty-five, I can’t remember which.
ATTORNEY : How long has he lived with you?
WITNESS : Forty-five years.
_____________________________________
ATTORNEY : Are you sexually active?
WITNESS : No, I just lie there.
_____________________________________________
ATTORNEY : What was the first thing your husband said to you that morning?
WITNESS : He said, “Where am I, Cathy?”
ATTORNEY : And why did that upset you?
WITNESS : My name is Susan.
______________________________________
ATTORNEY : Do you know if your daughter has ever been involved in voodoo?
WITNESS : We both do.
ATTORNEY : Voodoo?
WITNESS : We do.
ATTORNEY : You do?
WITNESS : Yes, voodoo.
______________________________________
ATTORNEY : Now doctor, isn’t it true that when a person dies in his sleep, he doesn’t know about it until the next morning?
WITNESS : Did you actually pass the bar exam?
___________________________________
ATTORNEY : The youngest son, the twenty-one year-old, how old is he?
WITNESS : Uh, he’s twenty-one.
________________________________________
ATTORNEY : Were you present when your picture was taken?
WITNESS : Would you repeat the question?
______________________________________
ATTORNEY : So the date of conception of the baby was August 8th?
WITNESS : Yes.
ATTORNEY : And what were you doing at that time?
WITNESS : Uh….
_____________________________________
ATTORNEY : She had three children, right?
WITNESS : Yes.
ATTORNEY : How many were boys?
WITNESS : None.
ATTORNEY : Were there any girls?
______________________________________
ATTORNEY : How was your first marriage terminated?
WITNESS : By death.
ATTORNEY : And by whose death was it terminated?
______________________________________
ATTORNEY : Can you describe the individual?
WITNESS : He was about medium height and had a beard.
ATTORNEY : Was this a male or a female?
______________________________________
ATTORNEY : Is your appearance here this morning pursuant to a deposition notice which I sent to your attorney?
WITNESS : No, this is how I dress when I go to work.
______________________________________
ATTORNEY : Doctor, how many of your autopsies have you performed on dead people?
WITNESS : All my autopsies are performed on dead people.
______________________________________
ATTORNEY : ALL your responses MUST be oral, OK? What school did you go to?
WITNESS : Oral.
______________________________________
ATTORNEY : Do you recall the time that you examined the body?
WITNESS : The autopsy started around 8:30 pm.
ATTORNEY : And Mr. Denton was dead at the time?
WITNESS : No, he was sitting on the table wondering why I was doing an autopsy on him!
______________________________________
ATTORNEY : Are you qualified to give a urine sample?
WITNESS : Huh?
______________________________________
As for the last!!!
ATTORNEY : Doctor, before you performed the autopsy, did you check for a pulse?
WITNESS : No.
ATTORNEY : Did you check for blood pressure?
WITNESS : No.
ATTORNEY : Did you check for breathing?
WITNESS : No.
ATTORNEY : So, then it is possible that the patient was alive when you began the autopsy?
WITNESS : No.
ATTORNEY : How can you be so sure, Doctor?
WITNESS : Because his brain was sitting on my desk in a jar.
ATTORNEY : But could the patient have still been alive, nevertheless?
WITNESS : Yes, it is possible that he could have been alive and practicing law.

Let us know if we can help you dealing with your family’s sexual abuse situation. For ideas to get started please check out our book on what to do during the early days after disclosure.

Justice is Optional

Justice is Optional

Sexual Abuse

When a parent finds out that their child has been molested, aside from wishing it didn’t happen, the main thing people want is justice.  There should be some sort of universal balancing, usually through the legal system, that leaves you with a sense that the offender has paid for his/her crime.  This is the promise of the legal system when you walk through doors of a police station or district attorney’s office.  They are going to get the bad guy and make them pay for their crimes.   Great, sign me up!

Reality Test

Reality is a lot less cut and dry.  The justice system is a well orchestrated dance that we as victims simply provide the basis for it’s continue momentum.  In one respect it is there to protect us, and in another it is there to protect the process.   The promises of the justice system represent the best intentions of the system, but not necessarily the reality that it will bring into your life.  So go into the halls of justice with your eyes open.

If you get the justice you are looking for – congratulations!  Chances are it will fall a little short of your expectations.  The one thing that isn’t optional is supporting your child to grow past their abuse, and not let it define their life.  There’s a saying that living well is the best revenge.  So let a good life for your child be your focus in dealing with their abuse because justice is optional.

Let us know if we can help you dealing with your family’s sexual abuse situation. For ideas to get started please check out our book on what to do during the early days after disclosure.