A FINE FOR KIND HEARTS

This one is from a little while back now but is definitely worth repeating:

Leaving cookies for a neighbour can get you fined? It is the neurotic neighbour who should have been fined for being a nuisance

Out of school for the summer last year, Taylor Ostergaard and Lindsey Jo Zellitti, 17 and 18 at the time, were looking for a project. One evening they decided to make some home-baked cookies to bring cheer to their neighbors. They had to skip a dance to do it, but Taylor asked her father for permission for the cookie project. He gave his permission with two conditions: the chores had to be done, and he had to get some of the cookies!

By the time the cookies were all made the sun was just dipping below the horizon, so Taylor and Lindsey rushed out to deliver them, only stopping at the houses of their Durango, Colo., neighbors where lights were on inside. Part of the idea was to do anonymous good deeds, so they put a message on each plate. Written on a big red heart, it read: "Have a great night. Love, The T and L Club."

One of the nine neighbors they delivered to was the Young's. Wanita "Renea" Young, 49, was home, and a light was on in her kitchen. The teens put a plate of cookies on her porch, knocked at the door, and scampered off -- they were doing anonymous good deeds, after all, so it wouldn't work if they were seen!

Renea says she was startled to hear someone at the door at night and called out, "Who's there?" Of course, the two gals were already gone. With no reply forthcoming, Renea says she was so terrified that she called 911. The sheriff responded and found no signs of trouble, no vandalism, no trespass -- just a plate of cookies. The next day she was still suffering from such severe anxiety she thought she was having a heart attack. She checked into the emergency room, but she was not having any heart problems.

When Taylor and Lindsey found out a neighbor had been frightened by their good deed, they were horrified. Quite understandably, they chose not to go knocking at Renea's door, so each sent her a letter of apology. Taylor's said in part she "didn't realize this would cause trouble for you. ... I just wanted you to know that someone cared about you and your family."

The Ostergaard and Zellitti families offered to pay Renea's medical bills -- about $900 worth -- if she would sign a release saying she wouldn't sue. An over-reaction? Not in this day in age. Renea refused to sign the release. She said that she was not satisfied with the written apologies, in large part because they weren't delivered in person, so she filed suit in La Plata County Small Claims Court. The suit demanded $3,000 to cover her medical expenses, a motion-sensor light for her porch, lost wages, and punitive damages.

Taylor and Lindsey quickly learned an important life lesson: good deeds often don't go unpunished.

The teens brought letters from other neighbors saying they liked the cookies, they found the gift a lovely surprise -- and noted that they weren't terrified by the girls' gift. Taylor's parents also wrote to the court. "We feel that knocking on a door and leaving cookies is a gesture of kindness," they said, "and would not create an anxiety attack in the general public."

Judge Doug Walker heard the case. Since the families had offered to pay Renea's medical bills, he awarded her the $900, but no more -- no motion-sensor light, no punitive damages, no lost wages, no pain and suffering.

Taylor "cried and cried" when she and Lindsey lost in court, her mother Jill says. "She felt she was being punished for doing something nice." The teens declined to make a statement to reporters.

But Renea was happy to talk. Despite her victory in court, she was far from conciliatory. She said the girls showed "very poor judgment" and shouldn't have been "running around" at night since "something bad could have happened to them." (You mean, some evil Cookie Monster could sue them or something?) As for her lawsuit, she said she hopes "the girls learned a lesson." She also appeared on CNN, claiming the girls pounded on the door so hard they damaged it.

But even with final judgment of the local court, the story was far from over. The story came out in the state's largest newspaper, and people from all over Colorado were outraged that someone would be so mean as to sue two teens trying to do something nice for their neighbors. They had even apologized, in writing, and offered to pay her medical bills! Scores of people offered to donate to a fund to pay the legal judgment; several offered to pay it all. The girls said if they ended up with more money than the court awarded, they'd donate it to the "Never Forgotten" scholarship fund for students from Columbine High, the Denver-area school that was the scene of the 1999 mass-murder shooting spree by two students. If donors preferred, they'd use the money for their own college educations. So much money rolled in they added other charities, including two children's hospitals.

But that's not the end either. Within days the story spread throughout the country. Taylor and Lindsey were invited to appear on various TV shows, from "Good Morning America" to "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno". They turned down most of the requests. "We were afraid Mr. Leno might make jokes at our neighbor's expense," said Lindsey's mother, Martha. But they did appear on GMA since they "thought it might be their one shot to tell the country they're still not afraid to do good deeds." She stressed the two families were not upset with the Youngs or the judge.

Taylor's mother agreed with the low public profile. "The girls don't need to go on these shows to defend themselves," Jill Ostergaard says. "Their best defense is the way they live their lives every day."

Sadly, Richard Ostergaard felt it necessary to go back to court the day after the judgment: he got a restraining order against Renea's husband, Herb Young. Herb, he said, was making harassing phone calls to them. Herb says his phone has been ringing a lot too, and that he and his wife have been getting insults and threats from "crackpots". They claim they have been told they "are what's wrong with society" and that they "should be found dead in a ditch."

"I don't believe the girls meant for this to happen," Herb says. "But they could have prevented it from happening if they had just shut their mouths when they came out of court." Yet remember, the girls refused to make any statement to reporters after they lost their case, and only relented and appeared on some talk shows after Renea started talking to the media. The initial newspaper report was built from court records -- and Renea's statements to the press. Yet they complained "their side" was ignored in the press.

"All this over cookies," Renea says, completely missing the point. She says she's "devastated" by the reaction to her suit, and is so stressed she can't return to her part-time job at Wal-Mart.

Let's hope she doesn't sue over her continuing stress. A check of court records by the Denver Post found that the cookie case wasn't the first time the Youngs had been in court. They had sued, or been sued, at least nine times, with at least two of the cases involving restraining orders, the Post says. They were sued by a bank, a creditor, a construction company, an employee, and more -- and most of the time they lost.

"Our home is like a funeral parlor," Renea comlpains. "They've robbed us of our laughter. My spirit, my soul, is damaged." She says she and Herb may have to move out of town.

(Story no longer online at original source but mentioned here)






MAN WALKS FREE BECAUSE THE TRUTH IS "INADMISSABLE" AND "PREJUDICIAL"

Nearly five years after Rhonda Buckley was found strangled in her Newcastle home, a man was due to go on trial on Monday for her murder. But yesterday Lyle Simpson, 47, was suddenly released from jail after the case was no-billed - shelved unless further evidence comes to light.

The Director of Public Prosecutions, Nicholas Cowdery, QC, refused to disclose why Simpson had walked free, outraging the Victims of Crime Assistance League and the Buckley family. "There could be reasons, I don't know what they are. The comment is no comment," the DPP's spokesman said yesterday.

Mrs Buckley was found strangled in bed at about 7.30pm on September 25, 2001.

The Herald understands crucial evidence against Simpson was deemed inadmissable, but the DPP does not have to tell the court its reasons. The defence claimed in pre-trial hearings, which began on Tuesday, that Simpson was still suffering from carbon monoxide poisoning when he was interviewed by police - he had tried to gas himself in the car the day after Mrs Buckley's death. NSW Supreme Court judge Justice Anthony Whealy was due to rule yesterday on whether the interview could be used in the trial. He had already ruled Simpson's attempted suicide was inadmissable because it was prejudicial.

Phone calls police allege Simpson made to his wife telling her he had "killed two sheilas" were also ruled inadmissable.

More here


(And don't forget your ration of Wicked Thoughts for today)