Have there been any court cases where a burglar sued a homeowner...?

Question

...when he/she was trying to gain access into the home and was injured? What was the outcome of the case?

I remember seeing that in the movie Liar Liar, but is it based on anything?

I was telling my mom about it, and couldn't be sure if it really happened. Do you guys have any sources? I'd like to show them to her.

Answer 1

BURGLAR breaks in. Homeowner shoots burglar. Burglar sues homeowner. Insurance company settles with burglar. Argghhh! Nothing is more infuriating than criminals turning around and suing law-abiding citizens.

http://starbulletin.com/98/02/11/editorial/chang.html

Robber sues victims who beat him up
June 10, 2006 New York
After an armed robber stole money from auto parts store, two employees beat him with a metal pipe and held him down. He managed to escape, but was arrested a week later, and was subsequently charged and sentenced to 18 years in prison. Now the robber is suing the store employees, claiming they committed assault and battery and intentionally inflicted emotional distress.

http://drwallin.com/news.shtml

In Britain, The Criminal Sues The Victim: I think some of the Brit politicians are a bit confused about law. See, when they call it a "criminal justice system", that doesn't mean that it's primarily designed to get justice for the criminals. Read this story from The Sun and you'll see what I mean...

"FURY erupted last night after David Blunkett's lawyers said burglars need protection from householders.

They insist villains deserve to be treated like any member of the public - and MUST be able to sue homeowners who attack them during a break-in.

...Mr Blunkett last night insisted he had nothing to do with the ruling.

His aides refused to condemn it - confirming that criminals are entitled to rights.

But Shadow Home Secretary Oliver Letwin said..."The world has clearly gone mad. Why on earth should I be able to sue for things that happen while I am in the process of burgling?"

Leaked papers show they (Home Office lawyers) believe burglars should be guaranteed protection from homeowners who try to protect their properties.

The document says: "It cannot possibly be suggested that members of the public cease to be members of the public whilst committing criminal offences."

This is simply bizarre! I cannot imagine how anyone could vote for politicians who think this way. As far as I'm concerned, if you break into someone's home, you're taking your life into your own hands. I don't care if you're armed or unarmed, how old you are, or whether you're a choir boy when you're not breaking into houses, if you get caught in the act the homeowner has every right to shoot first (or stab them with a steak knife if you're a gunless Brit) and ask questions later. As a matter of fact, if you shoot a burglar who breaks into your house, I think you deserve an "attaboy", not to be harassed by a bunch of politicians who seem hell-bent on making it easier for criminals to victimize law abiding citizens.

http://www.rightwingnews.com/category.php?cat=20

Answer 2

In other words, a burglar fell through a skylight, and blamed the skylight’s owners for his injuries; because the law permits such suits, and because the law does not compensate defendants for successful defenses, Bodine had the ability to extort hundreds of thousands of dollars from taxpayers for injuries suffered in the course of his own criminal behavior. Bodine’s only hope of recovery is the law’s rejection of proximate cause as prerequisite to liability. Assemblyman Alister McAlister, the Democratic legislator who used the story to push for reform, described the facts correctly. McAllister didn’t mention that Bodine was 19, but so what? He didn’t mention that Bodine was 6’1″ and a waiter, either, and all three facts are irrelevant. Lilliedoll accuses McAlister of falsely claiming that the legal theory was “failure to warn,” but that’s hardly an inaccurate description of a duty-to-trespassers theory: the alleged duty could have been fulfilled by posting visible warnings to trespassers of the dangers of traversing the roof.

Answer 3

Yep.
A skylight... a burglar had tried to break in once before. The owners thought he would try it again, so they rigged up an electric fence inside the window. He breaks in, gets killed. The burglar's family sues, and wins.

I think the main reason why they won, is the home owners knew they were going to put him at danger. If this were accident, it would be different.

Answer 4

I read somewhere about a guy who tried breaking in to some people's house while they were on vacation. He somehow got locked in the garage and couldn't get out, and was trapped in there for some time, only able to eat the dog food and soda they had stored in there. He sued for some kind of emotional trauma and won.

Answer 5

I dont know but, Lord Denning in Murphy v Culhane did give an example of such a situation.

The situation whereby, if a houseowner shoots a burglar and he dies, the houseowner having used more force than necessary can be convicted of manslaughter but it is doubtful whether the burglars window can succeed in a claim for damages against the houseowner.

Answer 6

yes..i can't remember the city but a guy sued and got damages because he got the beat down and ended up in the hospital..the homeowner ended up having to pay hospital bills....no joke..

Answer 7

Robber was leaving house with baby, Father shot robber and robber sued and lost.

Another case: Robber was leaving out window with TV, homeowner shot robber and robber won in court.

The difference in cases was what the robber was carrying and the rational of treats vs. actions.

Answer 8

yes i a man in new orleans tried to break in the homeowners house but fell through the roof and landed on a knife then sued i dont remeber the outcome it was about seven years ago

Answer 9

Yes, and they have won. Curious as to know why you want to know.

Answer 10

yes and they have won, thakfully we do have an appeals court and i hope the cases are "righted"