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July 9, 2006
Something for Nothing
Posted by Dave Blount at July 9, 2006 5:57 PM
The something-for-nothing siren song popularized by trial lawyers is causing more than a few people to crash on the rocks. In a particularly appalling example, William Allen Cunningham faces charges for repeatedly poisoning his own children's soup. The objective: to extort money from Campbell's by threatening to sue.
The poor kids, aged 3 years and 18 months, had to be taken to the emergency room on three occasions after drinking soup laced with substances like Prozac and Amitriptyline.
According to U.S. Attorney David Nahmias:
He did contact Campbell's during the course of these poisonings to tell Campbell's that their soup was tainted and they had some interaction with him both on the phone and by mail which is why he's also charged with mail and wire fraud and communicating a false statement about tampering with food.
The charges against Cunningham — three counts of tampering with consumer products, one count of mail fraud, one count of wire fraud, and one count of communicating a false statement that the consumer product has been tampered with — could earn him up to 75 years.
Strangely, there seem to be no charges directly pertaining to knowingly poisoning his children. As for their current health, prosecutors decline to comment.
Hat tip: Overlawyered
