b.c he was supposedly hit in the face by a paintball booo fucking hoo .

Even if he did supposedly get hit in the eye; at most he should get a couple $thousand to pay for medical. As it does not sound like he lost his eye or anything. $3 Million though?????

Sounds like a case of someone wanting something that is not their's but is using the legal route this time, while behind bars, instead of the gun and run gangsta route.

Quote :

"An inmate at the Arthur Kill Correctional Facility in Staten Island claims, as he was playing basketball in the outdoor prison yard, he was smacked in the face with an orange paintball from an adjacent business and now, he's suing. Steve McMillan, 42, claims in his $3-million lawsuit, the 20-foot-high chain-link fence surrounding the prison didn't keep him safe, and as a result he suffered eye injuries when he was struck by an out-of-control paintball on April 19. McMillan, who is reportedly serving a two to four year prison term for a felony grand-larceny conviction in Manhattan, is slated to represent himself in court when he goes up against the Staten Island Paintball Center. According to medical records, McMillan's left eyes was swollen and he complained of blurred vision following the alleged incident. His hands, face and clothes were apparently covered with orange paint, although none appeared to be in his eye. "

http://www.wpix.com/news/local/wpix-inmate-sues,0,7667763.story

7/8/2009 8:53:53 AM

you realize that just the act of suing doesn't mean he will get the money, right?

7/8/2009 9:33:04 AM

i find it interesting that there is a paintball field that close to a prison.

also, inmate ain't hard.

7/8/2009 9:40:08 AM

Relatively speaking, this doesn't seem all that frivolous.

3 million is a lot of money, but I've heard of much larger settlements for lesser offenses. Also, I'm pretty sure a paintball is going to mangle the fuck out of an eyeball; at the very least causing permanent damage to vision. Combined with the fact that his life is currently under the control of the state, a suit seems appropriate.

However, the validity of his claim is another matter entirely.

7/8/2009 9:42:53 AM

Normally I'd say that he should at least get reimbursed for medical expenses he incurred and the price of replacing his clothes but I guess both of those were $0 out of pocket for this guy.

So we're left with pain and suffering. There isn't enough info the article to make a determination of how much damage his eye sustained. 3 million? Maybe... if the eye was a total loss. You eye swelled up for a day? Frivolous.

It also says:

Quote :

"Dean Del Prete, president of Cousins Paintball, which leases and operates the paintball facility said he has some questions regarding the allegations since netting was installed on its fence in order to prevent accidents from occurring. He also said the paintball fields are surrounded by woods and the jail's basketball court doesn't border his center making it out of harms way. "My gut instinct is it sounds like a fraudulent case," Del Prete told The Staten Island Advance.. "I don't think the {paint} balls can go that far." "

Sure, the guy has to give a side of the story that covers his interests. Seems like it would be fairly easy to shoot a paintball at an upward angle to arc it over any fences.

[Edited on July 8, 2009 at 9:54 AM. Reason : -]

7/8/2009 9:53:06 AM

^ How could it even be an issue whether he got hit or not... I mean when got hit, didn't it cause a commotion and didn't guard come by to help him?

7/8/2009 10:00:32 AM

Yeah, you'd think. Then the paint ball guy would also have to explain away the whole orange paint at the scene thing.

7/8/2009 11:06:15 AM

What proof is there that the paintball even came from the paintball center. For all we know some kid who brought his own paintball gun fired a
few rounds off into the air (in the direction of the prison) while fucking around in the parking lot; which is of course outside the nets and
other safety devices used by the company.

7/8/2009 11:20:35 AM

You can map the places out in google maps. 2911 Arthur Kill Road and 2727 Arthur Kill Road on Staten Island. They are far enough apart that if someone shot a paintball on a big arc to get it over the fence and to the court that it seems like it would be going pretty slow by that point.

7/8/2009 11:45:18 AM

It bothers me that so many people out there think that accidents are like winning lottery tickets.

Also, the inmate who tried to sue Michael Vick for "crushing his dreams and dashing his hopes" was much funnier.

[Edited on July 8, 2009 at 11:51 AM. Reason : .]

7/8/2009 11:51:08 AM

Maybe I'll sue Lexus when I step in front of an IS-250 in a parking lot and get hit.

STEPS TO GETTING AHEAD IN THE US

1.) Find a dangerous situation or activity in which common sense would normally prevent any sort of injury (do not make it to dangerous as you want to be able to spend your lawsuit money when u strike it big)
2.) Get yourself hurt in such a manner using step 1 that it looks like an accident.
3.) Go to hospital/doctor to have stubbed tow/strained back/minor burn/flesh wound repaired
4.) Hire lawyer to create law suit with an arbitrary overly exaggerated number in the $millions to sue for b.c of your "pain and suffering"
5.) Profit!$!$!$!$!

7/8/2009 12:27:29 PM

^good thing we live in NC, where contributory negligence prevents people from winning lawsuits similar to what you described.

7/8/2009 12:30:50 PM

^^assuming this guy was actually hit by a paintball, how does your argument apply at all to this situation? was he standing there, eyes wide open with the hopes of getting hit with an errant paintball one day?

7/8/2009 12:53:13 PM

I think this case sounds reasonable.

Just because the guy is a convicted criminal, doesn't mean we can do whatever the fuck we want with him. He claims he was hurt because the state was doing an inadequate job of protecting him. If he has permanent damage to his vision, then he should compensated well beyond the thousands of dollars of initial medical bills.

How much more? I don't know. Depends on the extent to which he can prove his injuries. But I don't see any problem with the guy suing for this much.

7/8/2009 12:58:47 PM

Quote :

"I think this case sounds reasonable. "

$3 Fucking Million Reasonable

not to mention there is no proof the paintball came from the company and not some punk in the parking lot with a paintball gun.

7/8/2009 1:36:25 PM

the "company" was a paintball course. even if it was "some punk in the parking lot", he was there shooting paint balls because of the course.

7/8/2009 2:19:43 PM

so if I'm Ming Lee's laundry mat and my neighbor Jim's Gun range pisses me off. I go to the gun range parking lot. While no one is looking discharge a few rounds at my laundry mat. Go back and try to claim that the gun range is at fault since some customer had a bullet somehow ricochet from the range to my laundromat; breaking a few windows as well as my laundry equipment andas causing "damaging" stress. Profit$

7/8/2009 2:34:24 PM

Do you really think that is what happened? I'm not saying $3 million is reasonable if he hasn't had permanent damage done, but seriously, do you think the scenario you put forth is remotely likely? Playing the devil's advocate is fun and whatever, but don't be retarded about it.

7/8/2009 2:38:36 PM

That line is 383 feet long.






A paintball weighs 3 to 4 grams.

7/8/2009 2:55:58 PM

are you sure there isn't a wooded part of the paintball facility?

7/8/2009 3:24:34 PM

dismissed with prejudice

7/8/2009 3:24:52 PM

^^I'm making an assumption there. The dude says the fields are surrounded by woods. If the paintball fields were actually in the woods, I don't know if he would have worded it that way.

It seems like that to get a paintball to go over the fence, you'd have to be in the clearing anyways to get the shot off at an elevated angle.

7/8/2009 3:38:26 PM

and the paintball facility owner would have no reason to imply that the paintball couldn't have possibly come from his facility.

[Edited on July 8, 2009 at 3:40 PM. Reason : .]

7/8/2009 3:40:15 PM

1. paintball makes it into prison yard
2. inmate crushes paintball onto clothes and face with hands
3. ...
4. profit

7/8/2009 3:43:11 PM

Quote :

"It seems like that to get a paintball to go over the fence, you'd have to be in the clearing anyways to get the shot off at an elevated angle."

i can easily see a group of guys out playing paintball saying "hey, know what? there's a prison across the road over there. let's go take some pot-shots at them"

7/8/2009 3:47:55 PM

I can see the prison guards in the tower just to the north having a problem with something like that.

7/8/2009 4:06:13 PM

^the only problem the guards would have would be with jealousy and containing their laughter.

7/8/2009 4:23:02 PM

modlin,

I am not sure what you're arguing. That the guy was not infact hit with a paintball? If so, he jammed paint into his own eye on the off chance he would get $3 million? Must be a gambling man, I guess.

In any case, sure, it is possible he is making the whole thing up. But none of us can know that now. So we've pretty much got two possibilities.

#1 The guy is telling the truth, and he does have permanent eye damage from being struck by a paintball from the neighboring business. In that case, I don't think $3 million is unreasonable. And I'm not sure how anyone can argue with that. Unless one doesn't think vision is that valuable (lose yours and see how it feels) or that criminals deserve to be mistreated.

#2 He is lying, and his lies are so obvious a novice can sort them out with Google Earth. In that case, I am sure it will come out in court.

But in short, I think the thread has already run its course in less than 50 posts. Unless it is driven by speculation and self righteous blustering for 30 pages.

[Edited on July 8, 2009 at 4:33 PM. Reason : ``]

7/8/2009 4:28:44 PM

Quote :

"Welcome to our newest location in Staten Island. We have 20 acreas of woods with hills, streams and bunkers. Come out and enjoy a great day of paintball just minutes from NYC"

Looks like the course encompasses more than just the open area.

7/8/2009 4:36:43 PM

Quote :

"self righteous blustering for 30 pages"

This is what The Soap Box should be renamed to.

[Edited on July 8, 2009 at 4:50 PM. Reason : ]

7/8/2009 4:49:52 PM

Quote :

"I am not sure what you're arguing. That the guy was not infact hit with a paintball? If so, he jammed paint into his own eye on the off chance he would get $3 million? Must be a gambling man, I guess. "

I've said I think he's fraudulating. The OP says he had paint on his hands, face and clothes were covered in paint, but there was not any in his eye. So he got some paint, and got someone to hit him in the eye, or did it himself.


^^Good point with that. So they could certainly get closer.

7/8/2009 4:55:09 PM

Quote :

"the only problem the guards would have would be with jealousy and containing their laughter."

The guards aren't gonna let people shoot inmates with anything that looks like it could be a real gun.

7/8/2009 4:56:35 PM

Socks``

Quote :

"he jammed paint into his own eye on the off chance he would get $3 million"

HUR

Quote :

"According to medical records, McMillan's left eyes was swollen and he complained of blurred vision following the alleged incident. His hands, face and clothes were apparently covered with orange paint, although none appeared to be in his eye. ""

you are a tool if you seriously believe this guy deserves anything above the costs of medical bills, a couple thousands for pain and "suffering" , and a swift
kick in the ass by the prison guards.

7/8/2009 4:58:20 PM

^ As I have stated previously, I think $3 million is not unreasonable IF he was struck by a paintball and IF it caused permanent damage (not ruled out in the article you posted).

IF he was struck by a paintball and IF it caused permanent damage, would you still think $3 million would be unreasonable? If so, why?

7/8/2009 5:34:50 PM

I'm kind of surprised that there are actually people out there who think that this guy deserves anything more than appropriate medical attention for his eye (for whatever damage may have occured if any). Shit happens sometimes, get over it. I don't even know how this guy thinks the state should protect him from objects falling out of the sky anyway, build a giant net over the basketball course? Personally my idea would be to keep him locked inside his cell all day.

7/8/2009 5:42:21 PM

Letting someone build a paintball field next to a prison yard is pretty negligent.

7/8/2009 6:46:59 PM

Quote :

"IF he was struck by a paintball and IF it caused permanent damage, would you still think $3 million would be unreasonable? If so, why?"

I did in my OP.

Where does $3 million come from. It definitely does represent potential lost wages even if he does have a sore eye. Nor is this anywhere in the ball park of his medical expenses.

Even if the prison was next to Big Jim's gun range and the bullet ricocheted and lodged in the guy's eye which then had to be removed I would not say this is $3million.

Shit happens just b.c u get inconvenienced or injured does not mean u won the fucking lottery and the right to sue for ridiculous amounts of money. Medical plus $20,000 sounds reasonable, $3 Million sounds reasonably ridiculous.

7/8/2009 6:55:27 PM

Quote :

"Looks like the course encompasses more than just the open area."

Sure enough. Looks like the course also uses blue paintballs.

7/8/2009 8:09:53 PM

Quote :

"Sure enough. Looks like the course also uses blue paintballs."

You've cracked the case! Contact the authorities!!

7/8/2009 8:24:54 PM

.-HUR,

Quote :

"Where does $3 million come from. It definitely does represent potential lost wages even if he does have a sore eye. "

I'm not sure why the figure should only represent lost wages. If a computer programmer lost his leg in a auto accident, does that mean he shouldn't sue the person that hit him? After all, it probably wont significantly impact his wages over time. My point is that valuing the cost of injuries does not, and should not, depend solely on their impact on one's wages.

[Edited on July 8, 2009 at 8:55 PM. Reason : ``]

7/8/2009 8:49:57 PM

I'm sure that he's already gotten an awesome prison nickname out of it. I don't see the need for $3 million on top of that.

7/8/2009 9:11:52 PM

Quote :

"It definitely does represent potential lost wages even if he does have a sore eye. Nor is this anywhere in the ball park of his medical expenses. "

if it affects his vision, that means he's going to have problems with depth perception for the rest of his life. that is going to prohibit him from getting certain jobs once he gets out of prison. Lets ignore that one though, since he's a felon and would never land a worthwhile job doing anything legal ever again.

however, that loss of depth perception and creation of a blind spot is going to potentially prevent him from doing things he once enjoyed doing, such as playing basketball, shooting dice, making homemade shivs out of toothbrushes, and committing grand larceny. He's probably at a higher risk of dying early now, since all a person has to do to sneak up on him and shank him is stand in his blind spot. He's going to need a lot of money to buy cigarettes to use for bribing protection from other inmates.

Medical expenses cost a shit-ton for inmates as well. if they want anything resembling real medical assistance, they have to pay out of pocket for the coverage and for guards and transportation to take them to see a doctor that actually gives a shit about what they do. Since that probably never happened immediately following the accident, he's probably got damage that's never going to be completely reversible and is going to be expensive to get slightly repaired.


[Edited on July 8, 2009 at 9:35 PM. Reason : .]

7/8/2009 9:33:38 PM

Quote :

" if it affects his vision, that means he's going to have problems with depth perception for the rest of his life"

Swelling, blurred vision, no paint in the eye. It sounds like he got punched in the orbital region pretty good, not nailed in the eye with a paint ball. If that were the case, he'd have swelling, burning, blurred/lost vision, and paint in his damn eye.

From the sounds of it theeres a good chance he either did it himself, or maybe got hit in the chest, smeared it on his face, and hit himself/had someone give him a black eye

7/9/2009 9:08:37 AM

sounds like you guys have it all figured out. Why even bother having a judge review the case? Just send them to this thread where the sleuths here have cracked it wide open!

7/9/2009 9:23:58 AM

^ haha tell me about it.

7/9/2009 9:35:35 AM

How is it that I can sue McD's for $millions way beyond just the cost of medical treatment when the dumb cashier causes me 1st degree (maybe 2nd degree) burns from spilling very hot coffee on my hand for "pain and suffering." Yet typical life insurances policies if i were to kick the bucket do not approach anywhere near this amount.

$20,000 for "pain and suffering" might be reasonable. $3 million is completely frivolous and gross excessive given the nature of the incident. Why stop there maybe he should get $40 Million for "pain and suffering".

A couple years ago there was an incident where a judge sued a chinese immigrant laundry mat for $X Millions of dollars for fucking up his suit. Somehow he derived some rediculous calculations to justify.

7/9/2009 10:57:28 AM

How much money would you sell your eye for?

7/9/2009 10:59:04 AM

^ That is a red herring and has no relevance to this discussion. How much would i pay to lose an arm? That does not mean I will be entitled to $2 Billion if my lawn mower explodes, blowing my arm off. There has to be a point when the compensation for an accidental at-fault injury cause by someone else reaches excessive else there will be lawsuits to $ Infinity.

7/9/2009 11:04:26 AM

Quote :

"$3 million is completely frivolous and gross excessive given the nature of the incident. "

That's what he's suing for - it doesn't mean that's what he's going to get, if anything.

He would probably be wise to settle for 10s or 100s of $k.

7/9/2009 12:22:25 PM

[Edited on July 9, 2009 at 12:26 PM. Reason : dub]

7/9/2009 12:26:39 PM