[ql06] TORT: Bambi v. Dr Phil
- From: "Ken Campbell" <2kc16@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <ql06@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 19 Nov 2003 22:17:08 -0500
Been busy for a bit! Not able to pass along news items. Saved a couple
of note...
Poor Bambi...! The Post hardly captures her dramatic story.
And what an ignominious end for the curious female from Milwaukee.
Amputation and Dr. Phil.
Bembenek's escape and hiding out in Canada was big news back when I was
a little journalist.
Two tort actions she is claiming:
[ ] Imprisonment
[ ] Intentional infliction of emotional distress.
But I wonder if they will be dismissed on the basis of the contract? In
other words, as we just dealt with in our Contract Law case comment
(Prinzo v. Baycrest), it's difficult to get non-economic damages in a
breach of contract. She has no income, it's all non-economic. So it
would have to be extremely egregious behavior from Dr. Phil's crew.
Ken.
--
The awareness of the ambiguity of one's highest achievements
(as well as one's deepest failures) is a definite symptom of
maturity.
-- Paul Tillich
--- cut here ---
Bambi sues Dr. Phil after TV plan costs her a leg
Mary Vallis
National Post
Friday, November 14, 2003
A murderer who spent three months on the lam in Canada is suing the Dr.
Phil show over the amputation of her right leg.
Laurie "Bambi" Bembenek, a former model, Milwaukee police officer and
Playboy club waitress, spent nearly a decade in a Wisconsin prison for
the murder of her then-husband's ex-wife, Christine Schultz. Ms. Schultz
was shot to death in 1981 while asleep in her Milwaukee home.
Bembenek, 45, has always maintained her innocence. Last year, in an
attempt to clear her name, she won a motion for DNA testing on evidence
related to the case.
Dr. Phil McGraw, host of the popular self-help TV program that carries
his name, agreed to pay for the tests if Bembenek made an exclusive
appearance on his show to unveil the findings.
While awaiting the results in November, 2002, Ms. Bembenek was put up in
a Marina del Rey, Calif., apartment with an official from the show. Her
lawsuit, filed this week in Los Angeles Superior Court, accuses the
show's producers of holding her against her will and intentionally
causing emotional distress.
In court papers, Ms. Bembenek alleges the producers confined her to the
second-floor apartment with no television, radio or telephone. They were
trying to ensure she did not learn the results of the test before Dr.
Phil conveyed them to her on his show.
Ms. Bembenek alleges she was constantly filmed. Her lawsuit says she was
asked to hand over her cellphone, which she says she needed to stay in
contact with her gravely ill father. The lawsuit also alleges Ms.
Bembenek suffered a panic attack because her time in prison, which
included several months in solitary confinement, left her with a stress
disorder and claustrophobia.
She attempted to "escape" by tying together two bedsheets and climbing
out a window. But the sheets came apart and she fell, damaging arteries
and fracturing bones in her right leg. Her leg was eventually amputated
below the knee.
The lawsuit alleges the producers were aware of Ms. Bembenek's fragile
mental state.
"She was falsely imprisoned by The Dr. Phil Show," Stephen Bernard, Ms.
Bembenek's lawyer, said in an interview. "Dr. Phil prides himself -- and
he's quoted in many news articles -- as having 25 years experience with
human behaviour. He's a psychologist."
The doctor has a staff of 50 who make sure they know the backgrounds,
weaknesses and emotional issues of the show's guests, Mr. Bernard added.
"All of that was ignored in light of the fact that they wanted to have
the results of the DNA disclosed on the show as an exclusive and have
that look on her face -- whatever that look might be -- hearing the
results for the first time," Mr. Bernard said.
The results of the DNA test never went to air, but Mr. Bernard says they
indicated Ms. Bembenek's DNA was not present at the crime scene, but
male DNA was present.
Ms. Bembenek's lawsuit names Dr. McGraw, two producers and 50 staff
members. It asks for punitive damages in amounts to be determined.
Paramount Pictures, which produces The Dr. Phil Show, has 30 days to
formally respond.
Carla Pennington, executive producer of the show, released a statement
refuting Ms. Bembenek's allegations. "We think her claims have no
merit," the statement says.
"We, of course, feel that it is unfortunate that she hurt her leg during
an apparent prank when she left her room through a window less than an
hour after arriving rather than using the front door, not 10 feet away."
The escape attempt was not Ms. Bembenek's first. In 1990, she broke out
of prison and fled to Thunder Bay, where she worked as a waitress and an
aerobics instructor for about three months before being identified by
viewers of another TV show, America's Most Wanted.
Originally convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in
prison, she reached a deal with U.S. prosecutors in 1992 in which she
pleaded no contest to a reduced charge of second-degree murder and was
released from custody.
Other related posts:
- » [ql06] TORT: Bambi v. Dr Phil
