The Somnilarcenist

New legal defense: "I have 'mini-seizures' where I walk out of stores with out paying for things. But I'm completely unaware of doing it. I don't think I can be held liable for shoplifting if it occurs during one of my seizures."

So a guy calls today wanting legal advice. I told him I can't really give legal advice per se. But that I was familiar with many of our city statutes and if I couldn't answer his question, I could probably point him in the right direction.

His question was this: If someone has a seizure in public, can they be ticketed for mischief if they know they have seizures and are currently taking medication to prevent them?

A co-worker told me she had dealt with this caller before and he is one of those litigious types that got caught stealing from a store but was contesting the ticket he got --and counter-suing (along with a team of lawyers) because he had these mini-seizures where he didn't know what he was doing.

I wanted to tell him that he probably shouldn't go shopping...ever--if that was indeed the case. But, that's the kind of thing that turns "dispatchers" into "former dispatchers." So I bit my tongue.

I was a little concerned that he would ask me what that sound was in the background and I'd have to answer that was the sound of me rolling my eyes uncontrollably. But he didn't so we were able to make it through the rest of the call.

In the end I ended up telling him that wether or not he would be charged would ultimately be up to the officer that responded in the case of the sleep-larceny, but that for just having a seizure in public there weren't really any statutes that would be used against someone. Now if there was damage done to someone elses property, or items stolen, then there might be some kind of liability for that.

As for criminal charges, it would be up to the officer. So he thanked me and hung up the phone.

Wow. I feel like people are trying to do anything they can to prove they aren't responsible for their actions. I guess I feel just the opposite. On tv there are all kinds of crime dramas where someone tries to argue they are temporarily insane or incompetent to stand trial and either permanantly or temporarily lack the ability to tell right from wrong.

They use this as a reason why they should NOT be incarcerated. I say if you are incapable of telling the difference b/n right and wrong...you SHOULD be locked up until you CAN.