It's time, once again, to consider the candidates for the annual
Stella A wards.The Stella's are named after 81-year-old Stella Liebeck who spilled coffee on herself and successfully sued McDonald's. That case  inspired the Stella Awards for the most frivolous successful lawsuits ONLY in the United States. The< BR>following are this year's candidates:

 1. Kathleen Robertson of Austin, Texas, was awarded $780,000 by a
jury of her peers after breaking her ankle tripping over a toddler who was
running inside a furniture store. The owners of the store were understandably
surprised at the verdict, considering the misbehaving little toddler was Ms.
Robertson's son.

    2. A 19-year-old, Carl Truman of Los Angeles, won $74,000 and
medical expenses when his neighbor ran over his hand with a Honda Accord. Mr. Truman apparently didn't notice there was someone at the wheel of the  car when he was trying to steal his neighbor's hub caps.

    3. Terrence Dickson of Bristol, Pennsylvania, was leaving a house he
had just finished robbing by way of the garage. He was not able to get the  
garage door to go up since the automatic door opener was malfunctioning. He
couldn't re-e nter the house because the door connecting the house and  
garage locked when he pulled it shut. The family was on vacation, and  Mr. Dickson found himself locked in the garage for eight days. He subsisted  on a case of Pepsi he foun d, and a large bag of dry dog food. He sued  the homeowner's insurance claiming the situation caused him undue mental  anguish. The jury agreed to the amount of $500,000.To be awarded to the robber 

    4. Jerry Williams of Little Rock, Arkansas, was awarded $14,500 and
medical expenses after being bitten on the buttocks by his next door  
neighbor's beagle.The beagle was on a chain in its owner's fenced  yard.The award was less th an sought because the jury felt the dog might have been just a little provoked at the time by Mr. Williams who was shooting it repeatedly with a pellet gun.                                  

    5. A Philadelphia restaurant was ordered to pay Amber Carson of
Lancaster, Pennsylvania, $113,500 after she slipped on a soft drink and  broke her coccyx (tailbone). The beverage was on the floor because Ms. Carson had thrown it at her boyfriend 30 seconds earlier during an  argument.

    6. Kara Walton of Claymont, Delaware, successfully sued the owner of
a  night club in a neighboring city when she fell from the bathroom window to
the floor and knocked out her two front teeth.This occurred while Ms. Walton
was trying to sneak through the window in the ladies room to  avoid paying the $3.50 cover charge. She was awarded $12,000 and dental  expenses.

    7. This year's favorite could easily be Mr. Merv Grazinski of
Oklahoma  City, Oklahoma. Mr. Grazinski purchased a brand new 32-foot Winnebago motor home. On his first trip home, having driven onto the freeway, he set the cruise controlat 70 mph and calmly left the drivers seat to go into the back and make himself    a cup of coffee. Not surprisingly, the R.V. left the freeway,crashed and overturned. Mr. Grazinski sued Winnebago for not advising him in the owner's manual that he couldn't actually do this. The jury awarded him $1,750,000 plus a new motor home. The company actually changed their manuals on the basis of this suit, just in case there were any other complete morons buying their recreation vehicles.