Arbella, Stephanie

Per # 8, Debate 4
Ms. Hanson 10/23/2009

Defense Opening Statement: Riki Jones V. Metro City

Good ________ your honor, ladies and gentlemen of the jury. My name is Stephanie Arbella and

I along with my co counsel represent the defense; Metro City. The testimony you are going to here today

is about the inevitable circumstances of life. On September 16 2002; 24 year old Samuel Jones who was

a member of the Metro City community, died. Jones had been diagnosed with AIDS months prior to his

death, therefore already having a weekend immune system. Jones began drinking Metro City tap water

which contained reasonable amounts of Pindia and during the last few months of his life his health

continued to worsen until it resulted into his indefinite silence; death.

Pindia is a parasite found in Metro City tap water due to poor condition of city pipes. Metro City

counsel became aware of Pindia in October 1999 while testing for, hard to detect, protozoa another form

of bacteria also found in water. Metro City received special funding from the federal government a one

time payment of 200,000 for testing as part of the national survey for testing the quality of drinking water.

After the discovery of Pindia Metro City reacted quickly and began testing water twice a year. June 2002,

the levels of Pindia rose above 200 per gallon of water, this being the federal minimum health risk.

Because the levels of Pindia continued to rise one month later the federal water safety advisory required

Metro City to issue a “boil water” advisory for all of its residence. Additionally Metro City published the

warning in the local newspaper and sent notice to the residents. The Federal Water Safety Advisory also

issued emergency funds to metro city to replace the most deteriorated section of the water pipes. Rome

was not built in one day; the replacement of the water pipes is very timely and cost effective and would

have taken Metro City time to repair or replace all of them. With that being said it was everyone’s

responsibility to take the appropriate precautions in ensuring safety until Metro City could clean up all the

pipes. The Metro City counsel gave the tools and knowledge to its residence it was up to them to enforce

it into their lifestyles. In August 2002 levels of Pindia leveled off at 400 per gallon; although this amount
is safe for general consumption it posses potential serious health risk for those with already weakened

immune systems. On September 1, 2002 Metro City in their best efforts to rid the pipes of Pindia began to

flush the city pipes with chlorine. Fourteen days later Pindia levels drop to 278 per gallon; this being

below the threshold levels of minimal health risk.

In previous court cases such as Scott V. Better Pest Control; Scott sued Better Best Control for

negligence for not providing adequate warning to a certain product. However the company clearly put a

warning label on the product. However Scott claimed it was not enough to protect the user. The court

ruled in favor of the Pest Control company. With that being said, Metro City not only notified residence

through notices but also published it in the local newspaper to take caution while using or drinking the tap

water taking much more then necessary precautions.

According to Bryant v. Metro City College, “Twenty-two year old James Bryant, a Metro

City College student, died of an allergic reaction to alcohol after drinking approximately five large

glasses of Mad Hornet malt liquor from a keg served at a college-sponsored party. There was no

warning label either identifying the beverage as Mad Hornet malt liquor or disclosing its high alcohol

content. Mr. Bryant knew that he had a rare allergy to alcohol that could result in a reaction that ranged

from mild dizziness to death. Despite his awareness of his delicate condition, James Bryant often drank

heavily at parties.

The Bryant family sued Metro City College, claiming that their son died as a result of its

negligence. They claimed the college's failure to warn of the potency of the alcohol was responsible for

James Bryant’s death. It was conclude that, there was sufficient evidence for the court to find that Mr.

Bryant's actions, and not Metro City's failure to warn, caused Mr. Bryant's death. In this case, it is clear

that Mr. Bryant was aware of his susceptibility to alcohol poisoning, yet risked drinking alcohol anyway”

This case reminds us of the obvious, not everything may be perfect in this world but it is your

responsibility and in your best interest to ensure that your health and wellbeing is taken care of because in

the end it will be you that will be dealt the consequences. It is not the fault of Metro City for the amount
of Pindia found in the water, nor is it the fault of Metro City for the residences failure to not take the

advised precautions.

The prosecution claims that Metro City should be held liable how according to New Goverland

CIVIL CODE 22; Sec. 22-340 Standard Governing Product Liability Actions; To support a finding of

strict liability, the plaintiff must prove by a preponderance of evidence that a product is unreasonably

dangerous and a less dangerous alternative or modification was economically practical. A product is

unreasonably dangerous if, at the time of sale, the product in its design and/or manufacture is dangerous

beyond the expectation of the ordinary consumer. As stated early by the stipulated facts of this case Metro

City was maintaining the minimum standards of Pindia allowed by the Federal government. The water

was also healthy and serviceable to the ordinary consumer. According to the defendant and his signed

and sworn to affidavit he stated the following “Anyway, I wasn’t worried because Sam always bought

his water. He became a vegetarian and he said that he had decided to permanently switch over to bottled

water because it tasted much better.” This shows that there is reasonable doubt in the prosecutions case, if

the plaintiff is telling the truth then there is no reason to be in court here today.

The prosecution also claims that they will prove Metro City Counsel to be negligent in their

actions. However under New Goverland CIVIL CODE 22; Sec. 22-325 Standard Governing Negligence

Actions it states that in order to support a finding of negligence, a plaintiff must prove by a preponderance

of the evidence that the defendant’s breach caused plaintiff’s injuries; and plaintiff suffered damages as a

result. However this claim falls short to the truth and to the facts of this case. Mr. Samuel Jones had

already been afflicted with a terminal illness and had a short life expectancy. Therefore it was not Metro

City who caused the death of this young man, it was of his own negligence not to protect himself after

being fully aware of his condition.

The plaintiff is seeking $3,080,000 in compensatory damages, this is to include $1

million for pain and suffering of parents. However the parents of Samuel Jones had an estranged
relationship from their son and therefore do not warrant compensatory damages. According to the witness

statement agreed upon by the defendant he stated the following : “We had limited contact with him after

he left for college” The prosecution will attempt to prove today that it was the fault of Metro City for this

death however do not allow yourself to be misconstrued by a sad story we are more than positive that you

will see the flaws in their case, however we as the defense will shine light and reason so that you may

know the facts of this case we will show beyond a reasonable doubt that although saddening Mr. Jones

death was inevitable and Metro City should not be held responsible.

Thank You