Michael Vick's Legal Woes Continue:

South Carolina Inmate Hits Michael Vick With '$63,000,000,000 Billion Dollar' Lawsuit Alleging Al Qaeda Ties:

Embattled NFL quarterback Michael Vick, facing federal charges related to his alleged participation in dogfighting, has been hit with a "$63,000,000,000 billion dollar" lawsuit filed by a South Carolina inmate who alleges the Atlanta Falcons star stole his pit bulls and sold them on eBay to buy "missiles from Iran," FOX News has learned.

Jonathan Lee Riches filed the handwritten complaint over "theft and abuse of my animals" on July 23 in the U.S. District Court in Richmond, Va.

Jon Rowe (mail) (www):
LOL. I'm assuming the lawsuit was filed pro-se.
8.15.2007 3:08pm
KeithK (mail):
That's ridiculous!!! Anyone who files a frivolous lawsuit like this should be thrown in jail!!! Oh wait...
8.15.2007 3:09pm
FantasiaWHT:
Reminds me of that Simpsons episode where Bart runs across the real creator of Itchy &Scratchy where the CEO asks the bum how much he is asking for and the bum says something like "one-hundred-billion dollars"

hehe
8.15.2007 3:11pm
WG:
Wow, 63 billion billion dollar dollars. That's quite a lot of dollar dollars!
8.15.2007 3:12pm
Maniakes (mail):
There's not that much money in the world! Perhaps he'd settle for One Miiiilion Dollars?
8.15.2007 3:13pm
lurker:
think of the contingency fee
8.15.2007 3:15pm
Fub:
WG wrote at 8.15.2007 2:12pm:
Wow, 63 billion billion dollar dollars. That's quite a lot of dollar dollars!
Maybe he really meant $63,000,000,000 billion "dollars". Or $63,000,000,000 "billion" dollars.
8.15.2007 3:17pm
Thorley Winston (mail) (www):
Here’s a copy of the handwritten complaint. The $63 Billion is to be “backed by gold and silver” and delivered by UPS to the front gate of his prison.

And here’s a copy of another suit filed by the same prisoner with a caption that went on for 57 pages and included everyone from George W Bush to Jessica Alba to The Waffle House.
8.15.2007 3:20pm
texas lawyer (mail):
I'd be careful writing about this. According to the complaint, the guy has copyrighted his own name. So, we could be infringing on his intellectual property by mentioning it.

http://www.foxnews.com/projects/pdf/riches_jonathan_file.pdf
8.15.2007 3:22pm
Mongoose388:
Participate in dog fighting and you support terrorists! Who knew?
8.15.2007 3:23pm
Dilan Esper (mail) (www):
This is destined to go down alongside the guy who sued Satan.
8.15.2007 3:25pm
Clayton E. Cramer (mail) (www):
I've long wondered when someone was going to exceed the insanity of the gal in the Bay Area who filed a two billion dollar lawsuit against IHOP because they didn't have the advertised pancake special.

I generally think that judges should use their authority to sanction frivolous lawsuits, but this sounds more like someone who needs his dosage increased.
8.15.2007 3:25pm
Observer (mail):
The woman who's suing Imus ought to fire her lawyer and hire Riches - it looks like he's a pro at imagining big money damages.
8.15.2007 3:44pm
Joe123 (mail):
Yes, mental illness is hilarious.
8.15.2007 3:56pm
Steve P. (mail):
"MICHAEL VICK Has to stop Physically hurting my feelings and dashing my hopes."

I am in complete agreement.
8.15.2007 3:59pm
NickM (mail) (www):
I don't think this is what the Falcons general manager was thinking of when he said he wanted to get Vick more weapons on the field.

Nick
8.15.2007 4:00pm
Zathras (mail):
The biggest non sequitur is his claiming that, inter alia, his 2nd Amendment rights were violated.
8.15.2007 4:03pm
A.S.:
Jeez, it's been a long time since I took Civ Pro. So, should Vick completely ignore the complaint? If he does, must the judge enter a default judgement?
8.15.2007 4:10pm
Non-Billionaire:
Does he have to pay income tax on the $63 billion billion when Vick pays him?
8.15.2007 4:11pm
CJColucci:
It's not his fault that the complaint is demented. Vick subjected plaintiff to "microwave testing," which probably caused brain damage.
But where are the "that dog won't hunt" and related jokes? We're slipping, folks.
8.15.2007 4:13pm
Eric Atkinson (mail):
Yes, mental illness is hilarious.
But, mental illness with lawyers is uber funny!
8.15.2007 4:15pm
Maniakes (mail):
If he does, I think that'd be in the 35% percent bracket, which would yield $220,500,000 billion in tax revenue, completely wiping out the national debt!
8.15.2007 4:19pm
Brutus:
Would 63 billion billion dollar dollars pay for the Iraq war, or is it still not enough?
8.15.2007 4:21pm
tmittz:
And just so you'd be aware of what a bad guy Vick is, Mr. Riches© was sure to point out that "MICHAEL VICK used drugs in school zones." Because you never know who won't find the purchasing missiles from Iran thing bad enough.
8.15.2007 4:26pm
Ben P (mail):
you have to remember, he's "Engaged in the business of illegal steroids as well"


I saw this yesterday and printed out the complaint to mail to my old civ-pro professor for his "bad example" of how to write a complaint.
8.15.2007 4:44pm
JunkYardLawDog (mail):

And here’s a copy of another suit filed by the same prisoner with a caption that went on for 57 pages and included everyone from George W Bush to Jessica Alba to The Waffle House.




I was thinking the guy was completely and utterly nuts, but filing a suit so he could get a shot at deposing Jessica Alba may show him to be faking it.

Is this guy on death row and trying to get out of his execution date by building a case for his own insanity?? Thanks to the idiot liberals on the Supreme Court.

Says the "Dog"
8.15.2007 4:48pm
Steve2:
My favorite of these claims is that "MICHAEL VICK violated my copyright laws by using my copyright name on his personal football outfit and casual clothing without paying me for use."

Not just a copyright violation, but a violation of his personal copyright laws!

Does make me wonder, where can I get one of those "Jonathan Lee Riches mugs"? I just have an image of a plain mug that just says


"MICHAEL VICK Has to stop Physically hurting my feelings and dashing my hopes." --Jonathan Lee Riches


in big block letters.
8.15.2007 4:54pm
WHOI Jacket:
He's only expressing the feelings of Falcons fans for the past 3 years.
8.15.2007 4:57pm
Cally (mail):
Imagine the process server fees for effecting service on Zeus...
8.15.2007 5:03pm
Houston Lawyer:
Many years ago I had a copy of a similar case. The opinion cited the fantastic allegations and then determined that he could dismiss the case on his own accord.

Every once in a while I get correspondence from a prisoner asking for legal help. I actually reply and expressly decline to represent these guys so that they can't later claim that I'm their attorney.
8.15.2007 5:24pm
Porkchop:
If I only I had known about this kind of work before I paid all that law school tuition.
8.15.2007 6:45pm
eck:
This looks like a job for 28 USC 1915(e).
8.15.2007 7:33pm
Fury:

"...included everyone from George W Bush to... The Waffle House"


My wife and I were just discussing at breakfast today if anyone had ever sued the good 'ol Waffle House.
8.15.2007 7:36pm
neurodoc:
The complaint goes on to allege that Vick sold the dogs on eBay and “used the proceeds to purchase missiles from the Iran government.”
Many seem to think this allegation preposterous, even insane. OK, 20+ years ago, how many of you scoffers thought it plausible that our former National Security Advisor Bud McFarland went on a secret mission to Iran bringing a cake for his hosts when there to work out the details of a transfer of missiles to Iran from Israel with the proceeds from the sales to go to fund the Contras in Nicarauga? Unimaginable that Vick stole this guy's pit bulls and sold them on eBay to buy "missiles from Iran"? Truth stranger than fiction?
8.15.2007 8:09pm
JunkYardLawDog (mail):
Neurodoc,

And thank god he did!!!!! Reagan finally got relief for the hostage families, Terry Anderson was released after 7 or 8 years of torture, and freedom from the tyrannical communist rule of the time from the Sandinistas and 2 decades of relatively much more peace and freedom in the entire south and central american geo-political region were secured as a result.

Naturally, the liberals were vehemently opposed to and wanted to criminalize such successes for freedom and democracy.

Says the "Dog"
8.16.2007 10:52am
rbj:
$63 billion billion dollars, because a mere $63 billion ain't what it used to be. Or, to update the old phrase "a billion billion, a billion billion there, and soon you're talking real money."

Some prisoners file such type of suits simply to get the chance to go to court for a day. Beats sitting in a cell all the time.

And I'll be sure not to mention Jonathan Lee Riches' name, so that Jonathan Lee Riches can't sue me for use of Jonathan Lee Riches' name.
8.16.2007 11:59am
Hoosier:
Any word on whether he'd be willing to settle out of court for a reduced sum?
8.16.2007 11:59am
jallgor (mail):
I like the fact that he sues the "Unknown Authors" of the UCC in the Jessica Alba complaint. There have to be a few practicing lawyers who'd like to join in that claim. I am too technically inept to put a link in here but if you google "motion to kiss my ass" you will find yet another amusing pro se filing.
8.16.2007 12:21pm
neurodoc:
I am a bit confused about exactly how much this fellow is after with his "$63,000,000,000 billion dollar" demand. Is he asking for 63 x 10 to the 9th, or 63 x 10 to the 18th, or does he have an English "billion" in mind, making it 63 x 10 to the 12th, or 63 x 10 to the 24th? This imprecision seems to me a weakness in his case.
8.16.2007 2:27pm
eddy:
I appreciate the choice of defendants in Jonathan Lee Riches© first lawsuit:

Three Mile Island
Tony Danza
Magna Carta
Tsunami Victims
Fruit of A-Loom
The Vatican
The Taliban
Meals on Wheels
Columbine High School
Jewish workers at NBC/Universal
Elizabeth Smart
George Orwell
The Panama Canal Commission
Kelly Clarkson
Thirteen Tribes of Israel
Plato
Lincoln Memorial
Eglin Airforce Base
Various Buddhist Monks
Air and Space Museum
Christopher Reeves Widow
Mein Kampf
Medival Times (a restaurant or the historical era?)
Brotherhood of the Snake
Ulluminati
Nordic Gods
The Davinci Code
Sears Tower
Native American Fish Society
Holocaust Survivors
Mount Rushmore
Yellow Cab Company
Green Bay's Lambeau Field
King James Bible
Ming Dynasty
Vern Minni Me
City of Nadi, Fiji Islands
The Olsen Twins
The Rose Bowl
Sundance Film Festival
Nostradamus
etc.
etc.

Let's appreciate the mentally ill for the amusement they bring.
8.16.2007 3:15pm
Cory Olson (mail):
I'm only hoping he gets a default judgment.
8.16.2007 3:39pm
FantasiaWHT:

And here’s a copy of another suit filed by the same prisoner with a caption that went on for 57 pages and included everyone from George W Bush to Jessica Alba to The Waffle House.


Anybody else notice that Jose Padilla is in there?

I just wish the rest of the complaint was there... not just the caption
8.16.2007 4:32pm