Land of Oz

Lawyers

Yes, I know that lawyers do good. However, it's cases like this that give all lawyers a bad name. Yes, I know there are real miscarriages of justice. There are innocents who have gone to jail in error. However, the fact that Hurwitz would even take this particular case on is disgusting. This criminal, Buckman, is suing the people he tried to rob and threatened to shoot after they caught him and beat him up.

Dana Buckman, 46, walked into an auto shop brandishing a semiautomatic pistol last summer, only to have it turned on him by two AutoZone employees, police said. The men beat Buckman with a metal pipe and held him with his own gun.

Buckman escaped and was arrested a week later.

He pleaded guilty to first-degree robbery and was sentenced to 18 years in prison as a repeat violent felon.

Buckman claims the men chased him out of the store and continued to beat him. He is suing the auto shop and the men for the injuries he suffered and for emotional distress.

"In some respects, you wonder if a case like this even needs a defense. It speaks for itself," said lawyer Patrick B. Naylon, who represents AutoZone and the employees.

But lawyer Phillip R. Hurwitz, who represents Buckman, said the employees crossed the line by pursuing Buckman and attacking him.

"The danger was past," Hurwitz said. "These two employees took it upon themselves to go after Mr. Buckman after he left the store."

Not really wanting to wish ill will on someone, it would have been interesting that had Mr. Buckman escaped, he took his pistol and tried to rob Hurwitz with it or shot and crippled some other victim. Makes you wonder what Hurwitz would have thought about that.