November 4, 2009 10:28 AM

Judge: Robber Can Sue Store He Robbed

By
Carlin DeGuerin Miller
Topics
Daily Blotter
(CBS)
NEW YORK (CBS/AP) Apparently in Mount Clemens, Mich., crime does pay, especially if the people you rob fight back and beat you to a pulp.

A judge has ruled that Scott T. Zielinski can sue the store that he robbed at knifepoint, because the employees allegedly shot and beat him on the way out.

Zielinski, who is serving an 8-year prison sentence after being convicted of unarmed robbery for the November 2007 heist at Nick's Party Stop in Clinton Township, Mich., claims he was chased, shot twice and beaten excessively by three employees after he robbed the store.

The 23-year-old filed a lawsuit seeking $125,000 in April against the store, its owner John Acho and three employees including Acho's brother-in-law Don A. Kallo, and two nephews, Justin Kallo and Johnathan Kallo.

Justin Kallo allegedly chased and shot Zielinski.

Circuit Judge David Viviano ruled this week that the case can move forward but said that although Zielinski is indigent and imprisoned, he must post a $10,000 bond to cover the store and employees' attorney's fees if he loses the case.

Zielinski held up the employees at knifepoint and allegedly threatened to kill them in order to steal cigarettes, liquor and $873 in cash. As he fled the scene he says he was hit twice from three or four shots fired by Justin Kallo as Zielinski fled the Cass Avenue store after the robbery. He claims he was beaten excessively by Justin and Johnathan Kallo.

What do you think? Should the allegedly wronged robber have the right to sue or is this a case of the legal system run amuck?

Add a Comment See all 25 Comments
by Mojavegrean November 18, 2009 4:29 PM EST
Must be a libelar judge. They are soft on crime. Always siding with the criminal unless its politically charged. Didn't the AMA declair Liberalism to be a mental disorder. That would explain a lot. If the Judges for once were to side with the victim of a crime. Crime just might stop. But then the Judges might be out of a job if that were to happen and the Police would be reduced to having to write speeding and parking tickets. Having realised that little problem I can better understand why judges are ultra soft on criminals. They value their repeated bussiness.
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by w4fid November 6, 2009 9:06 AM EST
This seems wrong on two counts.

How was he convicted of unarmed robbery when he robbed them at knife point? What half butt judge agreed to that plea deal? A knife and a threat to harm is armed robbery.

If he left the store and was leaving the scene why did two people pursue him and shoot him and beat him? You are basically allowed to use deadly force (shoot someone) to defend YOURSELF -- YOUR PERSON -- not property.

If the law wants to be taken seriously then they cannot allow a plea bargin from armed robbery to unarmed robery. If we want to be taken seriously we cannot chase down and shoot and beat someone who has already left us alone over a few bucks.
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by radnex November 6, 2009 5:57 PM EST
In the state of Michigan we are legally allowed to defend property, according to laws passed in 2006. It was a package of bills called "The Castle Doctrine".

You can read my previous post for more information.
by maccount November 9, 2009 1:26 PM EST
Why is he allowed to sue? His intensions were to rob the store, people have a right to defend themselves, the owners took action, case closed - why spend more of the taxpayer's money? They need to change the judge as well as the laws! Why do criminals get all the break? I thought the law was to pretect the innocent ones or do I have that backwards?
by tiernanlaw November 5, 2009 11:08 PM EST
LESSON: Just kill the piece of ****!
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by otobesane1 November 5, 2009 8:46 PM EST
When the perpetrator doesn't live through the encounter, yours is the only story that gets told. So what if a family member of the perp is able to pony up the $10K and the case goes forward. The victims still have to pay attorney's fees up front and go through the whole ordeal in court and the press. The thug's lawyer will drag out every skeleton in the victims' closets all the way back to kindergarten in order to discredit them. A convicted thug should never be able to sue his victim...under any circumstances.
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by phlogiston1 November 5, 2009 8:10 PM EST
What ever happened to "assumption of risk?" Anyone who commits such a coercive and violent crime should have no recourse. And as to the suggestion that the wrong man might have been "punished," wll in that eventuality, the transgressors could pay for their error. It wasn't "the wrong man." Maybe we should be eclectic and adopt some remedies extant elsewhere in the world, such as the Islamic methods of punishment. Without an arm and a leg, the thief would be less likely to repeat his crime. We are too permissive and forgiving.
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by skyhifun November 5, 2009 8:09 PM EST
This is what we get when we let left-wing bottom feeders run the country. This guy should be locked up for life and his parents sterilized so they can't make any more scum like him. And while he's suing maybe Obamy and Nancy P. can furlough some more Willie Hortons.
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by Mojavegrean November 5, 2009 5:07 PM EST
This is absolutly ludicris. Some POS scumbag bottom feeding troglodite criminal being allowd to sue their victims for injuries he recieved while in the commision of a crime. If there is anything that needs to be done is the feds or who ever it is that comes up the laws, needs to come up with a law that denies any criminal the right to sue for damages recieved while in the commission of a crime or its immediate after affects (i.e. when hes being chased) He was lucky he got away with his life. Afgter reading this story, I find myself becoming the victim of a crime. Im just gonna kill he sob and be done with it. It is a joke on society as well as a slap in societies face to allow this kind of garbage to continue on unchecked. That judge should be removed from the bench.
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by radnex November 5, 2009 4:57 PM EST
According to the Castle Doctrine package of bills that were passed in '06, you have no recourse if injured or killed while in the course of a felony. Due to this the judge was wrong in granting this case, but I do find it interesting that he would have a bond paid for to cover the legal fees of the defendants.
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by kelvinml November 5, 2009 12:51 PM EST
You people are idiots. Read the story. He committed a CRIMINAL offense and then brought a CIVIL suit.

If the people he robbed reasonably believed that they were in danger (and there's quite a bit of leeway with reasonable belief) they could kill him and it would be self-defense.

Here, the robber ran away. I think it's pretty hard to believe that if a man is running away from you, whether he's armed or not, that you are in reasonable fear of bodily harm.

They call it the common law because it's based on common sense - which is frighteningly uncommon. Also, he has to post a bond, which he will be unable to do, so this is a go-nowhere suit. CBS should be ashamed for fanning the flames of the "first, we kill all the lawyers" movement.
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by SivisPacemParaBellum November 5, 2009 11:45 AM EST
Judge Viviano, this is not Great Britian; it is the United States! We still have a self-defense rule of law whether you believe it or not. You are a disgrace to your profession; a liberal activice judge who cares more for the criminal than the law abiding citizens.
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