Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Kirby Ferris joins this now and a couple of stories.
I wanted to talk with it. First of all, let's
talk about the squatter that we were just playing. That guy.
He came to his place and all of a sudden,
there's squatters in there and they're not leaving. So he says,
all right, well you can't beat them, I'll join them.
So he moved in. Now, y'all stay there in the bedrooms.
We'll stay down here in the living room. We'll sleep
on the couch. No big deal. So then he says, okay,
(00:21):
let's have a party. I'm having a party, so you know,
deal with it now. The squatter's like, well, wait a minute,
you got to turn down the racket here. Party's over
at ten in this house. No, it's not quarters calling
the law and the guy that owns the property. Right.
Why is it such a hard issue sometimes for people
to remove squatters from their homes. I've heard horror stories
about court proceedings and getting tied up for months.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
Yeah, it's difficult, you know. I look at this kind
of very simply. If somebody has some legal argument for
being in the home, we've got a contract, we're renters. Whatever,
that should be adjudicated. But if somebody is on your
property with absolutely no basis for legal basis for being there,
the cops to put them in handcuffs and remove them immediately.
Speaker 1 (01:02):
Yeah. I was talking to an unnamed officer one time
about this, and he goes, listen, if this happens at
your house, don't worry. They'll be out my lunch. Okay,
So you don't have to worry about this. You know,
there are ways to move it quicker. I would imagine
in certain counties in Alabama there's not even a phone
call made to the police.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
I'm from Winston County. Yes, it works kind of different
up here where I'm from. Take care of business your
own ways. Great, No, officer.
Speaker 1 (01:30):
We don't need you. We'll take care of it. We
got this. How do you feel about an airboat right
over there in the Everglades sun? Come on, let's go
take it ride. We'll bring you back. Maybe. All right,
let's talk about what's going on with this case here.
And now there's some thought that if the police, FBI, whoever,
law enforcement raids a home and they've got a warrant
(01:51):
to do that, and oops, it wasn't thirteen oh six
it was thirteen sixty Maple Lane we were supposed to
go to and thirteen oh six had nothing going on,
and all of a sudden at two o'clock in the morning,
you know, they're breaking the doors down and swat teams
coming in and tying the kids up in zip tize,
and you know, your wife's in a underwear running around
house and getting pushed up against walls, and I mean, oh,
(02:13):
fifteen minutes they were sorry, this is the wrong house.
You'all go bout your business. Well, I don't think that's
I mean, are they liable for that?
Speaker 2 (02:21):
You know, in my opinion, Ji, they absolutely should be
liable for that. But here there's certain immunity issues. There's
that word again that protect these officers. And listen, I
don't disagree with certain immunities for officers. I don't disagree
with that, but in instances like this, where they are
(02:41):
obviously wrong, they've destroyed these people, they use some kind
of blasting device to get in the house and there's
a six year old child in there. To me, you
should not carve out an immunity for this kind of
error because this is pretty egregious.
Speaker 1 (02:54):
This case that took place where was this Atlanta, and
the law on that right now is you can't go
after the mistake.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
Well that's what's the Supreme Court wrestling with. There is
something of the state Supreme Court.
Speaker 1 (03:07):
No, it's gone to you.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
As it has yeah Tuesday, if they heard, are you okay?
And there's something called the Federal Court Claims Act, which
I've handled cases under the Federal Tort Claims Act for
what is that? So my case, a person driving a
mail truck at a high rate of speed over the
speed limit runs into the back of my client and
hurts some pretty bad end up with a couple of
surgeries as a result. So you have to it's very
(03:32):
complicated to do. You just don't go file a lawsuit.
You have to fill out all these forms, and you
have to give the government the opportunity to review your
case and give them the.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
Opportunity because you're going after a government entity.
Speaker 2 (03:43):
Correct, eventually you can go into federal court, but it's
a real process to get there. So they've made it difficult.
Many lawyers won't handle them at all. But in this case,
this particular case, this family is filing under that act
saying they into our house when they shouldn't have, They
were negligent in not getting the right address. They busted
(04:05):
our door down, they s get our family. They actually
handcuffed the man.
Speaker 1 (04:10):
Yeah. See, so it's probably nobody was injured, but they
were certainly, you know, disturbed and emotionally, probably shocked. And
I'm sure it wasn't at lunch time when everybody's awaken.
They kindly knocked middle. I mean, you mentioned an explosive
device to get in. Where do you think the Supreme
Court will land on this? I mean, what are there cases?
(04:31):
Are there precedents?
Speaker 2 (04:32):
There are the Supreme Court has historically they have upheld
family's rights to bring claims in these sorts of cases.
It worries me that they took this case because they
they Supreme Court doesn't have to take it. They can
just say, look at the law. It's clear, you guys.
Speaker 1 (04:48):
So they've ruled on some things before, you know, upheld
for the victim claims at right.
Speaker 2 (04:54):
I don't know what they're going to do here. They're
making some unique arguments. One of them just is mind boggled,
and it says, because the government gave these FBI agents
the correct address and they went to the wrong address,
we shouldn't be liable.
Speaker 1 (05:10):
What are you talking about even more liable? Correct? I
mean you were instructed by your bosses on the correct address,
you messed up, and you're an employee of the government.
Right now, I'm with the homeowner on this way here.
I think they ought to be held accountable. Obviously, pay
for everything. I'm sure they've offered to pay for everything. Sorry,
we did this, We'll fix your door, and YadA, YadA, YadA.
(05:32):
But I mean above and beyond punitive and other damages.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
Now, I'm not so big on punitive damages against officers,
but I am a big believer and if they do
something wrong, negligently, then they should be accountable, just like me.
Speaker 1 (05:49):
Well, if these were your clients, the homeowners, what would
you want from this? I would want them to be
you'd want paid, I understand that, but the most important
part of the case, But no, what would you what
would you want for the homeowner?
Speaker 2 (06:02):
Property damage and and damages for emotional distress as well?
Want reasonable damages for emotional distress because.
Speaker 1 (06:10):
And describe the two different sides of damages punitive and.
Speaker 2 (06:16):
Yeah that punitive damages are designed to punish somebody. So
let's use two examples. You run into somebody at a
red light, it's your fault. That's negligence. You drink twenty
beers at the local bar and you're stumbling drunk and
run through an intersection and hurt somebody, then that's not
just negligence. You've done something intentionally wrong, and there you
(06:37):
get punitive damages or damages designed to punish.
Speaker 1 (06:40):
You for what. What are the other damages called? They're
just compensatory compensatory.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
That's medical bills, right.
Speaker 1 (06:46):
Okay, So these guys weren't intentionally doing this to somebody,
and they weren't drinking doing it was a mistake, right.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
Mistake made, But they came in with.
Speaker 1 (06:56):
Emotional distress. You put a little price tag on that
scared me to death. Are they worth something then? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (07:01):
I think so. I mean to me it is the
family should be compensated. I'm not talking about ten million dollars, no,
but they should be adequately compensated for the FBI I'm
making a mistake.
Speaker 1 (07:11):
Yeah, yeah, Okay, Well we'll see what do you expect
on a ruling sometime later this summer.
Speaker 2 (07:15):
Yeah, it will be later this summer, And I'm optimistic
because the lower court's ruled against the family.
Speaker 1 (07:20):
I hope the Supreme Court took this.
Speaker 2 (07:22):
Case to go hang on a minute. You can't bust
down somebody's door with a bomb, go in with friends pulled.
We don't want to do that.
Speaker 1 (07:29):
You owe the family something, something, all right, very good, Kirby,
Thank you, buddy,
Kirby Ferris joins this now and a couple of stories.
I wanted to talk with it. First of all, let's
talk about the squatter that we were just playing. That guy.
He came to his place and all of a sudden,
there's squatters in there and they're not leaving. So he says,
all right, well you can't beat them, I'll join them.
So he moved in. Now, y'all stay there in the bedrooms.
We'll stay down here in the living room. We'll sleep
on the couch. No big deal. So then he says, okay,
(00:21):
let's have a party. I'm having a party, so you know,
deal with it now. The squatter's like, well, wait a minute,
you got to turn down the racket here. Party's over
at ten in this house. No, it's not quarters calling
the law and the guy that owns the property. Right.
Why is it such a hard issue sometimes for people
to remove squatters from their homes. I've heard horror stories
about court proceedings and getting tied up for months.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
Yeah, it's difficult, you know. I look at this kind
of very simply. If somebody has some legal argument for
being in the home, we've got a contract, we're renters. Whatever,
that should be adjudicated. But if somebody is on your
property with absolutely no basis for legal basis for being there,
the cops to put them in handcuffs and remove them immediately.
Speaker 1 (01:02):
Yeah. I was talking to an unnamed officer one time
about this, and he goes, listen, if this happens at
your house, don't worry. They'll be out my lunch. Okay,
So you don't have to worry about this. You know,
there are ways to move it quicker. I would imagine
in certain counties in Alabama there's not even a phone
call made to the police.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
I'm from Winston County. Yes, it works kind of different
up here where I'm from. Take care of business your
own ways. Great, No, officer.
Speaker 1 (01:30):
We don't need you. We'll take care of it. We
got this. How do you feel about an airboat right
over there in the Everglades sun? Come on, let's go
take it ride. We'll bring you back. Maybe. All right,
let's talk about what's going on with this case here.
And now there's some thought that if the police, FBI, whoever,
law enforcement raids a home and they've got a warrant
(01:51):
to do that, and oops, it wasn't thirteen oh six
it was thirteen sixty Maple Lane we were supposed to
go to and thirteen oh six had nothing going on,
and all of a sudden at two o'clock in the morning,
you know, they're breaking the doors down and swat teams
coming in and tying the kids up in zip tize,
and you know, your wife's in a underwear running around
house and getting pushed up against walls, and I mean, oh,
(02:13):
fifteen minutes they were sorry, this is the wrong house.
You'all go bout your business. Well, I don't think that's
I mean, are they liable for that?
Speaker 2 (02:21):
You know, in my opinion, Ji, they absolutely should be
liable for that. But here there's certain immunity issues. There's
that word again that protect these officers. And listen, I
don't disagree with certain immunities for officers. I don't disagree
with that, but in instances like this, where they are
(02:41):
obviously wrong, they've destroyed these people, they use some kind
of blasting device to get in the house and there's
a six year old child in there. To me, you
should not carve out an immunity for this kind of
error because this is pretty egregious.
Speaker 1 (02:54):
This case that took place where was this Atlanta, and
the law on that right now is you can't go
after the mistake.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
Well that's what's the Supreme Court wrestling with. There is
something of the state Supreme Court.
Speaker 1 (03:07):
No, it's gone to you.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
As it has yeah Tuesday, if they heard, are you okay?
And there's something called the Federal Court Claims Act, which
I've handled cases under the Federal Tort Claims Act for
what is that? So my case, a person driving a
mail truck at a high rate of speed over the
speed limit runs into the back of my client and
hurts some pretty bad end up with a couple of
surgeries as a result. So you have to it's very
(03:32):
complicated to do. You just don't go file a lawsuit.
You have to fill out all these forms, and you
have to give the government the opportunity to review your
case and give them the.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
Opportunity because you're going after a government entity.
Speaker 2 (03:43):
Correct, eventually you can go into federal court, but it's
a real process to get there. So they've made it difficult.
Many lawyers won't handle them at all. But in this case,
this particular case, this family is filing under that act
saying they into our house when they shouldn't have, They
were negligent in not getting the right address. They busted
(04:05):
our door down, they s get our family. They actually
handcuffed the man.
Speaker 1 (04:10):
Yeah. See, so it's probably nobody was injured, but they
were certainly, you know, disturbed and emotionally, probably shocked. And
I'm sure it wasn't at lunch time when everybody's awaken.
They kindly knocked middle. I mean, you mentioned an explosive
device to get in. Where do you think the Supreme
Court will land on this? I mean, what are there cases?
(04:31):
Are there precedents?
Speaker 2 (04:32):
There are the Supreme Court has historically they have upheld
family's rights to bring claims in these sorts of cases.
It worries me that they took this case because they
they Supreme Court doesn't have to take it. They can
just say, look at the law. It's clear, you guys.
Speaker 1 (04:48):
So they've ruled on some things before, you know, upheld
for the victim claims at right.
Speaker 2 (04:54):
I don't know what they're going to do here. They're
making some unique arguments. One of them just is mind boggled,
and it says, because the government gave these FBI agents
the correct address and they went to the wrong address,
we shouldn't be liable.
Speaker 1 (05:10):
What are you talking about even more liable? Correct? I
mean you were instructed by your bosses on the correct address,
you messed up, and you're an employee of the government.
Right now, I'm with the homeowner on this way here.
I think they ought to be held accountable. Obviously, pay
for everything. I'm sure they've offered to pay for everything. Sorry,
we did this, We'll fix your door, and YadA, YadA, YadA.
(05:32):
But I mean above and beyond punitive and other damages.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
Now, I'm not so big on punitive damages against officers,
but I am a big believer and if they do
something wrong, negligently, then they should be accountable, just like me.
Speaker 1 (05:49):
Well, if these were your clients, the homeowners, what would
you want from this? I would want them to be
you'd want paid, I understand that, but the most important
part of the case, But no, what would you what
would you want for the homeowner?
Speaker 2 (06:02):
Property damage and and damages for emotional distress as well?
Want reasonable damages for emotional distress because.
Speaker 1 (06:10):
And describe the two different sides of damages punitive and.
Speaker 2 (06:16):
Yeah that punitive damages are designed to punish somebody. So
let's use two examples. You run into somebody at a
red light, it's your fault. That's negligence. You drink twenty
beers at the local bar and you're stumbling drunk and
run through an intersection and hurt somebody, then that's not
just negligence. You've done something intentionally wrong, and there you
(06:37):
get punitive damages or damages designed to punish.
Speaker 1 (06:40):
You for what. What are the other damages called? They're
just compensatory compensatory.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
That's medical bills, right.
Speaker 1 (06:46):
Okay, So these guys weren't intentionally doing this to somebody,
and they weren't drinking doing it was a mistake, right.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
Mistake made, But they came in with.
Speaker 1 (06:56):
Emotional distress. You put a little price tag on that
scared me to death. Are they worth something then? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (07:01):
I think so. I mean to me it is the
family should be compensated. I'm not talking about ten million dollars, no,
but they should be adequately compensated for the FBI I'm
making a mistake.
Speaker 1 (07:11):
Yeah, yeah, Okay, Well we'll see what do you expect
on a ruling sometime later this summer.
Speaker 2 (07:15):
Yeah, it will be later this summer, And I'm optimistic
because the lower court's ruled against the family.
Speaker 1 (07:20):
I hope the Supreme Court took this.
Speaker 2 (07:22):
Case to go hang on a minute. You can't bust
down somebody's door with a bomb, go in with friends pulled.
We don't want to do that.
Speaker 1 (07:29):
You owe the family something, something, all right, very good, Kirby,
Thank you, buddy,
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