Claimed to be Messiah-God but Could Not Get Free.
The Weird & Wacky Lawsuits Edition 3
Some people take holy than thou lawsuits too far. When the legal system meet a self proclaimed all mighty, there are many demands. A team of lawyers may not have been able to successfully argue this case. Want to learn more? Read on.
Finding Religion: Rights and Freedoms a step too far
Who did the suing: Chad Gabriel DeKoven
Who was sued: Michigan Prison System
The Wacky Lawsuit: A fight for the right
Mr. DeKoven had a number of run ins with the law. He was arrested, tried and convicted of armed robbery. He was incarcerated at the Standish Prison in Bay City, Michigan. Mr. DeKoven sued the Michigan State Prison system for not treating him like the Messiah-God. DeKoven actually sued many more people and entities than just the prison system. He sued Great Britain, Northern Ireland, the UK, the United States or America and others. His lawsuit claimed and demanded a number of things including:
- Thousands of trees
- A personal attendant
- Tons of precious metals
- Animals (many many animals: measured in the millions of breading pairs.)
- A full pardon
- Return of all US military personnel to the United States within 3 months and
- Peace in the Middle East.
Under the law at the time, Mr. DeKoven was able to start this lawsuit on the payment of $150. Once filed, the court system had to follow the appropriate legal protocols. His compliant was 125 (single spaced) pages long and contained over 80 pages of exhibits.
The Verdict In This Litigation:
Judge David Lawson dismissed this case. In his 22 page judgement he reviewed all the relevant case law on Mr. DeKoven’s claims. He summarized by finding that the “plaintiff’s complaint is an exercise in delusion and fantasy, and nothing more.” Speficically he stated that “The plaintiff’s overwrought attempts to judicially establish “scientifically” through numerology, symbolic name analysis, and sheer repetitive assertion that he is the Messiah or Messiah-God are unconvincing and clearly baseless.” If there was ever a frivolous lawsuit, this was it.
Want More of Crazy Law?
If you want the full details of the Messiah-God lawsuit, you can read the full case reporting of the Chad Gabriel DeKoven Trial.
These fun posts are meant to be entertaining and are provided by the lawyers at Calgary Based Kahane Law Office. No legal advice should be taken from these real lawsuits.