Ghosts Are Legally Real

[@LegalEagle]

🦅 Any crazy legal stories I should cover? 📚 Get a free trial of Audible! legaleagle.link/audible

[@davea6314]

Casper the friendly ghost is suing LegalEagle. 👻 😆

[@MythicBeanProductions]

Darrel brookes He ran ove and killed 6 people in Waukesha during a parade and injured many more because he was mad at his girlfriend. He's been acting like an absolute monkey in court and dismissed his lawyer and is representing himself

[@th3blackghost214]

Objection! Ghosts? Seriously?

[@SuperDuperSoundFX]

Darrel Brooks. The guy who drove his SUV and killed 6 at a parade, who decided to be his own lawyer.

[@thegriffin88]

I mean trying a guy who's been dead for 7 months is actually some normal shit for the Vatican. Like they have tried to bring judgement on just what was left of a person didn't even need the full body.

[@404FinallyFound]

I’m gonna sue every ghost I can think of. If they don’t show up to trial, I automatically win

[@rajdipdas69]

How will you send summon

[@secularbelt]

Good luck collecting the judgment

[@secularbelt]

@@rajdipdas69 publish in the newspaper

[@grumblegrim]

So the ghosts are going to pay you then?

[@LynetteTheRogue]

How do you prove if they aren't there?

[@heitorsant1759]

This takes "your honor, as a necromancer i summon the victim to the stand" to a whole other level

[@janodefenua4603]

Undead are mindless in most cases Games/movies etc, so some skeleton is not realy gonna be a big help unless you want him to raid a village or something.

[@KrazyKaiser]

The dead DO tell tales. Man that was a great video.

[@KrazyKaiser]

@@janodefenua4603 ghosts aren't tho

[@VemiX1000]

Victim: "I swear to tell the truth and nothing but the truth so help me Kelemvor"

[@tfordham13]

@@janodefenua4603 depends on the franchise and the spell level

[@michaeledmunds7056]

Suing a ghost is nothing. When the ghosts start suing us, then I'll be worried.

[@nickblas]

There was a case about a house in Arizona that people thought was haunted. Turned out it used to be a drug house, and there was a sealed room still full of drugs. The family cat could get in, and would get coated with the drugs and make everyone else hallucinate.

[@fluidsuspect]

do you have a source for this? I'd like to learn more about it

[@jan_kulawa]

@@fluidsuspect same

[@wendy645]

I live in Arizona and find this not only hilarious but entirely believably plausible 😂

[@annalisasteinnes]

That is incredible.

[@cassiefuchs3657]

Do you have a link to an article about this?

[@m0L3ify]

The closest I ever got to a ghost testifying in court was when the transcript of testimony of a former victim of the Defendant from a previous trial was read in court because the witness was deceased. It was highly effective, but what was sad was that the witness had been a child when the previous incident happened, so we were all very aware that they definitely died young. They helped re-convict their rapist from beyond the grave.

[@rabbit251]

I'm a retired attorney and I thought LegalEagle would cover a case like this. Normally this is considered hearsay but there are about 20 some exceptions to it, a person previously testifying while under oath is one of them, or statements by the victim as to who was their murderer are always allowed in. I thought he would cover these, but maybe he's saving it for next year's Halloween: testimony from the grave.

[@Milkythefawn]

I’m glad the rapist ended up being sent to prison

[@UndeadEggmiester]

I love the idea that " the ghosts got bored and left the house" and not the the fact that most likely that one family was just lying about ghosts.

[@thedapperdolphin1590]

People tend to double down rather than admit they’ve been tricked

[@rachelk4805]

People aren't necessarily lying, they may just be true believers who hear ghosts whispering in the wind. Maybe the people who moved in after are more skeptical,less neurotic, and don't have the same perception.

[@HariSeldon913]

@@rachelk4805 Everyone has heard a sound they couldn't identify or seen something out of the corner of their eye that wasn't there when they looked. Some blame ghosts, some blame their imaginations, some just don't care and keep going as if it didn't happen.

[@nathanielthomson6600]

@@HariSeldon913 because more often than not it actually didn't happen.

[@whocares9033]

"More often than not" implies you have some data about it So..... source?

[@Bacteriophagebs]

IIRC, a key point of the Ackley haunted house case was the "harassment" by paranormal enthusiasts. It wasn't so much that the house was or was not haunted as that people _thought_ it was and the buyers were not made aware of this.

[@Justanotherconsumer]

What is reality, but our perception of it? The court deciding it needs an expert on metaphysics would be hilarious.

[@whimsicalstray]

Yeah, that could really depreciate the value, especially if the previous owners were advertising it as such nationally.

[@whimsicalstray]

Also, the paranormal community's response was dumb. "It's still haunted, but the ghosts are bored." They have to keep up the charade for the previous (probably hoax-selling) owners, so that it casts less doubt on their practice and gives them more material.

[@johndoe6032]

@@whimsicalstray of course ghosts get bored! All they can do is turn on light switches, close doors, and knock over small objects.

[@inerlogic]

@@Justanotherconsumer no, he played down the point in the video, paranormal "investigators" would show up (trespass) on the property, drive by, gawk, etc.... the property was a nuisance because it attracted the public. like when someone buys a house used in a movie (the Goonies house, the Short Circuit house), and fans start showing up.

[@superphantom100]

I thought you where going to talk about the the man who testified at his own murder trial. This sounds insane I know, but he didn’t comeback from the dead or anything, his wife was abusive and he secretly made recording of the abuse, he said “if I end up dead she did it”

[@markfairbanks3533]

I haven't ended up dead....yet, but let this comment serve as proof that I also believe that to be true "if I end up dead, my crazy wife did it"

[@ptolemeeselenion1542]

Lmao.

[@fledbeast5783]

What was the trial nsmed?

[@carbonmonteroy]

Ah yes, the classic amongoid tactic, Impostor Kamikaze.

[@superphantom100]

@@fledbeast5783 I saw it on ID and I can’t find it. I did find a similar story about a woman dying in a fire and testifying at her own trail.

[@NevermoreNeverAgain]

I heard many phrases uttered out loud in my life, but "legally haunted" is my new favourite by far!

[@tranquilthoughts7233]

"legally haunted" seems to me like code for "lawyers constantly show up there for no discernable reason"^^

[@Schneltor]

The logistics of writing a book via Ouija board boggle my mind. Rough drafts, rewrites, finding a ghost editor, rewrite after that, another round of ghost editing, and then the final draft. All spelled out letter by letter on a Ouija board. It would be a multi-generational project where, after you die, Twain talks to you in Ghost Town Bar, then you talk to your kid through the Ouija board. Then Twain talks to you, you talk to your kid, and they talk to their kid through the Ouija board. And on and on and on...

[@vm141789]

“As a matter of law, the house is haunted.” I lost it right there 😂

[@nonameronin1]

Here's a fun fact: in the French Quarter of the New Orleans, the properties for sale will often have a "not haunted" or "haunted" sign attached to the For Sale sign.

[@billmozart7288]

What would happen if I play a jazz record in a New Orleans haunted house

[@selkiara1272]

@@billmozart7288 Depends on the musical tastes of the ghost.

[@selkiara1272]

@@billmozart7288 and the quality of the music

[@imveryangryitsnotbutter]

What would happen if I played a Velvet Vic record in a New Orleans haunted house?

[@Sarah-said]

Oh wow! 😲 Do you know if the haunted houses are sold for a higher or lesser price?

[@Firegen1]

Someone owes Hamlet an apology

[@tiffanyannhowe1712]

😂

[@Quinntus79]

Nah, screw that whiner. Two hours of moaning, when he could've easily just murdered his uncle.

[@ptolemeeselenion1542]

Lol.

[@Klaaism]

Will have to send by séance.

[@LoLingVo]

@@Klaaism sue-ance*

[@Tiloffman]

All that spirit summoning in Ace Attorney doesnt look too crazy now

[@everydaythings4489]

Scrolled way too far to find this

[@CheesyLizzy]

So what you're saying is... In Ace Attorney Maya totally could have just channeled each victim and had them testify of their own murder

[@364-unbirthdays8]

She actually did that in SoJ, which makes it all so much funnier

[@thehalfnegativeoptimist4578]

From what I’ve gathered, she’s tried and it went really badly. I’m not sure how because I’m avoiding spoilers, but my guess is that there were body-hijacking shenanigans.

[@Ultimatedogfan]

I was thinking about the spirit channeling too

[@derp777_]

wasnt the whole plot of the game that her mom did that and the spirit gave false testimony which was proven false, tarnishing the reputation of her clan of spirit channelers in the eyes of the legal system and the world

[@ChrisSchwab216]

True fact: In trying to sort out a mysterious mess of a woman several generations back (about a century) on my wife's family tree, we discovered a newspaper story that they took a legal deposition of her late husband by seance in order to get some clarity about his wishes regarding property. (Or, I believe that was the presenting issue.) Needless to say, this only made the family history weirder and more convoluted-not less-and we're no closer to the answers we were originally seeking but... yeah... I can attest to the facts of this video.

[@Sarah-said]

That's wild! You should bring this to the attention of Legal Eagle, maybe he would do a short episode on it.

[@kathyastrom1315]

In working on my family genealogy, I discovered that my great-great-grandmother was a trance medium (her third husband was a divine healer) who practiced in Oklahoma City in the 1920s. She was arrested for illegal fortune telling in 1920, given a $50 fine and 30 days in jail, but she appealed. The grounds were that the arrest was infringement of her First Amendment right to freedom of religion, since she was a certified Spiritualist minister and pastor of the home-based First National Spiritualist Church. It was obvious that she was trying to get the court to rule on whether Spiritualism was a religion, but they explicitly dodged that subject entirely in the opinion that rejected her argument. They tossed out the jail time, but she did have to pay the fine. The appeal was reported in newspapers around the country, as far away as New York City.

[@ChrisSchwab216]

@@kathyastrom1315 Crazy!

[@ChrisSchwab216]

@@Sarah-said Well, I think I just did. I'm not sure there's enough for an episode, although it would have fit right in with many of these little short blurbs in this video.

[@ptolemeeselenion1542]

Interesting. Have you objected/counter-seanced your step-ancestor's property claims???

[@hi5dude2]

"Cause of death: everlasting faint due to scarf disease" I honestly cannot tell if that is legal eagle taking the piss, or the legitimate coroner's report, and that's kinda scary lol.

[@elfteiroh]

Old medical stuff is indeed scary. Like trying to heal a cold by bleeding you. Often to death. (TBF, that one is a bit older than that story, but still. :P )

[@JargonMadjin]

@@elfteiroh Apparently bloodletting is still a thing

[@maxi1ification]

@@JargonMadjin there will always be nutcases or people paranoid about social conventions and the like willing to look for "alternatives" for one reason or another. Go back enough and unearth some sort of thing or practice used in antiquity by "venerable" people, mix it with said distrust of modern practices regardless of its nature, and you a recipe for a mess. There's also some cases in which very rural and somewhat insular communities preserve old "traditional" practices. Which is where you get people still believing in regular leechings, bloodletting and questionable herbalism.

[@slcRN1971]

@@elfteiroh : the first USA President, George Washington - - was another victim of being ‘bled’ too much. I read this in a book about medicine through the centuries (being a hospital nurse, I find medical treatment/practices of old - - fascinating).

[@elfteiroh]

@@slcRN1971 yeah, I saw it in a video about Presidents’ death.

[@elfteiroh]

This reminds me that until only a couple years ago, here in Canada, we had a very specific law that made “pretending to be a witch if you don’t have the actual ability to do magic for money” as crime… so being a witch was not against the law in Canada! Unless you took money for magic you couldn’t do, of course.

[@unknown_lifeform_brett]

Hah! I'd forgotten that was once a thing. Thanks for the reminder; I needed the laugh today.

[@elfteiroh]

@@unknown_lifeform_brett it was so weird. Like weirdly progressive for a *very* old law. XD

[@unknown_lifeform_brett]

@@elfteiroh Yeah. XD They were fine with actual witches, but had no time for pretenders. lol

[@goggles8691]

@@elfteiroh maybe the reasoning was that witchcraft isn't real (so a law banning that would be useless) and that they'd be able to arrest other witches for non magical crimes? But it is a very fun law regardless and also I'm not a lawmaker from whatever time it was made

[@elfteiroh]

@@goggles8691 well, the law was clearly written that if you could prove you can actually do “real” magic, you were ok. So they kept the door open. But yeah, it was repealed a couple years ago because the “fraud laws” already cover that, so it was redundant. (Yes, that was actually the argument for removing it, *not* that magic doesn’t exist… xD )

[@dff1286]

"They filed an Extra large copyright suit against the medium" I applaud you for saying that with a straight face.

[@andrewharrison8436]

Whoosh, well spotted, that had gone straight past me - thanks.

[@ladysugarsama]

Man that last story reminds me of a lawyer friend that has since passed. He would yell out of his window "he's lying" anytime he heard the ghost tour hosts make up a new fake history for the property he was renting on St. Ann.

[@adams13245]

I like your lawyer friend.

[@bestaround3323]

Some say he still does it even to this day

[@danielschein6845]

When I was a Realtor in California they explained to me that the seller's duty to disclose all material facts includes hauntings. There was one particular house in San Jose that was widely rumored to be cursed because its history of always changing hands as the result of a divorce was attributed to the fact that it was originally built by a mobster. 🤯

[@jamesonrosen1773]

Are houses claimed to be haunted cheaper because of it? I dont mind roommates if they bring down the cost. Id consider it rent

[@danielschein6845]

@@jamesonrosen1773 🤣🤣🤣

[@royceroyce7715]

@@jamesonrosen1773 that's the only question I've been asking myself for this entire video

[@ptolemeeselenion1542]

Hm.

[@glennpearson9348]

Odd. Are hauntings "material" facts? I thought the whole idea of "supernatural" implied ethereal, not material.

[@RiverWoods111]

This is funny only because when I was married, we bought a house and moved in. We lived there for a few years, and then got divorced. We had moved there from out of the area, so we didn't know any of the small-town lore. After our divorce, the whole town started talking about the curse on the house. It seems that every single couple that owned that house and lived in it got divorced. The whole town knew about this. We did not. The owners we bought it from also were divorcing and parting ways. This was a house built in the 1890s so there had been a lot of couples who had gotten divorced while living there. Personally, I just wanted to thank whoever put the curse on the house because I had escaped an abusive marriage with their help!!

[@chrissievers9577]

I remember the Ackley haunted house case. Our property professor was incredibly salty that the court of appeals threw in so many ghost puns, noting that the case involved real stakes for the parties.

[@catbatrat1760]

Wait, they put ghost puns in a court? That is hilarious, though I can understand why your professor was mad about the lack of professionalism. XD

[@julianemery718]

I'm sure the vampires were relieved there were no real stakes

[@Vario69]

That's vampire pun you bloody imbec*l 😅😅

[@godlaydying]

"Rumors of my death were...shit, that doesn't really work now." The ghost of Mark Twain.

[@mmisosouppp]

This reminds me of a case I saw when I was studying juries. Its the R v Young (1994) case. Basically some jurors on a double murder case got a Ouija board out so they could ask the victims if the defendant was guilty. They unanimously found him guilty the next day based on the Ouija board saying that he was. When he (the defendant) found out about it he obviously appealed. The court wasn’t actually sure if they could or should scrutinise the jury but they did end up telling them off in the end as jurors are not supposed to be influenced by ‘evidence’ presented outside the courtroom

[@hydrolito]

Sometimes they take jury to crime scene to view evidence there so that is not always the case.

[@mmisosouppp]

@@hydrolito you’re talking about jury view of the scene right? Like in the OJ Simpson case. This is very rare especially in todays day and age. You are right though, sometimes the jury do leave the courtroom on the basis of viewing evidence they wouldn’t be able to show in the courtroom. However this is permitted by the court in relation to the case. Using a oujia board is decide if a defendant is guilty, is not allowed

[@thedapperdolphin1590]

I’ve heard of a ghost writer, but this is next level

[@A.Filthy.Casual]

Yeah I feel like the mother just had a feeling he was abusing her daughter or the daughter had admitted that to her before, so when she had a feeling something was wrong she brought this story forward because people still largely believed in spirits at this time and it might seem more legitimate than just saying she had a hunch

[@sagehewson3950]

Its also possible she wasn't getting any sleep (thus why she was wide awake in bed) and hallucinated a ghost confirming said hunch. Going several days without sleep is extremely disorienting and hallucinations are common.

[@jokuvaan5175]

@@sagehewson3950 Or she actually had dreams where that happened but she just exaggerated them in court to appear more believable

[@theocjr.43]

Or maybe just because she was a woman she probably wouldn't have been believed out right. So she makes up this story

[@mAssbagflyer]

mom definitely strangled her daughter then her guilt made her blame the husband using her dead ghost daughter. a tale as old as time.

[@Andreamom001]

Pretty impressive that she got the exact cause of death down to the windpipe and vertebrae correct. I’d think she just made up the story to get him convicted but how would she know certain vertebrae were broken? If I made up a story, I’d just say he broke her neck or he strangled her, not give specific medical details that could be wrong.

[@TheSianFromAtlantis]

I'm actually writing a book about some British cases right now! My favourite paranormal court case is the British case of Morris Vs Daily Mail in 1932. Mrs Meurig Morris was a prominent medium who claimed to have as a spirit guide a medieval philosopher. The Daily Mail sent a reporter around and called her a fraud. She sued them for libel. In the court case, she channelled, there were discussions of whether she was mad and eventually the jury gave the bizarre verdict that while the Daily Mail hadn't libelled Mrs Morris, she was also not guilty of fraud.

[@Ellie-rx3jt]

I don't see why that verdict is bizarre. Person A believes (genuinely) that they speak to spirits, while person B believes (genuinely) that they are making shit up. Since both are acting on sincerely held beliefs (or at least are believed by the jury to be) there is clearly no fraud *or* libel.

[@maxblast8210]

You get what you pay for, therefore she ain't a fraud XD

[@comparatorclock]

As a pagan. the hardest part to believe was that she had a human spirit guide; usually spirit guides are other species -- such as a hawk, or a shark, or a wolf, y'know, that sort of thing.

[@jochenstacker7448]

I dare say Zona's mother did not see a ghost, but that she was a shrewd and clever lady who had a suspicion as to what happened to her daughter. Instead of trying to convince the police, she invented a plausible ghost story, because she must have thought it had the greatest chance of success. I am willing to wager my donkey that she put the puzzle pieces together herself Sherlock Holmes style and the ghost story was nothing but a vehicle to deliver her suspicions to the police dressed as fact. I'm basing this on the fact that there are no ghosts, and that a mother would do anything for her daughter. And once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.

[@gunzakimbo]

Either that or she did it. You don't know that the neck broke exactly between 2 vertebrae unless you either A. did it yourself or B. saw the body of the person and were a doctor/knew what the bones were. Call me crazy but I think her lying after finding out more about her husband rather than a ghost coming and giving exact information or her knowing exactly what medical information on a whim to convict someone of murder. The only way I believe that she didn't do it is if she broke in and examined the body when no one was around which I guess isn't impossible but I'm thinking very unlikely.

[@jochenstacker7448]

@@gunzakimbo ok, good point on the specific info. Even if you saw the body, it might be hard to tell, even for a professional.

[@sprshb1852]

@@gunzakimbo or, it may be a ghoooost, ooooooooh.

[@kristinazubic9669]

@@jochenstacker7448 since articles would have mentioned if the mother was a doctor herself (female doctors being rare at that time) maybe she’d been a nurse at some point, or her father or husband had been a doctor. Otherwise, “between the first and second vertebrae” is very specific…

[@jochenstacker7448]

@@kristinazubic9669 did you know that "Articles" can be pronounced like a mythical greek figure? 😜😁

[@pwnorbepwned]

There’s a genuinely funny part of the old Chinese story, Journey to the West, where the monk Tripataka is visited by the ghost of a murdered official, pleading to Tripataka to help him get back at his killer. Tripataka’s first response is to ask the ghost why he would bother coming to him with this, when even as a disembodied spirit, he was perfectly capable of suing his alleged killer.

[@pidey]

The case over Twain's ghost would raise an interesting point. Would works produced posthumously be copyrighted by the inheritors?

[@christophercaldwell6888]

And if so, can the estate correspondingly DISOWN them if they are not any good?

[@Buglin_Burger7878]

No, because the point of copyright is to protect the person so they get benefits from what they made as long as they live. Extending past life means that copyright not only starts to fail to do that, but that corporations and such would get an infinite duration copyright and push for it leading to a massive monopoly over time.

[@birdiemcchicken1471]

Tolkien's Silmarillion was edited and published posthumously in 1977. Who-ever owns the copyright of that book would be your answer.

[@Simul.]

I just gotta remark, the editing in every one of these videos is great, but this one in particular was top notch. I found myself laughing out loud at multiple of the on screen jokes that were never verbally addressed. I just love the added layer of comedy and snark and the dynamic that that it adds; and wanted to make sure that its stated just how great of a job is being done!

[@angelfigueroa6825]

He left out the best part about Stambovsky v. Ackley, which was that pretty much the entire opinion was filled with ghost and supernatural puns, including a (footnoted) reference to the Ghostbusters Theme.

[@Mrnotpib]

The best part about a ghost testifying in a West Virginia court is that, even though it took place in the late 19th century, it could have also been last Thursday and I wouldn’t bat an eye.

[@ConnanTheCivilized]

Imagine the nonsense that happens in West Hollywood. 💀

[@Mrnotpib]

@@ConnanTheCivilizedWest Hollywood is just LA, so I imagine the jurisdiction would fall under either California law or Los Angeles County law, if not their local city legislature.

[@wafl423]

Law student across the pond here, and I will be remiss to mention the ghost of Hammersmith, where in London Hammersmith during 1800 was often said to be haunted. In 1803 a man named Francis Smith shot a bricklayer in the mistaken belief he had encountered the ghost of Hammersmith. Subsequently, his trial would be a precedent-setting case of mistaken belief not being a liable defence in court. And the defence of mistaken identity was only revised in 1987 in R v Williams.

[@hughbrackett343]

I've always wanted to find and "adopt" one of those poltergeists that puts things away.

[@derianvandalsen]

Turn the estate into Hogwarts, (re)naming the poltergeist "Peeves"

[@Sarah-said]

That would be great!

[@seileach67]

There must be some folklore out there about how to attract brownies to your house, like in British folk tales or something.

[@hughbrackett343]

@@seileach67 you would think there's cautionary tales to avoid them. Something like never leave your bedroom slippers by an open window. I just made that up but it could be worth a try.

[@seileach67]

@@hughbrackett343 The only tales I know involve when the brownies are already there and the humans mess up and offend them so they leave and don't help with chores anymore

[@lordofuzkulak8308]

“He was sentenced to Life which ended up being only three years when he died in prison.” - so, he did indeed serve a lifelong sentence then. 😜

[@davidintrabartolo5887]

The Stambovski opinion was by far my favorite from 1L property. It quotes Hamlet, references Ghostbusters and is absolutely PACKED with spooky wordplay.

[@MorgueAnomaly]

I’m a West Virginian with family in Greenbrier so I’m familiar with Zona’s story already, and only really clicked to see if the subject would come up, so I’m really happy it was discussed first :) it’s always nice to see bits of my homes history and culture being shared to the world by big creators (shared truthfully and in good faith!)

[@x25__]

6:32: "There is, of course, grounds for doubt whether testimony transmitted through a ouija board will be accepted. The court may consider it incompetent, irrelevant, and immaterial." "Immaterial." Like the witness. 🤣

[@thealgerian3285]

"And I would've gotten away with it, if it weren't for you meddling ghosts!"

[@lastchancemonicam3948]

In some states, like Ohio, a real estate agent has to tell potential buyers if a house has a reputation for being haunted. In other states, like Texas, a real estate agent has to tell potential buyers if a murder or violent crime happened there.

[@Sarah-said]

I wondering about that.

[@joshklein7842]

Lawyer: "Are you not superstitious?" Mother: "No but I may be a little stitious..."

[@SchuldigChan]

I live in Greenbrier county. :) Thank you for telling people about the Greenbrier Ghost. Always nice to have the history that I grew up with spoken about on a global platform.

[@obi-juantacobi8552]

Same and my grandmother was a Shue from Droop Mt so it's always cool to hear the story from an outside source not from the area.

[@francesco8000]

During the first story i was like "ok, sure, makes sense..." until he dropped that the victim' spirit appeared in the middle of the night to her mother to tell her that she was murdered. I'm sorry, you can't just drop that on me and act like it's just tuesday.

[@michaelholtke4445]

But he didn't, it's Friday.

[@cruzcflores]

Well the ghost was right so what are you gonna do?

[@teelo12000]

Curious about that one. Given the mother knew so many details perfectly... did nobody at any point consider maybe *she* was the murderer? Was 1897 a time when nobody could possibly imagine a female criminal?

[@savageraccoon787]

@@teelo12000 curious indeed...

[@chiderakalaji7206]

@@teelo12000 But if the mom never said her daughter visited her, no one would have any suspicion about her death. So it's unlikely imo

[@EchoBoomer1987]

The house case is my absolute favorite. You can tell the judge had a field day because he crams all these ghost puns into his descsion. Also, our professor told us when the new people moved in the ghosts moved out because the buyers weren’t as fun as the previous owners.

[@RandomGameCritic]

3:15 I really appreciate the jokes that you guys have been sneaking into the the text lately. This one got a good laugh out of me.

[@DollyOmegaX]

Thank you! This was extremely necessary!

[@Narutonarutonaruto85]

I was reminded about The Ghost and Molly McGee where Molly's mother called the realtor to try and get some of her money back, because no one mentioned a ghost. Granted she might of found Scratch if she had inspected the house before moving in.

[@thetrashghost21]

Glad to see a fellow The Ghost and Molly McGee fan here. Hilariously enough, "Innocent Until Proven Ghostly" ended up having Scratch on trial (very, very loose usage of the term) for stealing a passion fruit crumb cake. Good thing he indeed ended up innocent.

[@JB-wq2zu]

2 years ago I passed a house for sale, the for sale sign included the disclaimer "not haunted"

[@Blasted2Oblivion]

Call me crazy. I think it might be haunted.

[@tokyworld]

thats exactly what they would say about a haunted house

[@melissabelle8626]

I’m studying to get my real estate license in California and sellers are supposed to disclose if their house is haunted. That cracked me up.

[@programmerdave9893]

Plot Twist: The Ghostbusters realize that they've been hired by the murderer to prevent the ghost from accusing their killer.

[@jamiegagnon6390]

Contact Harold Ramis' ghost; he needs to start writing... ;-)

[@Ironman1o1]

That Mark Twain case could have made Copyright law an even bigger nightmare then it is now. Imagine if a judge decided that yes, Twain, through the medium, did write the book. He could have said that then reverts his publishing rights back to him. As in Twain, as in the dead guy. I can't imagine what headaches that could have caused.

[@woutervanham8246]

13:08 "Because a killer who knows how to manipulate the legal system, is the scariest killer of them all" WHY DID YOU LAUGH SO NERVOUSLY AFTER SAYING THAT?

[@franl155]

I read somewhere that in the US, it's a legal requirement to state if a house is haunted when putting it up for sale.

[@Sarah-said]

I've heard that too but maybe it's only in certain states?

[@RR-on4sk]

It's a state thing

[@seantaggart7382]

I mean id do it But make a note saying "your choice to decide if its real"

[@IceMetalPunk]

@@seantaggart7382 Me: "It's not, now give me the keys and stop writing."

[@seantaggart7382]

@@IceMetalPunk *hands keys* HEY CASPER ALL YOURS!

[@rojoshow13]

I was just thinking about this the other day because I was watching OLD episodes of Unsolved Mysteries and there was a person suing the previous owners because the house was haunted. And I thought it was funny because I don't believe in that shit so I was curious how a lawsuit would work. They would have to prove that it's more likely than not that it's haunted, but they'd also have to prove that it's more likely than not that I believe in ghosts too.

[@OptimusPhillip]

I remember hearing a vaguely similar story to the final one about _The Amityville Horror._ The specifics escape me, but as I recall, the writers of the novel attempted to sue one of their critics for copyright infringement, but the court struck the case down on the basis that facts cannot be copyrighted. Of course, this implies that _The Amityville Horror_ is legally considered a true story... Though in all seriousness, courts have used the same argument of "facts cannot be copyrighted" to strike down lawsuits over copyright traps on maps or in trivia books, so it seems the veracity of a claim of fact really has no bearing on whether it can be copyrighted, merely whether or not it _is_ a claim of fact.

[@sallyphilpin4939]

My family don't worry about ghosts as most of us have either, or both, seen/heard them. Not long after we lost our 14 year old Spaniel my mother was helping my sister around the house one evening, she didn't bother to turn the stair light on as the bedroom one was on so the stairs weren't quite dark. My sister has the same type of Spaniel as the one we lost so when my mum felt a dog brush past her legs as she went up she assumed it was one of them. The thing is she couldn't find the dog in any of the bedrooms or bathroom, when she thought maybe the dog had quietly gone back stairs but when she was back downstairs both my sister's dogs were both safely secured behind a 'baby' gate and had been there all evening. The dogs would have had to jump the gate which my sister, sat on the sofa in line of sight, would have seen. So, what 'dog' brushed it's way past my mum?? Also a few years ago I had the bad habit of reading in bed late at night just using the landing light to read by. The reason I stopped was hearing a deep male voice straight into my ear from what seemed an inch away saying loudly 'GO TO SLEEP'. Problem was that my then-husband was facing away from me and snoring, my step-sons were in their own room sleeping, my step-daughter was at her mum's and my daughter was a toddler. Another creepy thing about my family: My mum's mum would phone my mum and ask which one of us 4 girls was pregnant and that was before even the expectant mum even knew. Nan would know when one of us became pregnant and exact time we either gave birth or the baby sadly passed before birth. She just didn't know which one of us it was so you can imagine our mum turning to us and saying 'Alright, which one?' and the suspect had to take a test, if negative the next suspect and so on til we found out lol.

[@Iudicatio]

This reminds me of another KZbin video that discussed that possibility that many of these "haunting" cases are actually phrogging. Phrogging is when someone sneaks into your house without you knowing and begins to live there and tries to keep their existence secret from you.

[@D0NTST4RT]

That's a thousand times more terrifying than ghosts

[@milesipka]

There are at least a couple of movies where this is used as a plot point - the first is "Bad Ronald", where a teenager accidentally kills a young friend and his mother builds a hidden cubblyhole for him to live in but she dies shortly afterwards. Her son then lives in the secret space undetected while a new family moves in. The second film is "Christina's House", a B-grade horror flick where a disturbed handyman fresh out of an asylum is sent by a fellow in mate to "haunt" her family by posing as a handyman and building hidden passages in their house so he can live there and perve on their daughter.

[@Kdkdleeme]

I love these fun style videos about old obscure cases! 🔥

[@EastyyBlogspot]

That's the spirit, I wonder why ghosts often have clothes ....do clothes have souls well I know shoes do

[@A_Few_Thoughts]

Hi LegalEagle, interesting topic. On another topic, I tried to get a couple messages out to you already but could you please do the big case in the Chess World. It's the defamation lawsuit brought by 19 year old GM Hans Neiman against World chess champion Magnus Carlsen. The complaint that Niemann filed is a really interesting read, lots of drama and implications for professional chess at the highest level. Also, a lot of unusual behavior by both players for psychologists to analyze. I think you would really find the case interesting and it's been in the news quite a bit. It's a $100 million lawsuit. I don't like either of these players personally, but while Neiman has admitted to cheating in online games, there's absolutely no evidence that he cheated in his game against Carlsen in the St Louis tournament. Thanks

[@Sarah-said]

That would be a great case for @LegalEagle to do!

[@fluidsuspect]

yeah I'd like to hear about this from a legal perspective too!

[@Cyberguy42]

Agreed

[@wendy645]

Ooooh I'd love to hear his take on this!

[@alcam4226]

Stop dicking around league-o igloo.

[@HungerGamesFan00]

the first one kinda feels like a case of "this guy is guilty, right? even to a blind infant?" "Oh absolutely" "you agree that he should be kept away from anyone else he could harm?" "Sounds right to me" "so he's going to jail, right" "There's not _quiiiiiite_ enough physical evidence to put him away" "but you just -- ... uhhhh. her ghost actually came to me last night. said he did it. probably shoulda mentioned that earlier huh?"

[@benjaminlee985]

The opinion in the haunted house case amusingly quotes Ghostbusters, pointing out that there's an obvious practical problem with expecting a prospective buyer to discover a paranormal phenomenon during their inspection: "Who you gonna call?"

[@charlesbartlet6935]

I don't think I've ever found one of these this early. 😁

[@natmorse-noland9133]

In Minnesota, realtors are legally forbidden from disclosing whether a house is haunted. My mom ran into this issue a few times before she retired!

[@Lilithksheh7723]

I think that the “ghost” might’ve just been unconscious acknowledgement of Ed Shoe’s odd behaviour with the scarf.

[@bookfound]

Or worse, subconsciously admitting that the you knew your daughter was abused.

[@Lilithksheh7723]

@@bookfound Yeah. Ouch.

[@0000-z4z]

Or the mother was the murder and just told the story in order to shift blame to the husband.

[@HariSeldon913]

A competent ME would have had the husband removed from the scene while he did the autopsy.

[@SpectraPhantom2497]

But how would it know the fact of the vertebrae?

[@iRedEarth]

In the game King of Dragon Pass, you can sue a ghost for trespassing. The laws come from the gods, so they can be enforced by petitioning of the gods against other supernatural beings.

[@leapinglizard3937]

In my state of PA, if you’re going to selling any form of property, you have to disclose if it’s haunted. I loved this vid!

[@itsdan303]

Watching Devon while I should be working. The perfect distraction!

[@oriolgonzalez9328]

Aaaah, I missed this "silly but actually real law cases" stuff, great work Devin!

[@serPomiz]

"the hunting ceased because the ghost was bored with the new owner" is the best justification for paranormal not happening I've ever heard this side of "the day of apocalypse being unknowable means that every time someone believes to have found it, it will not happen on that date"

[@TwinShards]

7:56 Omg the timing. "I drink your -" ADS

[@FaeMagic]

I can already hear the keyboard clacking of every world building fantasy/sci-fi writer who clicked on this video.

[@zero1872001]

First story: So.. the mother knew how the death happened.. and yet.. no one thought.. to make her a suspect.. seriously?

[@Triforce_of_Doom]

tbf they had a guy already heavily obstructing discovering the wounds so their sights would go to him first.

[@lyokianhitchhiker]

Plus the idea of the actual murderer spilling the beans like that is preposterous.

[@ahumanmerelybeing]

​@@lyokianhitchhikerAgreed-- why would she ask the cops to reopen the case if she herself was the murderer and have gotten away with it the first time?

[@ferretyluv]

I was hoping you’d talk about the Ghostbusters case. I still don’t quite understand estoppel (or most abstract legal terms), but hearing it defined as “no take backsies” helps.

[@nodisalsi]

I would love to hear your opinion of a famous trial in Japanese crime fiction: "Rashomon." Here a mediuim calls a ghost as witness to the trial.

[@Taurusus]

I remember it differently...

[@aierce]

1, it's fiction. 2, Japanese court is wildly different. Wrong question to ask of the wrong person.

[@HOLDENPOPE]

@@aierce it being fiction means nothing. Legal Eagle has a Lawyers React playlist where he rates the accuracy of fictional trials.

[@theaikidoka]

@@HOLDENPOPE True, but those trials are almpst always based in the US legal system, of which he has experience. Otherwise, he'd have to guess, which we can do just as well.

[@nodisalsi]

@@aierce "wrong question to ask of the wrong person" Um, actually, No. You Are Wrong. (And I fail to understand why you need to gatekeep comments on this topic - @Taurusus totally nailed it.) Rashomon is a japanese crime fiction based around a trial where an account of same incident is told by four witnesses. Each told the TRUTH, and each story presents a completely different picture. The bandit even admits guilt and is ready for judgement, it is only a matter for the court to decide how severe their punishment would be. And since it's hallowe'en, and we can entertain ghosts as witnesses, one of the witnesses of the Rashomon trial is the murder victim who is summoned via a medium. Totally apropos! THAT's the point of this story and this happen in ANY legal system. I have been a juror on a trial like this - in Scottish law: everyone told the truth, each story was different, everyone was so drunk that nobody had complete recollection of what happened, and - most curiously - both parties to a violent assault were still friendly neighbours and openly fraternised with each other outside the court! The accused won aquittals and two witnesses (giving the most obtuse answers in this trial) were later prosecuted making false statements to police on the night - to avoid a Drunk driving charge).

[@joshlong8802]

Ghost conveniently stops showing up when the people claiming it exists are no longer around. “Ah yes must’ve gotten bored”

[@elishaso]

0:04 I was absolutely ready for him to say "you may not believe in ghosts but they believe in you"

[@giantflamingrabbitmonster8124]

1:15 Material Plane? Astral Plane? Legal Eagle definitely plays D&D.

[@crovax1375]

Ghosts are live on the Ethereal plane, not the Astral plane, in D&D

[@RainCheck797]

Not necessarily, I've never played and know what those are. It's pretty common.

[@giantflamingrabbitmonster8124]

@@crovax1375 True! But obviously Ghost Court is held on the Astral, as Legal Eagle said. 😉 Which makes sense as the Ethereal is on the border between the Material and Astral, and most ghosts are spirits that are supposed to be on the way to their destined planar afterlife (Hell, Celestia, etc.), and the Astral can serve as a pathway there.

[@giantflamingrabbitmonster8124]

@@RainCheck797 That's a fair point. But I'll go out on a limb for this one since he's already a professional rules lawyer.

[@mattybrunolucaszeneresalas9072]

I don’t even know what d&d but even I know those terms

[@Kenya_Berry]

I’ve heard multiple stories like the first so I’m now convinced ghosts are real, but their main goal is to get the killer caught

[@anatolydyatlov963]

Hold on a second, there was a woman who described in detail how this person was murdered, which only the killer could've known at that time because of the whole grief-autopsy situation, and literally no one thought that her cute little story with a ghost was just a way to convict the other guy while in reality, she was the murderer??

[@hydrolito]

Why was he hiding her neck and not she if she did it?

[@anatolydyatlov963]

​@@hydrolito I'm not sure why he would have wanted to prevent others from seeing her in that state, but if we're looking at the situation objectively, a more important question is how her mother came to know the details of her death. It's possible that his suspicious behaviour inspired her to accuse him of murder, with the aim of deflecting suspicion from herself. She may have believed that others around her would be susceptible to the notion of ghosts, and that this would lend credence to her accusations.

[@hydrolito]

@@anatolydyatlov963 If he choked her with his hands would be bigger marks than smaller hands. He would have greater strength to do the damage. He also abused other women is there any record of mother being violent? He hid his identity because of his violent history.

[@Camazotz-kz9wr]

@@anatolydyatlov963 Thing is, no one was suspicious of her at all. She had no reason to say anything at all if she alone was the murderer. More likely she was working with the husband for some reason. He killed the daughter and covered it up. Then after the daughter was gone, the mom then got rid of him by accusing him of the murder. Though why he wouldn't protest and tell the courts the mom was in on it as well, idk.

[@GoofRebelMusic]

This might be my favorite episode of legal eagle. Just really fun learning this stuff.

[@egonhomes]

I work in real estate in WV, and we have a principle called Stigmatized Property. If a house is known to be the site of a murder, haunting, drug production, or otherwise has a negative association, we have to disclose that to any seller. Oddly, we have a different term called a Haunted property, which means a commercial property where businesses fail many times and has exchanged hands often.

[@avudim1255]

"Liar-about-ghost-daughter-says-what" Had me rolling for a solid minute. Thank you.

[@samesu766white7]

Boys we found an infinite money glitch. Sue every single ghost known to man for at least 50k. They wont show up. Instant win.

[@1slotmech]

Good luck with collecting.

[@steveaustin2686]

@@1slotmech Exactly. If the ghosts don't show up to court, they are not going to pony up the cash either.

[@timothy4664]

"As a matter of law, the house is haunted" is one of my favorite decisions because it's so preposterous

[@mantazerted7155]

The fact ghosts are used and taken seriously in legal trials is so sad

[@Dark_Force_Of_Wishes]

No It's Not.

[@mantazerted7155]

@@Dark_Force_Of_Wishes yes it very much is

[@Dark_Force_Of_Wishes]

@@mantazerted7155 Your Pathetic Life Is Sad.

[@HOLDENPOPE]

@@mantazerted7155 What, was Trout, who had a history of being a POS, not guilty?

[@happy_bubble7]

One day my Great Grandmother came into the kitchen to tell everyone they needed to call the police. She had been sleeping and it was early morning. It was confusing to all present. She claimed her daughter had been in a massive wreck and was laying in a ditch on the road, clinging to life. She claimed my Aunt had come to her and told her she was dying. Come to find out just an hour earlier my Aunt had been thrown through the window of a semi truck and was laying nearly dead in a ditch.... 4 states away. If you believe in ghosts and spirits, you're more likely to have those experiences, but to be used in a legal battle? Wow.

[@allgirlreview433]

The Nyack house case was my absolute favorite read of 1L, and it has to be the funniest decision ever.

[@obi-juantacobi8552]

No lie, Trout Shue was my grandmothers uncle. Still a very popular name in the family to this day. My family from Droop Mountain has a FAR FAR different story lol Intially the mother and others blamed a local black teenager who helped Trout in his forge. But Trout told people that the teenager was a good ("slur" not saying it was right, but it was the vernacular at the time) and he would never do that. Then the story changed from that she was murdered to that it was the husband that did it. My family to this day has no doubts she was murdered, just not by Trout. Because why would you stop the judicial system from letting you get away with it? My family also still believes the mother did it. She was not happy about he daughter marrying a Shue. Because until prohibition my family from there was seen as poor white trash. We still say evidence points to the mother. She had a known temper and there is no explanation for her having explicit details of the body and murder

[@obi-juantacobi8552]

@Tin Watchman who knows it was 125 years ago. However, anger fueled by adrenaline makes people do crazier things.

[@Clay3613]

That's a really stupid theory NGL. The husband was an abusive liar with a missing ex-wife and intentionally kept the corner from inspecting his wife's body. What would the mother gain from killing her adult daughter and I'm sure she had a solid alibi.

[@obi-juantacobi8552]

@@Clay3613 that's certainly one side of the story. People in grief often act irrational. When my grandfather passed my father made questionable choices. Because Ghostbusters in denial stage often try to avoid things that make it more realm People who are prone to anger and lash out like that often do things they don't mean to do. Very well may have not been intentional. Why would she change her story? Also having details of a crime scene is suspicious. And why would Trout defend someone else had he did it? He could habe easily stayed quiet and gotten away with it.

[@tiffbeevachou108]

My Dad took my Mom to court for her telling us ghost stories about the house we lived in. The thing is, that house really did have unexplained activity. Both of my parents were so petty when we were growing up.

[@hackman669]

Mericans are nuts!! 🤭😶🤐

[@11Survivor]

They got divorced when you were ten, didn't they?

[@booklover311]

did anyone win?

[@Obi-Wan_Kenobi]

If you ever need me to testify as a ghost, I got you.

[@colinmanley8627]

I once had to pass along to an appraiser i was working with that, per the bank, he needed to account for the reported haunting of the house. That was a fun conversation.

[@GooglePsyop]

We have a family photo near Zona’s grave and it has an orb in it. It’s just dust but it creeped us out when we were kids who read the story every summer.

[@Leith_Crowther]

It really bugs me when people say ghosts “are a matter of belief, not fact” or something similar. It is possible - common, even - to believe something and also be objectively wrong (or correct).

[@Firegen1]

1:26 so one of the core plot points of Rashomon has legal prescendent? Nifty!

[@bfkennedy]

“As a matter of law, the house is haunted.” 😂

[@IsshTM]

Is this the legal equivalent of 'How to tell someone you are form US without saying you are from US.' meme?