Why is this important to the civil suit? She was/is an amateur. She didn’t suffer any monetary damages related to a “riding career” as a result of the shooting. Her riding is a hobby.
She can argue for pain and suffering, but how can she argue for any damages as a result of a lost riding career of any kind?
Perhaps one of the many lawyers participating on these threads can clarify…
I also think the level at which she was riding is significant in this case as it has been proposed that LK and MB’s training relationship started to sour when she didn’t feel he was paying enough attention to her and was paying attention to MHG instead.
My point earlier was regardless of the personalities involved, it was not a realistic expectation for a still-working-on-qualifying-scores-at-second ammy to have lots of undivided attention from a well respected FEI level rider and coach; that it would the equivalent of someone competing in the .85 meter jumpers expecting lots of individual attention/private lessons from Beezie Madden.
That’s not a dig at Lauren or her riding ability; just a statement of fact. No matter how many horses you’ve brought in or how deep your pocket is, if you’re riding at the entry levels of the sport, you’re going to be coached and taught by assistants 80% of the time.
I still hold that the tippy twisty thing is exactly the kind of ammie posture thing most low level riders struggle through and that limits their progress until they get serious about strength. Not saying she was inherently flawed but that she wasn’t putting in the hours to get stronger. And indeed as an addict unlikely to happen.
According to the judge’s instructions, the jury does not need to entertain the issue of insanity until they’ve determined that the prosecution met its burden on the elements of its case.
So the fact that they’re asking questions about the expert witnesses could mean that they are now deliberating about not guilty vs not guilty by reason of insanity
Not according to her USEF record. Looks like she qualified for the first level championship but scratched.
Edited to add she showed that same horse 3rd level a month later with scores of 55.something and 49.something. It’s all publicly available information.
I think it’s important to the civil suit because she would try to argue that she was unfairly cut short in her prime. I know it’s nonsense. But I would expect that to be her claim. Civil suits often start out with inflated claims and emotional appeals.
Dr Simring is a very respected psychiatrist who somehow had a lot of errors in his report. His report stated the DCCP report was sexual abuse of minors and it was not. He later claimed he heard that from MB. His report stated it was two dog bites on MB’s eye not thigh. His report stated the gun belonged to MHG, not RC. His report had at least one message not seen by MB prior to the incident included in the 100 that MB said bothered him most. The prosecutor was able to show Dr Simring’s report was sloppy and that Dr Simring did not look at everything.
Dr Schlesinger far outpaced Dr Hasson with credentials, 24 minutes worth.
Both Dr Simring and Dr Schlesinger were board certified in forensics for their respective fields. Dr Hasson was not. Dr Hasson ran Dr Schlesinger’s tests through a debunked software to get a different result and then claimed Dr Schlesinger made up his result.
All three stated that MB drove over and shot LK twice and at Rag. They accepted it. Dr Simring testified that MB told him that he took the gun out of the safe.
All that being said, I think it may be that MB was under a delusion as testified by Drs Simring and Hasson which seems to be more diminished capacity then insanity. It may be he is feigning memory loss. I kind of believe he doesn’t remember the incident but I’m not convinced he was under a delusion or insane. I’m kind of ambivalent/wishy-washy on that.
I have not seen this theory proposed, but it seems likely to me that Barisone went there with a gun for two reasons. One, for self-protection because he believed they also have guns, and second because if they were still there, he intended to tell them, at gunpoint, to get the hell off his property and never come back.
He was desperate to get them out of his life, but the system seemed to have failed him at every turn. Negotiations with lawyers had not gotten results. Multiple calls to the police had not worked. The police, safety inspectors, had all taken Lauren at her word. Cutting off horse services and finding her another barn had not worked. Her father was a powerful lawyer which means endless resources for court battles. Meanwhile he was losing control to Lauren at every turn. Safesport had recently, effortlessly brought down THE legend of the Hunter industry. It seems Barisone had no idea if the allegations against his friend George Morris were true. And now, through Safe sport, CPS was in his very office talking about the children. It is easy to see how he would be convinced that the children would be taken away, regardless of the truth. Getting children taken away taps a primal dread like no other. This scenario is not really much of a stretch, but if he was mentally unstable or paranoid, its easy to see how he could read the signs in a dire way.
A friend of mine had a son who was mentally ill and sometimes suicidal. She was scared to death of him. He did some farm work for me and he would tell me earnestly that the cell phones were tapping into his mind and controlling him. I could not help thinking that he had a point.
In the movies at least, people will obey when they are commanded at gunpoint. I can see how this poorly conceived idea (of driving them out at gunpoint) could go horribly wrong, especially when one is terrified and not thinking clearly, while attempting to command an ex-marine grifter and a rather crazy woman.
If the prosecutions version(s) of what happened are true, the witness testimonies would all match, and they would not lave “lost” proof of a cold-blooded shooting on the Blink security camera footage.
I don’t believe he went there with the intent to kill. It takes tremendous self-control to be a dressage trainer at the highest levels. A trainer never, ever crosses the line. His text message about putting the fear of God in a dangerous horse (sorry don’t remember the exact words) is a good metaphor for what he probably tried to do. Horses respect potent command and sometimes it is necessary with a virile young horse to impress him with what you “could” do. Once a trainer crosses the line to abuse and cruelty the horse becomes fearful and dangerous and all attempts at training fail. Even one failure can unravel years of trust. Michael had the respect and friendship of many esteemed horsemen because he was one. To create a high performance horse you have to be a master at self-control and benevolent leadership to produce a trusting partner and athlete.
She spoke politely on the distress of her daughter, herself, and family over reading the SM trash talking about Lk and asked for it to be toned down. She was not tested well in return.
No, absolutely not. I have forgiven a family member for the emotional pain she caused me most of my life. She has no idea about it. I did it for me. It’s been a very good thing.
But doesn’t there need to be a factual basis of actual monetary damages incurred?
Successful pain and suffering lawsuits are mostly NOT frivolous, and often follow technical formulas. Plus… any civil matter is going to blow the barn doors open with respect to discovery. And that will include:
The actual level LK was competing at
LK not showing up for lessons
LK frequently scratching from competition
LKs history with barns in NC prior to training with MB
In short… they won’t even need to analyze her actual riding. Her behavior and extensive history of poor relationships with professionals and prior coaches? That will all speak for itself.
Just my opinion.
Also, has she already started a civil complaint against MB? Or… has she just been talking about it for the last two years? I would have thought it would have waited until the criminal trial was done.