Did Socrates actually die after ingesting that hemlock? Take a look at Socrates v. the Republic of Greece and Olympus Bigpharm Ltd., choice of the Historical Excessive Court docket of Southern Athens, little doubt not too long ago found by anthropologist attorneys.
Ouzo J.: That is an motion by the plaintiff for damages arising out of the consumption by him of hemlock served by the defendant, the Republic of Greece (the Republic) and manufactured by the defendant Olympus Bigpharm Ltd. (Bigpharm).
The details are easy.
The plaintiff is a outstanding thinker. Two years in the past, he was charged with corrupting the younger in contravention of Part 1321 of the Prison Code, which reads: “Any one who knowingly corrupts the younger is responsible of: (i) a felonious offense and shall be sentenced to demise; or (ii) A misdemeanor offense.”
The prosecution proceeded by the use of felony, and the plaintiff was convicted and sentenced to demise. He determined to not attraction after reviewing the matter fastidiously with the general public defender.
The execution was to have taken place within the plaintiff’s cell, the place he was to drink two tablespoons of hemlock. Simply previous to his execution, the plaintiff was requested by the jailer, one Zeno the Elder, whether or not he had any final requests. The plaintiff, slightly perturbed at this stage, mentioned, “I may certain use a great drink.” The jailer thereupon gave him a small flask of Metaxa brandy, which the plaintiff swiftly gulped down. The plaintiff then mentioned that he was all set, so Zeno the Youthful, the jailer’s son, proceeded to pour the hemlock manufactured by Bigpharm right into a goblet. The plaintiff drank the hemlock, and he was anticipated to die immediately. However he didn’t die. As a substitute, he developed a sudden and extreme pores and skin rash throughout his physique.
The Zenos have been astonished. The authorities have been baffled, fearing this to be an omen from the gods, they usually instantly launched the plaintiff. The pores and skin rash endured, and the plaintiff despatched a letter to Bigpharm complaining about this facet impact. The defendant promptly replied as follows (Exhibit 5):
Pricey Sir,
Thanks for bringing this matter to our consideration. As you understand, all our merchandise are subjected to stringent measures of high quality management. We have now examined the pattern despatched to us by the Republic, and we should say that we’ve got discovered nothing unsuitable with it. As a gesture of fine religion, nonetheless, we’re sending you below separate cowl, with our compliments, a case of Bigpharm hemlock.
Sincerely,
Xenoppedopolous
(Pronounced Xenoppedopolous)
Public Relations
The plaintiff subsequently commenced this swimsuit.
Legal responsibility
Bigpharm argues that the plaintiff’s damages are unforeseeable and distant. Proof was led that Bigpharm has been the purveyor of hemlock to the Republic for over 100 years, and that there by no means have been any complaints, aside from some remoted complaints in regards to the product having an aftertaste.
Counsel means that the plaintiff survived the hemlock solely on account of a physiological idiosyncrasy. This argument doesn’t maintain water. It’s well-established in legislation {that a} tortfeasor takes his sufferer as he finds him. The defendant clearly owes an obligation to its potential shoppers to unequivocally warn them of potential negative effects in the event that they devour the product. I discover that on this case, the defendant didn’t go far sufficient merely by affixing a label on the bottle bearing the inscription “Shake Effectively Earlier than Utilizing.” The court docket makes a discovering of negligence towards this defendant.
Specializing in the difficulty of legal responsibility of the Republic, the plaintiff argues that the Republic was negligent in the way in which it carried out its abortive execution. He says that he relied upon the representations of the defendant that the hemlock would knock him out with the pace of Hermes. Had he recognized in any other case, he would have requested for one more type of execution, maybe to be thrown right into a wrestling ring with two Spartan girls.
The Republic argues that the plaintiff undertook a voluntary assumption of threat. Counsel has tried to influence the court docket that the pores and skin rash resulted from a chemical change within the plaintiff’s physique as a consequence of the interplay of the hemlock with the Metaxa, which was requested the plaintiff. The Republic tried to file as proof of this proposition a report of its deputy soothsayer containing his findings and conclusions of his examination of a calf’s entrails. On the objections of counsel for the plaintiff, the court docket didn’t admit this proof because the defendant uncared for to serve a replica of this report no less than seven days earlier than the trial. The provisions of the Proof Act regarding the opinions of consultants together with physicians, toxicologists and soothsayers are clear on this level.
I’ve no hesitation in holding that the Republic was additionally negligent.
This leads the court docket to adjudicate upon the declare over the Republic has instituted towards Bigpharm. The Republic depends on the provisions of Part 15(2) of the Sale of Items Act and claims that the hemlock offered to it by Bigpharm was not merchantable.
Part 15(2) reads: “2) The place items are purchased by description from a vendor who offers in items of that description there’s an implied situation that the products will probably be of merchantable high quality, but when the client has examined the products, there is no such thing as a implied situation as regards the consequences that such examination must have revealed.”
Bigpharm argues that the Republic in truth examined the hemlock prior to buy, in {that a} consultant of the Republic, one Pappanodekolis (pronounced Pappanodekolis) attended on the Bigpharm plant earlier than ordering the hemlock in query. He adopted the same old apply and introduced together with him three slaves to pattern the product. He testified that two of the slaves overpowered him and fled minutes earlier than they have been to have tasted the hemlock. The third slave did certainly pattern the hemlock. Mr. Pappanodekolis must have realized on the time that there was one thing unsuitable with the hemlock when the slave, as an alternative of dropping down, delusionally requested, “Is that this the Pepsi?”
The court docket finds that the exclusionary provision of part 15 applies and the declare over is dismissed. I apportion legal responsibility to the plaintiff equally between the 2 defendants.
Damages
We now flip to damages. The plaintiff’s dermatitis (pronounced dermatitis) prevented him from resuming his duties as a thinker within the market for over 18 months. This resulted in a lack of earnings of about 9,000 drachma. The court docket accepts this quantity for out-of-pocket loss.
As for normal damages for ache and struggling, the dermatitis is throughout his physique. The evaluation right here is harder, as all of the physicians in Greece have been afraid to look at the plaintiff for worry of contracting his rash. The plaintiff testified that even when he confronted Dr. Hippocrates, the nice physician replied, “What oath?”
I’ve thought-about this matter fastidiously, and in view of the gravity of the dermatitis, the profound impact it has had upon the plaintiff’s private and social life, and moreover, in view of the truth that insurance coverage firms will probably be paying for all of this, I assess normal damages at 20,000 drachma. I additionally award 100,000 drachma for punitive damages as a normal deterrent.
Judgment accordingly.
Marcel Strigberger, after 40-plus years of training civil litigation within the Toronto space, closed his legislation workplace and determined to proceed his humor writing and talking passions. His newest ebook is First, Let’s Kill the Lawyer Jokes: An Attorney’s Irreverent Serious Look at the Legal Universe. Go to MarcelsHumour.com, and comply with him at @MarcelsHumour on X, previously often called Twitter.
