A Victim of Circumstance

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#306: “A Victim of Circumstance”
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Genesis 3:1-24
1Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?"2The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,3but God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.'"4"You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman.5"For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."6When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.7Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.8Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden.9But the LORD God called to the man, "Where are you?"10He answered, "I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid."11And he said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?"12The man said, "The woman you put here with me--she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it."13Then the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate."14So the LORD God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, "Cursed are you above all the livestock and all the wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life.15And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel."16To the woman he said, "I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you."17To Adam he said, "Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, 'You must not eat of it,' "Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life.18It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field.19By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return."20Adam named his wife Eve, because she would become the mother of all the living.21The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.22And the LORD God said, "The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever."23So the LORD God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken.24After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.

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A Victim of Circumstance

“A Victim of Circumstance” is episode #306 of the Adventures in Odyssey audio series. It was written and directed by Phil Lollar, and originally aired on March 18, 1995.

Summary

When Rodney steps through a skylight at Whit's End and breaks his leg, the Rathbones take Jason Whittaker to court.

Plot

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Jack and Jason are in the office one evening, looking at the moon through their new skylight. Suddenly, they hear creaking and groaning from the ceiling. Before anyone knows what is happening, the skylight comes crashing down almost on top of them! They discover that the skylight didn’t cave in by itself. Rodney Rathbone stepped through it! He has a severe cut on his head and a broken arm.

Later, at the hospital, he admits to Jack, Jason, and Bart Rathbone that he was setting up a water-balloon trap on the roof. Bart tells Jack and Jason he’s grateful they’re not pressing trespassing charges against Rodney. But as soon as Jack and Jason leave, a new visitor steps into the room, a lawyer named Howard J. Weizel. Weizel convinces Bart and Rodney that they have a strong lawsuit against Jason Whittaker and Whit’s End! Jack and Jason can’t believe it. They try everything possible to get the case dismissed. They even send Weizel on a strange ride in the Room of Consequence to show him the disastrous results of his work. But Weizel and Rodney press charges, and they actually win.

Fortunately, the jury only awards them one dollar. The damage is still done, though. From now on, Whit’s End will have to put warning signs on everything.

This plot section is too short and should be expanded. »

Discussion Questions

  1. Was Rodney really in the wrong for being on the roof?
    • Why or why not?
  2. Should Whit’s End have had a sign telling kids to stay off the roof?
    • Explain.
  3. Why is it wrong to not take responsibility for your mistakes?
    • Have you ever done that?

Cast

Heard in episode

Role Voice Actor
Bailey F. Lee Dave Arnold
Baliff Phil Lollar
Bart Rathbone Walker Edmiston
Fenimore Cooper Robert Spina
Howard J. Weizel Steve Bridges
Jack Allen Alan Young
Jason Whittaker Townsend Coleman
Judge Dave Arnold
Jury Foreman Bob Smithouser
Rodney Rathbone Steve Burns
Suitor #1 Steve Bridges
Suitor #2 Steve Bridges
Suitor #3 Lynn Luttrell
Trent Mackey Robert Spina

Mentioned in episode

Character Mentioned By
Eugene Meltsner Jack Allen
John Whittaker Jason Whittaker
Doc Morton Jack Allen


Notes

Trivia
  • It is never really explained how Weizel knew about Rodney falling through the skylight. Usually, when a client hires an attorney at law, the client contacts the attorney to represent him. In the case of a police arrest, the suspect has a right to an attorney ("If you cannot afford an attorney, one may be provided for you"). This means that Weizel should have showed up either if one of the Rathbones contacted him or if Rodney was arrested.
    • Weizel showing up at the hospital is actually a comedic reference to the stereotypical "ambulance chaser". The phrase refers to a joke that personal injury lawyers "chase ambulances" to emergency rooms in an attempt to be hired by prospective clients. The joke itself was based on a very real practice of lawyers showing up at catastrophic events like car accidents to obtain clients. The practice is illegal, however, and Mr. Weizel might well lose his law license for doing it.
Allusions
  • Jack's quote "'You can't have one without the other' as the old song says" is referencing "Love and Marriage", a famous Frank Sinatra song.
  • The precedent Jason's lawyer mentioned is a reference to a real case (which also likely inspired this episode), Liebeck v. McDonald's Restaurants, where a 79-year-old woman sued McDonald's after spilling hot coffee on herself and won. While it is unclear whether McDonald's was or wasn't at fault, the case became quite convoluted in court and actually has a bit more standing than the Odyssey case.
  • The events of this episode were probably inspired by the legendary Bodine v. Enterprise High School case which rose to prominence in the 1980s and involved conflicting reports regarding a teenager climbing onto the roof of a school (possibly to steal a floodlight) who fell through the skylight and was badly injured. The young man sued the school and received a hefty settlement payment.
  • The award of one dollar was based on the 1986 anti-trust lawsuit filed against the National Football League by the short-lived rival United States Football League (filed by New Jersey Generals owner and future President of the United States Donald Trump) in which the USFL "won" one dollar (tripled to $3) but soon went out of business.
  • Jason Whittaker's lawyer (considered the best lawyer in Odyssey) is named Fenimore Cooper. James Fenimore Cooper is the name of an American Literature writer, famed for books such as The Last of the Mohicans.
Goofs
  • Jason is accused of negligence, putting Rodney through emotional duress, and defamation of character — all of which are cause for a civil lawsuit, not a criminal one. As such, the jury should have found him "liable" rather than "guilty"; in civil cases, the defendant is found either "liable" or "not liable", while "guilty" and "not guilty" are judgments rendered in criminal cases.

Quotes

Jason Whittaker: I'm Jason Whittaker. Who're you?
Howard J. Weizel: My card.
Jason Whittaker: Howard J. WEa-zle.
Jack Allen: Uh, WI-zle.
Howard J. Weizel: Wi-ZEL, It's French.
Jason Whittaker: Attorney at law?
Howard J. Weizel: Correct. Give me back the card.

Jason Whittaker: I'm just admiring the new skylight we put in the roof.
Jack Allen: Jason, it's smoked glass. You can't really see anything.
Jason Whittaker: Ah, ah not true. You can see the glow of the moon as its incandescent rays bathe the office with an eerie somnambulance.
Jack Allen: Have you been talking to Eugene again?

Jason Whittaker: Anyone with an ounce of common sense knows that they shouldn't climb on someone else's roof, especially in the dark!
Fenimore Cooper: The court isn't interested in common sense--only the law.

Jack Allen: Hang on, Rodney. Help's on the way. Boy, you've really done it this time.

Bart Rathbone: Rodney, don't be a dolt.
Rodney Rathbone: But, Pop!
Bart Rathbone: Anyone dumb enough to do what youse did deserves what he gets. And don't call me Pop.

Howard J. Weizel: No, no, no. Don't speak.

Jack Allen: Our society places a great deal of importance on "individual rights." It seems a day doesn’t go by that someone isn’t telling us they have the right to do something. And, it’s true. Rights are very important. But there’s a flip side to them that is hardly ever discussed these days. It’s called responsibility. As the old song says, you can’t have one without the other! But these days, people are trying to. And the sad thing is, they’re succeeding. They’ve created a whole new class for themselves called, 'victims." "It’s not my fault," they say, 'Don’t blame me, I’m a victim! It was the way I was raised! It was the neighborhood I grew up in. I’m not responsible." And so, we excuse. And even reward all sorts of bad behavior. And little by little, our society decays and crumbles. Don’t let that happen. You can stop it! You, me, we, the people. We make the laws. We can stop the decay. We just have to have the courage to do it.

Jason Whittaker: Rodney's been through enough i'm sure he's learned his lesson- right Rodney?
Rodney Rathbone: Whatever.

Bart Rathbone: Ey! If yas need any help fixing the skylight, give us a ring! I'll sell ya the parts wholesale! (Plus ten percent.)

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