"Home Guy" wrote in message ...

The guy is dead. He's not going to sue.

And what's more, there will never be a determination (legal or
otherwise) that he was infact trying to steal the wire. He'll never be
tried or convicted of the crime.

The only public opportunity to label him or describe him as a thief, or
to say in a public venue that he died while thieving, was lost.

Unless his family sues the electric company, claiming that the company's
negligence led to the death of this poor guy who wandered into their
facility by accident. Think that's unlikely? There have been such cases,
no question the victim was trespassing, had to climb over a fence and ignore
warning signs, but that didn't stop the family from suing. I remember one
case where two kids were badly burned after climbing a fence into an
electrical substation, the jury apparently figured the power company (or its
insurance carrier) could afford the lengthy medical treatment the kids would
need. It keeps happening too....

http://gothamist.com/2006/09/19/family_to_sue_d.php

Family to Sue Department of Education for $10 Million Over Son's Death

Last week, a Brooklyn teenager died after being electrocuted while climbing
a fence at PS 217 in Ditmas Park. Luis Rivera and friends were leaving the
school's basketball courts (which had been closed) around 8PM, and when
Rivera climbed the fence, he brushed up against a light fixture which was
not properly "grounded" and was shocked. Now his family has filed a notice
of claim to sue the Department of Education for $10 million. The DOE isn't
commenting now that there's a lawsuit, but it had initially said that Rivera
was trespassing and that he wasn't even a student at PS 217. NY1 reports
Rivera's brother as saying, "My brother really was a very special, special
person who was trying to make a change for better in his life. And the
opportunity was taken from him drastically, and I just want to make sure
that someone takes [responsibility] for what happened that day."

And Con Ed isn't involved in this case - the electrical fixtures are all the
school's responsibility. Last week, the DOE told the Daily News that because
the fixture was so high (see this picture), the problem wasn't noticed.

http://www.khou.com/news/Family-of-b...-91534619.html

Family of boy shocked while climbing electrical tower considers lawsuit