Source:jonathanturley.org
I have been writing for years about the deepening legal problems associated with the biting of secret service agents and others at the White House by the Biden dogs. The repeat offender remains Commander who has at least a dozen biting incidents. Under the common law, Commander is now considered a vicious animal and the Bidens are now strictly liable for such bites. What is notable is that liability for such bites could fall on the taxpayers. [Commander has become the latest Biden dog sent into exile due to biting people].
New pictures have emerged of Commander biting another White House staffer. This follows a recent new biting episode involving a Secret Service agent.
The Bidens previously suggested that an agent was lying about a bite by Major, the other Biden dog, that required him to seek medical treatment. President Biden effectively called an agent a liar in allegations of being attacked in the White House. Major was eventually sent to the farm and the media, again, did not press the White House on the lack of transparency over the long pattern of dog attacks.
Now the White House is blaming the fact that the president’s security detail have “unfriendly expressions.” That would not wash legally.
Under the common law, the Bidens could claim that Major and Commander were entitled to “one free bite.” They are well beyond that threshold.
The “one free bite rule” is a commonly misunderstood torts doctrine — suggesting that you are not subject to strict liability until after the first time your dog bites someone. In fact, you are subject to strict liability whenever you know or have reason to know of the vicious propensity of your animal. That can be satisfied by conduct such as frequent snapping or aggressive behavior.
However, even with Major, the Bidens failed to protect agents and others. Now they have shown the same failure with Commander.
Indeed, a family with this history of dog attacks (with successive pets) would face a highly skeptical, if not hostile, court in a tort action.
The Biden case is more analogous to the infamous case from San Francisco involving lawyers and dog owners Marjorie Knoller and Robert Noel. They were found both criminally and civilly liable after their two Presa Canario dogs killed apartment neighbor Diane Whipple. Various neighbors had complained about the dogs. The dogs had not bitten anyone but were known to be aggressive. That was sufficient.
In one account involving Commander, an agent had to defend himself from the dog with a chair. That was after prior biting incidents. As many as ten people were either bitten or threatened by the dog.
The latest victim was Dale Haney, 71, who is not part of Biden’s security team and presumably not showing an unfriendly face….