Green Mile Flap!

jhanic

From The Boston Globe:

Inmate sues Stephen King

By Carol Beggy & Mark Shanahan | January 3, 2005



A NOVEL IDEA An inmate at the Norfolk Correctional Center is suing author Stephen King for $10 million, claiming the horror writer used one of his characters in "The Green Mile." James T. Richards, who lists the Dedham prison as his address in a lawsuit filed last week in US District Court, contends he wrote a book in 1988 called "The Selling of the President -- 2000" that includes a Native American character named John Coffey, whose extraordinary healing powers get him into trouble with authorities. Richards, who at the time was living near King's home in Bangor, Maine, claims in the lawsuit that he sent a copy of his manuscript to King but that the best-selling author never replied. Several weeks ago, according to the suit, Richards read King's novel "The Green Mile" and discovered it includes an African-American character named John Coffey, whose extraordinary healing powers get him into trouble with authorities. In addition to the $10 million, Richards wants Simon & Schuster to stop selling "The Green Mile" and Warner Bros. to stop distributing and broadcasting the Tom Hanks movie based on the book. Neither Richards nor King could be reached for comment.

jhanic

What a crock!!!! >:(

CRinVA

my sentiments exactly! >:(

crimson_queen

WHAT!! This guy has got to be kidding. Is this a April Fools Day joke early? ??? Well I hope everything works out :-/ -CQ

Lou_Sytsma

A good example of why known writers never open unsolicited work.

DTUK

I wonder if this is a joke or something.



Isn't Richards a name from The Running Man? (played so artfully by Arnie...lol)



Can inmates sue successfully when they are in corretional facilities anyway?



And does threats of plagirism actually ascribe to character definitions?



Hope King whaps some major butt here >:(

newinside

Isn't Richards a name from The Running Man?

Not sure on this, but it sounds right.

Can inmates sue successfully when they are in corretional facilities anyway?

Yes.

And does threats of plagirism actually ascribe to character definitions?

Yes

DTUK

Interesting, thanks, new.



It still sounds like a joke to me now that I remember what my first thought what was on seeing the James T. Richards.



At first I thought it was a take on James T. Kirk (Star Trek) - but it looked like someone had created a character using the first part of Kirk and the second part of a King creation itself.



Very odd.

sheepish

He sounds like an all-around well-balanced individual.

Richards says he just read ``The Green Mile'' death row saga a few weeks ago while in prison himself awaiting trial on charges of making bomb threats against Massachusetts U.S. Attorney Michael Sullivan.



     He first became known as the Randolph bomber in 2001 after allegedly claiming in letters to police that he had planted bombs in three unnamed condo buildings.



     In his threats, Richards demanded custody of his 7-year-old daughter, the arrest of his ex-wife and her husband and $1 million.



     Richards says he once worked for a Boston publisher but moved to Bangor, Maine, in 1987 to finish his story of John Coffey under the title ``The Selling of the President - 2000.'' Records show Richards did live on Smith Street in Bangor in the late 1980s.



     He sent a copy to his neighbor King but ``never heard anything from defendant King regarding the manuscript'' and was never able to sell the book, according to the suit.



     Last spring, federal prosecutors moved to have Richards found incompetent to stand trial. But he passed a court-ordered psychiatric exam and planned to represent himself by launching an insanity defense, according to court records.

     A federal judge ordered more testing in September after Richards asked an appeals court to order the feds ``to charge him with treason and other crimes, which members of the Justice Deparment know he has committed.''



     Richards has a second manuscript registered with the U.S. Copyright Office, an autobiography titled, ``Don't Shoot Me, I'm Only Psychotic.''

CRinVA

Last spring, federal prosecutors moved to have Richards found incompetent to stand trial. But he passed a court-ordered psychiatric exam and planned to represent himself by launching an insanity defense, according to court records.

Just got to love it. The guy appears wacked out, but the shrinks say he's sane enough to represent himself as he attempts to prove he's wacked out! I laughed out loud when I read this!