Jesse Dimmick is suing the couple he was convicted of kidnapping while on the run from police.
Dimmick contends in the breach of contract suit seeking $235,000 that
after he entered Jared and Lindsay Rowley’s house in 2009, they reached
a legally binding, oral contract that they would hide him for an
unspecified amount of money.
“Later, the Rowleys reneged on said oral contract, resulting in my
being shot in the back by authorities,” Dimmick wrote in a notarized
legal document indicating he was filing the counterclaim in response to a
suit against Dimmick that the Rowleys filed in September.
Dimmick personally — in longhand — wrote the document, which was filed Oct. 21 in Shawnee County District Court.
He wrote: “As a result of the plaintiffs breech (sic) of contract, I,
the defendant suffered a gunshot to my back, which almost killed me.
The hospital bills alone are in excess of $160,000, which I have no way
to pay.”
The Rowleys sought this month to have the suit dismissed, saying they
never accepted Dimmick’s offer of money and — if they had — their
consent would have been given under duress. District Judge Franklin
Theis has yet to rule on their motion for dismissal.
Dimmick, a fugitive facing a murder charge in Colorado, was leading
authorities on a vehicle chase on the morning of Sept. 12, 2009, when
law enforcement stop sticks punctured the tires of the stolen van he was
driving. The van came to a halt in the front yard in southwest Shawnee
County’s Dover community of the home of the Rowleys, who were newlyweds.
The Rowleys said Dimmick entered their home and confronted them at
knifepoint. A neighbor told The Topeka Capital-Journal in September 2009
that the couple gained his trust by eating Cheetos and drinking Dr
Pepper with him while watching the movie “Patch Adams.”
The couple fled the house after Dimmick fell asleep. Police said they
entered and ordered Dimmick onto his stomach before a Topeka police
officer’s rifle accidentally discharged, striking Dimmick in the back.
Dimmick was convicted in May 2010 in Shawnee County District Court of
four felonies, including two counts of kidnapping. He was sentenced to
10 years and 11 months in prison. Dimmick is currently being held in the
Adams County Detention Center in Brighton, Colo., on a murder charge
linked to the September 2009 killing there of Michael Curtis.
Dimmick filed a civil suit against the city of Topeka in September
2010 seeking damages in excess of $75,000, including medical expenses. A
pretrial hearing in the suit is set for Dec. 6.
Attorney Robert E. Keeshan filed a lawsuit last September on behalf
of the Rowleys against Dimmick seeking damages in excess of $75,000 and
contending he committed the torts of trespass, intrusion upon seclusion
and negligent infliction of emotional distress.
Dimmick filed a response Oct. 21 seeking to have the Rowleys’ claim
dismissed and stating a counterclaim for breach of contract seeking
$160,000 to cover hospital bills and $75,000 for pain and suffering.
Dimmick’s response said he was representing himself “without the aid of proffessional (sic) legal counsel.”
He wrote that after he entered the Rowleys’ home, “I told them that I
was being pursuid (sic) by a person, or persons, who appeared to be
police officers, who were trying to kill me.”
He added: “I, the defendant, asked the Rowleys to hide me because I
feared for my life. I offered the Rowleys an unspecified amount of money
which they agreed upon, therefore forging a legally binding oral
contract.”
Dimmick’s response said he never brandished a knife or any other type
of weapon to try to force the Rowleys to hide him or agree to a
contract.
Keeshan filed an answer to Dimmick’s counterclaim on behalf of the
Rowleys Oct. 27, then filed a motion to dismiss the counterclaim Nov. 4.
Keeshan wrote in the motion that if the Rowleys had agreed to an oral
contract — which they deny — it wouldn’t have been legally binding
because no specific dollar amount was given.
“In order for parties to form a binding contract, there must be a
meeting of the minds on all essential terms, including and most
specifically, an agreement on the price,” he wrote.
Keeshan added that if the Rowleys had agreed to the contract, that
agreement wouldn’t have been legally binding because their consent would
have been given under duress.
He wrote, “The Rowleys believed he had a gun and knew that he had a knife.”
Keeshan also wrote there could be no legal contract because the Rowleys were asked to hide a fugitive, which is illegal.
[Capital-Journal via Lowering the Bar]
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