COYOTE VS ACME the 14 year old "lawsuit" filed in the New Yorker 2/26/1990

                                              Friz Freeling and Chuck Jones created iconic cartoon characters and images.

Fourteen years ago a  brilliant piece of satire titled Coyote vs Acme
was written by  Ian Frazier and published in 
The New Yorker, February 26, 1990, p. 42--43.
 This is the one spot the courtroom and those cartoons meet.

Below is a selection from the article and the link:

http://www.torinfo.com/justforlaughs/coyote_v_acme.html

Also below is a choice video:
Acme Batman Outfits:
Guaranteed for the Life of the User

Acme Rocket Skates

Coyote V. Acme

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT,

SOUTHWESTERN DISTRICT, TEMPE, ARIZONA

CASE NO. B19294, JUDGE JOAN KUJAVA, PRESIDING

Wile E. Coyote, Plaintiff

-v.-

Acme Company, Defendant

Opening Statement of Mr. Harold Schoff, attorney for Mr. Coyote:

My client, Mr. Wile E. Coyote, a resident of Arizona and contiguous states, does hereby bring suit for damages against the Acme Company, manufacturer and retail distributor of assorted merchandise, incorporated in Delaware and doing business in every state, district, and territory. Mr. Coyote seeks compensation for personal injuries, loss of business income, and mental suffering causes as a direct result of the actions and/or gross negligence of said company, under Title 15 of the United States Code, Chapter 47, section 2072, subsection (a), relating to product liability.

Mr. Coyote states that on eighty-five separate occasions he has purchased of the Acme Company (hereinafter, "Defendant"), through that company's mail-order department, certain products which did cause him bodily injury due to defects in manufacture or improper cautionary labeling. Sales slips made out to Mr. Coyote as proof of purchase are at present in the possession of the Court, marked Exhibit A. Such injuries sustained by Mr. Coyote have temporarily restricted his ability to make a living in his profession of predator. Mr. Coyote is self-employed and thus not eligible for Workmen's Compensation.

Acme Batman Outfits video link

Mr. Coyote states that on occasions too numerous to list in this document he has suffered mishaps with explosives purchased of Defendant: the Acme "Little Giant" Firecracker, the Acme Self-Guided Aerial Bomb, etc. (For a full listing, see the Acme Mail Order Explosives Catalogue and attached deposition, entered in evidence as Exhibit C.) Indeed, it is safe to say that not once has an explosive purchased of Defendant by Mr. Coyote performed in an expected manner. To cite just one example: At the expense of much time and personal effort, Mr. Coyote constructed around the outer rim of a butte a wooden trough beginning at the top of the butte and spiraling downward around it to some few feet above a black X painted on the desert floor. The trough was designed in such a way that a spherical explosive of the type sold by Defendant would roll easily and swiftly down to the point of detonation indicated by the X. Mr. Coyote placed a generous pile of birdseed directly on the X, and then, carrying the spherical Acme Bomb (Catalog #78-832), climbed to the top of the butte. Mr. Coyote's prey, seeing the birdseed, approached, and Mr. Coyote proceeded to light the fuse. In an instant, the fuse burned down to the stem, causing the bomb to detonate.

In addition to reducing all Mr. Coyote's careful preparations to naught, the premature detonation of Defendant's product resulted in the following disfigurements to Mr. Coyote:

1              Severe singeing of the hair on the head, neck, and muzzle.

2              Sooty discoloration.

3              Fracture of the left ear at the stem, causing the ear to dangle in the aftershock with a creaking noise.

4              Full or partial combustion of whiskers, producing kinking, frazzling, and ashy disintegration.

5              Radical widening of the eyes, due to brow and lid charring.

Note the lawsuit is still awaiting a ruling,  hopefully some day to be continued. 
Laugh on!