A Prisoner Sued Himself for $5 Million and Asked the State to Pay

Donald Miller Jr. of Ohio disappeared in 1986 and was declared legally dead in 1994. In 2005, he showed up very much alive and asked the court to reverse his death certificate. The judge denied it — Ohio's 3-year statute of limitations to reverse a death ruling had expired. The judge told him: "I don't know where that leaves you, but you're still dead as far as the law is concerned."

A woman in New York sold her house for $650,000 after spending years telling magazines it was haunted by poltergeists. She forgot to mention the ghosts to the buyer. He sued. A New York court ruled: "As a matter of law, the house is haunted." Law schools teach it as the Ghostbusters Ruling.

Six robbers attacked a jewelry store in Northampton, England, with sledgehammers. Ann Timson, 71, had severe arthritis. She'd bandaged her legs that morning just to get to dance class. She charged all six swinging her handbag and knocked one off his motorbike. Five were caught and sentenced to 26 years combined. Six men brought sledgehammers. She brought a purse.

In 2000, the New York Mets owed Bobby Bonilla $5.9 million. Instead of paying, they deferred it: $1.19 million per year from 2011 to 2035. The owner planned to invest the savings with his friend Bernie Madoff. Madoff turned out to be running the largest Ponzi scheme in history. The Mets are now paying Bonilla $29.8 million for a career that ended in 1999.