Personal Injury: Production Company Sued As Pretend Military Training Turns Real
Posted by
Randy WaltonOctober 12, 2007 9:24 AMJesse Klinger was an 18-year-old Marine when he arrived at Camp Pendleton from some training before being deployed to the Middle East. One of the training exercises was designed to simulate the ordeal of interrogation by the enemy, and included actors playing the role of interrogator.
During the mock interrogation, Klingler's mouth was gagged, he was blindfolded and his wrists and ankles were bound behind him. The actors screamed at Kingler and struck him with their hands and feet during the role play, then an AK-47 was pressed into his crotch area and the trigger was pulled, resulting in "dry fire."
According to a personal injury lawsuit filed by Kingler, the interrogators then loaded the AK-47 with blanks and placed the gun up against his right thigh and pulled the trigger, forgetting that even when shooting blanks you are supposed to stand at least 15 away because of the force of the discharge. The shot severely injured Klinger's leg.
Klinger sued Stu Segall Productions Inc., which runs a motion picture and TV studio here in San Diego, and who has claimed it "just forgot" the blank could cause injury.
According to his attorney, Klinger today lives with a giant scar and a big muscle mass lost, and sees a psychiatrist for post-traumatic stress disorder.
The case is set for trial next week.