Stories of crazy litigation in the US are legion, and sadly many are apocryphal (such as the man who supposedly won almost $2 million because he wasn't warned that the cruise control setting on his Winnebago didn't mean he could leave the vehicle to drive itself while he went in the back to make a coffee).

Separating truth from fiction is the job of the US journalist behind the Stella Awards, named after the infamous McDonald's hot coffee case.

The 2003 awards for confirmed crazy litigation have just been unveiled, and include: the man struck by lightning who is suing an amusement park for not warning people not to be outside during a thunderstorm; the Catholic priest suing a former victim of his child abuse, who breached a confidentiality clause in their settlement by revealing that the priest was still working with children; and the man suing his dog-sitter for $160,000 for the loss, costs and emotional damages incurred when the dog went missing under her watch - he found it again after two months, during which time his business collapsed, and he spent money on big advertisements in local newspapers, 'animal psychics' and a witch to cast spells.

He even spread his own urine around to mark his territory and lure the dog home.

Eventually he went looking for the dog where it had been lost and promptly found it.

But the winner of the 2003 awards was the city of Madera in California for a case where a police officer, looking to subdue a suspect in the back of her patrol car, accidentally pulled out her handgun instead of her Taser and shot him in the chest, killing him instantly.

The city is apparently suing the makers of the stun gun, saying that any reasonable officer could have made the mistake and that the company should pay up if the man's family sues for wrongful death.