BEATING VICTIM SUES, SEEKING FUNDS FROM INSURANCE FIRM

Rebecca Barrymore was beaten and fell to the ground in a bloody puddle last
year when teenagers broke into her Mountain View home hoping to steal the
medicinal marijuana plants her husband was growing to lighten his migraines.

The home doubled as the office of her husband's company, Barrymore
Information Technology. Now, Barrymore is suing that firm for negligence.

The personal-injury lawsuit filed last week in Santa Clara County Superior
Court alleges it should have been foreseeable that people visiting the
home/office on Lloyd Way were vulnerable because someone had tried to steal
the marijuana plants two months before the May 1, 2002, attack.

It's not John Barrymore III -- Rebecca Barrymore's husband and actress Drew
Barrymore's half brother -- they're trying to stick with the bill, said
Rebecca Barrymore's attorney, Sanford Cipinko.

It's the insurance company.

We "thought it was an interesting turning of the tables," Cipinko said.
"The insurance company likes to be cute and say this is a separate entity."

If the company is separate from the owner, Cipinko said, then the insurance
company should make good on Information Technology's liability policy,
which was intended to cover people on-site during business hours. The
lawsuit argues that, while Barrymore was at home, she was also a visitor at
the office when teenagers knocked on the door last May. They attacked the
Barrymores, hitting them with a trailer hitch tucked inside a sock.

John Barrymore underwent brain surgery at Stanford University Medical
Center. He has since recovered. Rebecca Barrymore, who was struck until she
fell unconscious in the kitchen, still has trouble lifting her daughter.

Since John Barrymore had been paying his premiums, Rebecca Barrymore should
be "fairly compensated," Cipinko said. Although the lawsuit does not list
an amount, Cipinko estimated that about $4 million was fair.

John Barrymore did not return a call or e-mail seeking comment.

Six teenagers were arrested in the Barrymores' attack. One has pleaded no
contest to attempted robbery, another was found guilty in March of
attempted murder, and the four remaining teenagers were sent to juvenile
court, where the cases are not public.