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Police: Pick-up driver in collision with bicyclist in Cambridge IDed, charged
By adamg on Thu, 11/19/2015 - 10:31am
Cambridge Police report the driver of a black pick-up caught on a surveillance camera knocking a bicyclist down and then fleeing has been identified and ordered to appear in court on a charge of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon. He's from Medford, police say.
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Meanwhile the identity and
Meanwhile the identity and company of the doctor killing negligent truck driver is kept top secret by BPD.
Why don't you file a public records request.
And tell us what happens?
bpd top secret?
not really. lol
Good News!— Now, What About The Driver Who Killed Anita Kurmann?
Anita Kurmann, M.D. - Research Fellow, Kotton Lab
To the Markk-mobile!!
I believe this post just lit up the Markk02474 signal from the roof of City Hall.
has been identified
So, what's his name?
Answer below.
Here is the answer from the Cambridge police tweet:
"Cambridge Police @CambridgePolice 22h22 hours ago
@somervillebikes the identity wouldn't be released due to the summons; it was a Medford male"
pitchforks and torches.
Take Away Their Licenses And Require Them To Commute Via Bicycle
It may be the only way to teach certain drivers their responsibility to look out for others.
How is this NOT attempted murder?
How is this NOT attempted murder? Is it really reasonable to assume that this person JUST wanted to seriously injure the cyclist? It's a 4,788 lb vehicle driven onto a human being with no steel cage, no seatbelt, no air bag, and no bumper. Forget jail-time--he should be shipped off to Raqqa.
Prove intent
I'm no expert in criminal law, but I bet you aren't either.
Driver Was Blowing Horn And Screaming Obscenities At Cyclist
This proves it wasn't an accident — he knew the bicyclist was there. That's clear evidence he deliberately intended to cause bodily harm to Dr. Stone.
Purposely driving a motor vehicle into someone in anger can be as deadly as shooting them with a gun. Why isn't that attempted murder?
Definitely not an accident
Hence the charges.
He tried to run the guy off the road, but as we've seen in incidents where drivers have struck and killed cyclists without malice, there is an easier way to do it.
I think if the guy just hit the cyclist with the front bumper and/or drove over him, attempted murder would be definitely warranted. As it is, this is akin to beating the piss out of someone, which does result in death.
Then again, I'm no lawyer.
That Would Have Left More Incriminating Evidence On The Vehicle
Deliberately striking the handlebar with the back end of the truck could have been a conscious effort to minimize evidence and get away with the crime.
Try proving it to the jury
A sideswipe when both parties were beside each other would have had a better chance of killing the cyclist. Depending on the back bumper runs the "risk" of not hitting him at all. Moreover, giving space behind the truck gave the cyclist room, not to evade but to avoid going under the truck. I wouldn't want to sideswiped by a truck, but it would be preferable to going under the truck.
Recent history has numerous examples of DAs trying to push charges just to have grand juries balk. Thankfully we are talking about an injured cyclist, nothing worse. Pushing attempted murder would be overreach.
Just to be clear, my opinion is that the driver is an asshole who deserves to be punished, but attempted murder seems to be a tough sell.
Can I spread that on my garden?
The cyclist had the right of way.
Period.
That is the law.
Period.
You cannot possibly say "well, he wanted hit him, but didn't intend to hurt him". If so, maybe we can just say "I was shooting at him and trying to scare him".
Still doesn't rise
to the level of attempted murder. Unless you"d rather see the guy walk on overblown charges instead of being convicted on charges the DA can reasonably prove.
Once again- intent
As Pete articulates below, unless you have proof, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the actions were intended to lead to possible death, there is no case.
To put it your way. you cannot possible say "well, he cut the cyclist off after yelling at him, so clearly he intended to kill him."
That's What A Jury Gets To Decide
We don't know all the facts, nor have we heard both sides of the story. A jury trial determines if someone is guilty of attempted murder, and/or/not guilty of a lesser charge. First, however, the assailant needs to be charged.
I know I'm not the only one here who believes that using a motor vehicle to deliberately assault a bicyclist or pedestrian is a very serious crime — an action with the very real possibility of causing the victim to die!
The DA has the facts
And the DA decided which charges to press.
Between you and me you are not the only one to think this is a serious crime, but I don't see how attempted murder would stick.
Thankfully we are talking
Thankfully, we are talking about a LUCKY cyclist, nothing more. Do people who show complete disregard for the health and welfare of others even comprehend the difference between manslaughter and murder? Do they deserve the benefit of that distinction?
If you attack someone....
... only intending to injure them "grievously" -- and they die as a result -- murder can be an appropriate charge.
Yeah, but
The cyclist is still alive.
There are countless cases of drunk drivers not being charged with attempted murder, only to face murder charges years later when a victim dies.
Which Is Worse: An Impaired Driver Accidentally Hitting Someone…
… or a (presumably) unimpaired driver intentionally hitting someone?
They are the same to the victim
Yet there is a whole body of law dedicated to driving while impaired, from merely being caught under the influence to motor vehicle manslaughter. However, no one claims that a driver under the influence that hits and badly injures a person should be charged with attempted murder.
Okay, not to pick on you, but put yourself in the DA's shoes. You can either charge with assault and battery, which is clearly winnable, or with attempted murder, which is murky. You'd really pick the longshot, an acquittal leading to utter freedom, over the odds on choice?
Witness statements
Screaming, yelling, threatening to run someone down = intent.
Not attempted murder
The video doesn't even look like the driver went out of the way to knock him over. Did he articulate threats to murder him or kill him? I doubt it. Should he get years in jail? Maybe, but not for attempted murder.
Threatening to hit someone with a motor vehicle
That should equal intent to murder, just the same as threatening to "blow your head off" with a gun is.
Any threat to use a deadly weapon on another person should be considered evidence of intent to murder.
I sure he doesn't get a
I sure hope he doesn't get a bruise from the gentle slap on the wrist they're going to give him.
Well,
they are charging him with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon...sounds like more than a "gentle slap on the wrist" to me. But I will let you remain the cynic.
Cynicism might be warranted here
Unless he has at least two prior felony convictions, I make the following statement: If he spends a day in prison, I owe you a chicken dinner at Galway's. Seriously. Bookmark this story. This will get pled down to a misdemeanor or a moving violation, and AT WORST this clown will have to talk to a probation officer for six months.
Given the level of self-control on display
And the level of self-control he exhibited afterward that resulted in his being collared*, I'm betting that this isn't his first rodeo.
* he mouthed off at an alert person who realized what they were likely dealing with and took photos of the truck and plate number.
I'm game with one exception
I do not know all the facts (i.e. the messy situation of intent) of the incident so it would be difficult for me to say which way it is going to go. Now, I could pull a Swirly and say that the truck driver was a a-hole intent on murder that day. I prefer however to consider that this probably was a case of road rage where the truck driver got pissed off and decided to act aggressively and the cyclist got pissed off and decided to take on the truck (from viewing the video). Now, notice, pitchfork and torch crowd, I am not saying it was the cyclist's fault; I do believe the truck driver in the wrong here. But I would of held back and let the jerk pass at a safe distance.
Sorry to digress. Aside from what might be handed down through the court, I hope the good doctor sues the guy in civil court.
Ah, the civil route
Where the phrase "he tried to kill me" does not have any legal ramifications, but the proof that he intended to do harm doesn't have to be beyond a reasonable doubt.
Since I'm not a Middlesex County resident, my prejudice is okay. I think the driver might want to settle any civil suit before being destroyed in court.
I have seen plenty of A&B DWs that were merely CWOF'd
in other words, stay out of trouble for X time, and this goes away.
Hopefully that is reserved only for the beer bottle/shod foot beer fights and such.
CWOF's
That's not how CWOF's work. You can have supervised probation while CWOF'd with biweekly reporting and many different conditions attached. No way this case is a 6-month administrative CWOF.
charge =/= conviction.
charge =/= conviction.
also, not cynical, just going on how literally every other case just like this has gone in this city.
I'm sure he'll be back behind
I'm sure he'll be back behind the wheel very soon, if he loses his license at all. This despite the fact that they have proof he is a menace and should not have access to deadly weapons.
The driver that intentionally
The driver that intentionally hit the Exectuive Director of Massbike with his car (at a stoplight), totaling the bike, had to make a public apology. That is all.
http://massbike.org/blog/2012/05/02/motorist-takes-responsibility-for-hi...
So I wouldn't hold my breath that this guy is going to jail, the way a person would if they attacked someone with any another weapon.
Whaa??!!
Please tell me that the linked to story left out the fact that the driver had their license permanently revoked. Or at least suspended for a long time.
Situations like that don't come down to biker versus driver. They come down to being a semi-decent human being, lucky enough to live in a great city, and free to pursue the life one chooses. We really suck at maintaining perspective.
I am not that this example is
I am not that this example is actually valid for your assumptions.
The post seems to indicate that the guy from MassBike chose to pursue civil meditation through the court rather than pressing criminal charges. You can not sentence someone to prison as part of a civil mediation. The guy from MassBike also says he chose that option because the criminal complaint had a high likelihood of being dismissed for lack of sufficient evidence, because there were no witnesses or physical injury. In this most recent case involving the doctor, there are both witnesses and physical injury to the victim.
being dismissed for lack of
So let's go the civil route instead, so we can try to extort a huge undeserved ca$$h settlement from a person. Even though, by the person's own statement, there was NO physical injury.