According to this https://www.bicycling.com/news/a20052373/kalamazoo-bike-crash-trial/ the trial of Charles Pickett, the drunk and impaired on opioids and possibly marijuana, Kalamazoo, MI driver of the pickup truck who mowed down and killed 5 cyclists and seriously injured 4 more is about to begin...FINALLY... after nearly two years of delay and bantering over his mental state.
Reading through the press release from Bicycling! one wonders whether or not justice will ever be served in this case where jury selection already appears to be slanted against cyclists and their right to be on the road, regardless of the mental, physical, and emotional state of the automobile drivers around them.
Tags:
https://www.thechainlink.org/forum/topics/bobby-cann-how-you-can-help
No, justice isn't always served.
Reading the article, I'm pretty optimistic that this guy will be convicted. The prosecutors seem to be taking the case seriously, which is a plus. They didn't plea bargain down to a lesser offense, as so often happens. The defense attorney is attempting an insanity defense, which rarely works under any circumstances and seems particularly lame in this one. The judge seems sensible and ruled against the defendant's motion to toss out the murder charges. I think the misconduct in this case was so egregious that any even half-reasonable jury will convict. I've been wrong before, though. I hope that's not the case this time.
One big plus is three automobile drivers called police before the accident even happened.
There we go. Now let's see how sentencing goes.
Here's part of the defense's closing argument:
Pretty lame and incoherent, but his attorney didn't have a whole lot to work with. The jury was only out four hours, which in a case of this enormity this indicates a slam dunk for the prosecution.
"Officers located the tractor and tried to get the driver, later identified as Moose, to stop."
203 members
1 member
270 members
1 member
261 members