my sister's neighbor's story

[farmkid]

Last night my sister told me a story of her friend/neighbor. I thought I would share it to see what you all thought of it. Here's the story:

Let's call him Bob, because I don't know his real name. He lived in Arizona with his family before moving to where my sister lives. Not long before moving, he was involved in a traffic accident with a motorcycle, and the man driving the motorcycle was killed. Apparently the road had been recently repaved and there was a lot of loose gravel on the road. He slid on the loose gravel and collided with the motorcycle. Some of the signage that should have been there to warn drivers was either not there or was not posted properly. He was driving below the speed limit. He was not assigned any fault in causing the accident. Afterward, the DA looked at the case and told Bob that everything was fine, so Bob went ahead with his already-planned move out of Arizona.

The family moved, bought a house, and began to establish their lives in their new area. This is where it gets interesting. A motorcycle-enthusiast group decided this was a good chance to make an example of someone to teach drivers they need to watch out for motorcycles. They pressured the DA to charge Bob with involuntary manslaughter, which he did. Bob was arrested and charged. Over the next year or two, Bob was in and out of court dealing with the whole thing. The first trial ended in a hung jury and a few months later the DA decided not to refile the charges.

Because Bob and his family were living in a different state, he spent a lot of time traveling back and forth. He lost three jobs in the meantime because he spent so much time away from work. They bought their home just as the real estate market was beginning to crash, so they also lost all of their equity in their home and ended up underwater on their mortgage. Between the attorney's fees, legal fees, lost jobs, housing market crash, travel costs, etc., Bob's family has been financially ruined by his ordeal. They've lost all their savings and their home and, although my sister didn't say so, I suspect they've declared bankruptcy. All this because the motorcycle-enthusiast group decided he would make a good poster child for their cause and pressured the DA to go after him.

So what do you think, does the motorcycle-enthusiast group owe him anything? Should they reimburse him for what their actions cost him? If not them, should anyone? Or, is this just one of those crappy things that happen to some people in life and it's just a matter of living--in other words it sucks, but to try to fix it would only cause more problems?

 

[Robert Maxwell]

I guess he could try to sue them for ruining his life, but on what grounds? We're talking about criminal charges, and I don't think you really have any recourse if you're put through criminal trials and cleared.

The rules for torts are obviously different, but this wasn't a tort.

 

[Pingfah]

Who knows, you'd have to know the exact details of the case to be able to form a solid opinion. Can't accept the 3rd hand word of a poster who neither knows the accused, or attended the trial, that things went down in the accident as they did.

The D.A. did eventually bring the case, and there was a hung jury, so obviously some people thought he was at fault. Who's to say it wasn't the D.A.'s initial judgement that was wrong?

 

[Sean Aaron]

Sounds like he's been paying a karmic debt to me. In his shoes I would count myself lucky not to have done prison time and move on; though knowing that your actions - intentional or not - caused another's death would make that difficult.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

Sounds like he's been paying a karmic debt to me. In his shoes I would count myself lucky not to have done prison time and move on; though knowing that your actions - intentional or not - caused another's death would make that difficult.

Yeah, it's not like bad things ever happen to people who don't deserve them. It must be a "karmic debt."

 

[Misfit Toy]

All this because the motorcycle-enthusiast group decided he would make a good poster child for their cause and pressured the DA to go after him.

The group was perfectly within their rights to do so. If the DA bowed to their pressure, then the onus is on him to bear the blame.

I don't think your sister's neighbor can do much about it other than to get the word out prior to the DA's re-election.

 

[MacLeod]

As others have said without knowing all the details of the case you can't make an informed opinion.

From what is above it looks like it was an accident, perhaps a case could be made against the people responisble for the Road works for not displaying proper signage. But it all depends what they have to do by law.

As for the DA being pressured into case, well it seems as if that is an aspect of the US legal system.

 

[Marc]

As for the DA being pressured into case, well it seems as if that is an aspect of the US legal system.

And can represent a major problem when impartiality of the prosecutors office can be swayed by the need for the chief law officer to be re-elected.

 

[Alpha Romeo]

As for the DA being pressured into case, well it seems as if that is an aspect of the US legal system.

And can represent a major problem when impartiality of the prosecutors office can be swayed by the need for the chief law officer to be re-elected.

Agreed...

 

[Roger Wilco]

The dead motorcyclist's family lost more.

 

[Marc]

The dead motorcyclist's family lost more.

yes but it was truly an accident componded by a poor signage then it should of been left at that - especially as the DA initially said there wouldn't be any charges.

And it wasn't the the family that pushed for the prosecution - it was the motorcyclists associations.

There's also a danger in cases like this that the deceased's name gets dragged through the mud. I can see a lawyer asking just what sort of the rider the person was in a bid to attribute some if not all of the blame.

 

[Roger Wilco]

yes but it was truly an accident componded by a poor signage then it should of been left at that - especially as the DA initially said there wouldn't be any charges.

Doesn't meant the driver wasn't at fault, just that the DA didn't think he could prove it. Did he drop his cigarette on the floor, or knock over his coffee? Who knows. All we have is his word by way of a bunch of other people. The dead don't speak.

Sorry, I have no sympathy for motorists who kill people. And there's zero sign of repentance on his part in the story, all he cares about is him him him. Fuck Bob. Good on the motorcycle club to destroy his life.

 

[Marc]

yes but it was truly an accident componded by a poor signage then it should of been left at that - especially as the DA initially said there wouldn't be any charges.

Doesn't meant the driver wasn't at fault, just that the DA didn't think he could prove it. Did he drop his cigarette on the floor, or knock over his coffee? Who knows. All we have is his word by way of a bunch of other people. The dead don't speak.

Sorry, I have no sympathy for motorists who kill people. And there's zero sign of repentance on his part in the story, all he cares about is him him him. Fuck Bob. Good on the motorcycle club to destroy his life.

it's ironic that you posted that commen in the same forum where there's a thread on arsehole motorcyclists.....

 

[Roger Wilco]

Well, I didn't bitch about motorcyclists there either though.

 

[Pingfah]

One thing is for sure, gravel is absolutely treacherous, especially for motorbikes. You go into a front wheel skid on gravel and it can take some real experience and skill to stay upright, and it would only take a little tweak of the brakes at speed to make that happen.

I'd be loathe to assign blame in either direction without seeing a video of the accident. The guy could easily have skidded in front of him, or vice versa. And if there was no indication a gravel patch was coming up it might be neither person's fault.

 

[Spot's Meow]

yes but it was truly an accident componded by a poor signage then it should of been left at that - especially as the DA initially said there wouldn't be any charges.

Doesn't meant the driver wasn't at fault, just that the DA didn't think he could prove it. Did he drop his cigarette on the floor, or knock over his coffee? Who knows. All we have is his word by way of a bunch of other people. The dead don't speak.

Sorry, I have no sympathy for motorists who kill people. And there's zero sign of repentance on his part in the story, all he cares about is him him him. Fuck Bob. Good on the motorcycle club to destroy his life.

You are assuming that the driver is at fault when indications are otherwise based on the information in the OP. The exact same thing happened to my dad many years ago - a road had been repaved during the night and no signs were put up. It caused a seven car pile up the next morning as people skidded around the road. Luckily no one was killed but some were injured pretty badly (including my dad). If someone had died, should we blame the drivers? That hardly seems appropriate. Sometimes accidents are truly just accidents.

And why would you assume that Bob is not repentant? Just because he would prefer for his family to not face financial ruin doesn't mean he can't also feel very sorry for the person who died and their family. Is he supposed to wallow in self-pity and regret all day instead of fighting to keep his family doing well?

I doubt anyone here would feel sympathy for motorists who intentionally kill people, or whose careless and reckless behavior led to a death. This hardly sounds like the situation we are dealing with here though. I would certainly have sympathy for someone who accidentally, through no fault of their own, killed someone. Imagine having to live with that knowledge for the rest of your life.

 

[Roger Wilco]

Sometimes accidents are jsut accidents, true but the story in the OP is just one side, and there I didn't recognise even even the tiniest blip of regret. Maybe if he had said "sorry" the motorcycle club wouldn't have been so energetic. And regarding the last paragraph: I'm actually pretty certain I would sleep just fine, certainly better than the family and friends of the person I killed.

 

[Gaith]

Sorry, I have no sympathy for motorists who kill people. And there's zero sign of repentance on his part in the story, all he cares about is him him him. Fuck Bob. Good on the motorcycle club to destroy his life.

Yes, shame on him for being concerned for his family's future, and for not willfully donating his life savings to the motorcyclists' family, his kids be damned.

 

[Sean Aaron]

Yeah, it's not like bad things ever happen to people who don't deserve them. It must be a "karmic debt."

He caused the death of another human being, intentional or not. Some might feel that negative consequences are part-and-parcel of that kind of event. I personally wouldn't expect everything to be hunky dory and just pretend that nothing happened myself...

 

[Alidar Jarok]

This is a second hand story. How can anyone in this thread think they know whether or not Bob (who probably isn't even called Bob) is repentant or not?

So what do you think, does the motorcycle-enthusiast group owe him anything? Should they reimburse him for what their actions cost him? If not them, should anyone? Or, is this just one of those crappy things that happen to some people in life and it's just a matter of living--in other words it sucks, but to try to fix it would only cause more problems?

Legally? No, it's just one of those crappy things and nothing can be done. One out of twelve jurors thought beyond a reasonable doubt that he acted with gross negligence or a willful disregard of the risk. So the Prosecutor wasn't crazy to believe there was something here.

Even if the Prosecutor was crazy, what would the alternative be? Suppose someone was so careless that he caused another man's death in a blameworthy way. Would it be right to not try and prosecute the careless person just because he could be wrong and would cause financial hardship?