The criminal justice system gone astray

[BarryC]

This is one of those things I can't stand about living here in New Jersey, the liberal state that it is.
Last year a police officer from one municipality was responding to a call for assistance from another municipality. He was driving in excess of 90 mph on State Route 50 (with siren and warning lights off), and he struck a car that was exiting a side road, and killed the driver. The driver himself was the father of a local police captain.

Route 50 is a two-lane road with shoulders that are just barely the width of a car. Trees and a few houses are along this road, with some side roads. The speed limit is 50 mph. The police department he was employed with has a strict limit as to how fast an officer can travel when responding to a call. He was travelling well in excess of that speed, whatever it is.

Anyway, no charges have been filed against him. In fact his court appearance was yesterday, and he got away with just a fine (of about $800 or so, if memory serves).

It's a damn shame. In fact it's criminal that he was not found guilty of vehiclular manslaughter. What is wrong with our court system here? I just can't believe it!

[Rhino]

...and he struck a car that was exiting a side road, and killed the driver.Maybe more like, "and a driver who failed to yield pulled out in front of the officer and got himself killed." There isn't enough information here to judge the entire situation, but I have little sympathy for anyone who does not yield to emergency vehicles. However, think of it from the opposite perspective. Had the officer been going slower, and the man had not been killed, would the man be guilty of involutary manslaughter if he had prevented this officer from reaching the assistance call, and another ofiicer had been killed as a result? When responding to an emergency call, there should be no set speed limit. Conditions for speed vary dramatically, even along the same stretch of road, so an arbitrary limit could end up getting someone killed due to a slower than necessary response. Absent all the details in this particular case, I'm guessing the court took that into account, along with the fact that the other driver did not yield to an emergency vehicle. And besides, who's to say he wouldn't have been killed at 50?

[Taylor1]

Well thats not the thing, the cop should have his lights/sirens on when hes responding to any call or just the lights, he shouldn't be jailed but something else like a punishment of his duties or something but thats what i've got to say.

[Maggie_T]

The criminal justice system gone astray ...

In oh-so-many-ways it's painful to say.

[BarryC]

Okay. If I pull out in front of a car that is moving at 50 mph, I know how close to me he can get, for it to still be safe for me to pull out.
(Here's an example: The street that my bank is on has a speed limit of 30 mph. One day I went to pull out. I looked both ways, of course. I saw someone coming from the left. But he was really far away, so I didn't really take notice of him. At his expected speed of 30 mph I could have pulled out, stopped, backed in again, and pulled out a second time- all safely. But when I pulled out, I suddenly heard a horn, and he was right there, coming close to hitting me broadside. That means he had to have been travelling at much more than 30 mph, maybe 45 to 50! So what happened to the old man who got killed is the same type of situation, only magnified a great deal.)

The man who was killed could not have expected a police car to be moving at 90+ mph, especially without his warning lights turned on. At 90+ mph the police car could have been really far away, yet still not far enough away to be able to pull out in front of him safely. But the man who was killed may have not been able to judge that because of the extreme speed, especially since he was 81 years old. But if the police car had his roof lightbar going, the man who pulled out would most definitely have thought twice about pulling out. (But still, 90+ is really fast and anyone would have trouble judging that.)
Besides all that, if I remember correctly the call for assistance had been rescinded only moments before.
Hypothetically, in my court that police officer would not have gotten off with just a fine. I'm a huge supporter of law enforcement personell, but not that guy. He was extremely irresponsible at best.

[Beowulf]

Well, Barry, we just had a case where a cop from one town let off another cop in another town for DUI. The cop who was a veteran who resigned after a few days of the investigation beginning.

The other cop was only recently fired after that investigation dragged on as was another cop for not telling superiors. Sadly, the states attorney got involved due to the slow pace of things and in questioning the cop's credibility, charges were dismissed against 2 DUI defendants, one of which would have been her 2nd offense.

[Rhino]

Well thats not the thing, the cop should have his lights/sirens on when hes responding to any call or just the lights...Okay. I missed that part. I thought it said he had them on. Mea culpa.

[Rhino]

Gorneau had shut off his emergency lights and sirens after commanders downgraded the urgency of his response. But in the 60 seconds from that point until he struck Jackson's car, he failed to slow down, traveling about 15 mph faster than department policy allows for even the most urgent responses - a department policy that was developed by Jackson's daughter, Capt. Judyth Dunleavy, the department's second in command.http://wallpoliceblotter.blogspot.com/2008/01/hamilton-nj-police-officer-ronald.html

[Rhino]

Jackson's family reluctantly agreed to the unsafe-driving charge, a reduction from careless driving, after Prosecutor David Spitalnick told them it would be hard to prove such a case.

"The case I had was one of excessive speed," Spitalnick told Judge Louis J. Belasco Jr. "(As) I understand them, excessive speed in and of itself may not be enough to convict someone of careless or reckless driving (without) damage to persons or property other than the victim. ... We didn't want to take a chance on this case. Half a loaf is better than none."Ah, those wonderful legal technicalities.

[Rhino]

In April, then-Atlantic County Prosecutor Jeffrey S. Blitz decided against a homicide charge for Gorneau. Around that same time, Jackson's widow, Elizabeth, hired attorney Lewis April to represent her in a civil suit, after it was found that Gorneau was going about 90 mph on Route 50 - 40 miles more than the posted 50 mph limit. April also represents Caiafa in a civil suit against Higbee. Both cases are pending.

"It may be a surprise to the public that police officers are exempt from the motor-vehicle statute," April said, referring to the speed limit. "They don't have to comply with the same law. I find that tragic in light of the carnage that takes place on the highways and really the number of police officers who are killed and injured each year."http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/top_three/story/7531246p-7433225c.html

I got five bucks that says he'd change his mind if he was the one needing the cop in an emergency.

[BarryC]

I see you found the articles. I had forgotten exactly what department policy was regarding speed during response to a call. It's 75.
With the roof lightbar going, I don't care how fast they drive, within reason. It would be negligent to drive at excessive speeds without it.
Anyway, the guy who got killed was the father of a police captain. What a coincidence. (I heard that from my father the other day.)