Brentwood Physician Convicted of delibertately injuring cyclists.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lano...ling-case.html

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Physician convicted in cycling case

November 2, 2009 | 3:52 pm
A physician accused of deliberately injuring two cyclists by slamming on his car’s brakes on a narrow Brentwood road last year was convicted Monday of assault with a deadly weapon, mayhem and other serious criminal charges.

The three-week trial of Dr. Christopher Thompson drew close attention from cyclists, many of whom viewed the case as a test of the justice system’s commitment to protecting cyclists.

Thompson, wearing a dark blue suit, bowed his head as the verdicts were read. He faces a possible prison term.

Prosecutors alleged that on July 4, 2008, Thompson stopped his car after passing the two cyclists and shouting at them to ride single-file. One cyclist ran face-first into the rear windshield of the doctor’s red Infiniti, breaking his front teeth and nose, and leaving his face scarred. The other was sent hurtling to the sidewalk and suffered a separated shoulder.

A police officer testified that Thompson told him soon after the accident that the cyclists had cursed at him and flipped him off, so he slammed on his brakes “to teach them a lesson.”

Thompson, a veteran emergency room physician, testified that he had never meant to hurt any of the cyclists. He said he and other residents were upset at unsafe cycling by some riders along Mandeville Canyon Road, a winding, five-mile residential street that has become an increasingly popular route for cyclists. But they had struggled to identify problem riders.

Thompson told jurors that he stopped his car so that he could take a photo of the cyclists he had overtaken and believed he had left enough room for them.

Prosecutors alleged Thompson had a history of run-ins with bikers, including a similar episode four months before the 2008 collision, when two cyclists told police that the doctor tried to run them off the road and braked hard in front of them. Neither of the riders was injured.

-- Jack Leonard, LA Times

I'm glad he was convicted.

His defense was that bicycles are inherently unstable vehicles and he was in danger by driving behind two of them, so he had to pass them, and then he stopped to photograph them.

Seriously.

velonews.com has been following the whole trial.

http://www.velonews.com/article/9980...n-la-road-rage

At least we got one.

Karen

I don't know about the USA but, as far as I know, in Canada, you can't practice medicine if you have a criminal record.

Maybe it will get a few people thinking.

Meh. I don't know about California, but in most of the USA, unless you commit a crime against a patient, the Medical Boards don't care, and if you do commit a crime against a patient, they'll put you on probation, and if you still manage to violate your probation six times and get your license yanked, then all you have to do is move to another state and get a "clean" record. :mad::mad:

I'm glad he was convicted - very, very glad. But I've got no illusions that he will suffer any real consequences as a result. He won't be allowed to own a firearm. Unfortunately, that's probably about it. We'll see what happens at sentencing.

He's probably a hero to a lot of people, and now he's a "martyr," too.

Well, hallelujah for such a resounding guilty verdict. I'm glad a jury of likely non-cycling peers saw through him.

Maybe he'll serve some prison time??

Lets get real here. He needs to spend some time in the pokey with those mean dudes. Then he can learn first hand on what it means to be frightened or to be intimidated.

vindictive? may be so...

From VeloNews:

Thompson will be sentenced Dec. 3. He faces a maximum of ten years in prison, but with no prior criminal record, he in unlikely to receive the maximum.

I was so relieved to hear that he was convicted. I think the evidence showed without a doubt that his actions were malicious, but you never can be too sure in a jury trial.

I'm glad to see this result; hopefully, it will make others who want to use road rage against cyclist think twice about their actions!

This is good news!

Sounds like this doctor was off his rocker. Good thing they're sending him to rehab (prison)

oh, he hasn't been sentenced yet. I HOPE HE GOES TO PRISON

via RedKitePrayer twitter "Thompson's sentence: 5 years"

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by OakLeaf

But I've got no illusions that he will suffer any real consequences as a result.

---

I think this could reasonably be called meaningful consequences. Yeah!

that will be quite the life-changing experience for him.

Is this final or will there be an appeal?

Here's more information:

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationwo...,7768296.story

The article doesn't indicate whether or not there will be an appeal.

Good!

"Christopher Thompson, 60, wept and apologized to the two injured riders before he was sentenced in Los Angeles County Superior Court.

"The physical and mental scars are my fault," he said.

He has recurring nightmares about one cyclist smashing through his car window, Thompson said."

Imagine how bad he would have felt if in his one senseless moment of anger he'd killed the two cyclists. People are so impulsive they don't think about consequences.

If I were a judge, I'd sentence him to buy a bike and commute by bike for 2 months. Fight the same traffic/anger/abuse that most of us do on a daily basis. That would be a far more impressionable sentence than prison IMO.