Cyclist killed during charity ride.

[OakLeaf]

What I keep saying ... to charge him with a higher offense, they would have had to prove that he acted recklessly.

Or that he was intoxicated. If he was intoxicated (I don't say drunk, because legally too intoxicated to drive is far from being "drunk" by most people's standards), STRICT LIABILITY. Felony. No proof of mental state required.

It's like the old joke about domestic violence. "The only way you would go to jail for beating your wife, is if you did it while driving drunk." Now, things have got a bit better in the DV arena, and the reason for that is a 20+ year coordinated program of pressure and lawsuits.

Otherwise (unless he had priors or no license, which aren't the case here), to even get a first degree misdemeanor (six months, $1,000), a prosecutor would have to prove to a finder of fact that the automobile driver acted recklessly, i.e., "with heedless indifference to the consequences, he perversely disregards a known risk that his conduct is likely to cause a certain result or is likely to be of a certain nature."

IMO the "lesser" mental states of negligence and recklessness are even more problematic than intent and purpose, simply because of the subjectivity of the "reasonable person" standard. A jury - composed of individuals who themselves take no responsibility for operating motor vehicles - superimposes themselves onto the defendant, decides that "of course" a reasonable person shouldn't be bothered to pay attention while behind the wheel - or actually spend money to have their brakes repaired by someone who knows what they're doing - , and bingo, "just an accident," not guilty.



Now, all that said, there's such a culture of incarceration in the USA that I think most of us who haven't been in prison or jail underestimate the seriousness of a shorter sentence. Ninety days without being allowed to work, seeing the sunshine for only an hour a day, constant surveillance, limited contact with family and probably none with friends (and never mind the things that shouldn't happen but do, such as substandard medical care if you should get sick or hurt, and a high probability of getting raped and/or otherwise assaulted). Even Lynne Stewart, who should have known better, found out early that she could not do prison "standing on [her] head."

But it becomes a vicious cycle. We on the outside become so inured to hearing about such long prison sentences, that when someone gets years for growing pot in their basement, of course it seems like a slap on the wrist to give someone 90 days for killing another human being. And so the terms get longer, the list of jailable offenses grows, the jails and prisons get more overcrowded, the private prison industry makes money hand over fist.

And automobile drivers STILL don't go to jail for killing ANYBODY (other automobile drivers included), because the culture of irresponsibility says that it's "just an accident," and the standard of proof is so much higher for killing someone than it is for speeding.

Sorry, did someone get me started?