Jaywalking a worse crime than drunken hit and run?

[Chaotic_Warlord]

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/mom ... 56884.html

Marrietta GA woman faces 3 years in jail for Jaywalking with her kids, repeat offender who hits them and kills her 4 year old son get 6 months. Really, our Justice system needs a severe over haul.


Full story can be found here: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/mot ... 19312.html

Short version: Mom takes kids shopping for party supplies, misses her bus and has to take another that drops them off an hour later than the first bus would have. nearest crosswalks are 2/3 of a mile away and the bus stop is across the street from her apartment. Every one that gets off bus start to cross the street. little boy runs after a girl with mom and siblings in tow even after mom told him to stop. Driver (who admitted to drinking and popping pain killers before driving) hits the whole family and kills the 4 y/o, this is his 3rd conviction for the same thing, he gets 6 months, jury convicts mom of homicide by vehicle and reckless conduct, this is the second such case in recent times in Marrietta the other case charged the mother with involuntary homicide.

Mother's interview on NBC Today Show: http://www.hulu.com/watch/261495/nbc-to ... aywalking-

Discuss

[bigbadberry3]

DUI should be a much more serious crime (not just this instance). Too many repeat offenders and endings like this.

[gearhead05]

What is happening to this country?

[orangeNblue]

^+1

This is very sad and awful to hear...w

[themadscientist]

What is happening to this country?

I contend that the tense is wrong. It should be past tense, "happened" because judging by the overwhelming preponderance of stupidity like this whatever causes it has already done its work. Essentially, at least in Marietta GA. if presented with the choice of driving home drunk or jaywalking to the bus stop to get a bus home the LOGICAL CHOICE would be drive drunk.

[C-Kwik]

This is mostly speculative as I don't see any details of the accident itself. In any case, the person who was driving may not have been found to be at fault for the collision. If someone runs out into the street in front of you and you have no time to stop, being drunk, or leaving the scene is not attributable to the death of the pedestrian. If he wasn't found to have caused the accident and Georgia makes such a distinction when determining if the hit and run/DUI charges are treated as misdemeanors or felonies, then the driver's punishment may be appropriate. Conversely, if GA seeks felony charges with respect to the cause of death associated with a jaywalking charge, her punishment may be consistent with how they handle such cases. My intent here isn't to vilify the woman or marginalize the driver's actions, but the articles seem to imply the driver was the negligent party and most readers would likely jump to that conclusion. But there are a lot of details that need to be filled in before anyone can determine who was actually the negligent party. Which may be the reason the punishments seem so unbalanced.

The only detail about the accident I seemed to run across was that the mother ran into the street after her child to try and stop him. If that is true, I would feel the punishment for the mother is harsh. But that detail is not exactly confirmed and the DA may have a different view on what actually transpired. And that "shouldn't" have any effect on the driver's punishment.

[nissangirl74]

I have no sympathy for the driver. A DUI is never excusable. However, the mother was the one who put her child in harm's way. She was jaywalking, at night, with young children. You just don't do that. You don't take that risk.

[C-Kwik]

Reading a bit further into this, I'm not sure DUI was something enforceable in this case. Its unlikely they were able to administer any tests to confirm he was legally drunk. The only thing they appear to have to go by was his own word. Which would not have been enough to convict him of DUI. The only thing they convicted him of (not sure if it went to trial or if it was by plea) was the hit and run. He was originally also charged with 1st degree homicide by vehicle and cruelty to children. I doubt those charges would be dropped if he was the cause of the accident. There is no indication that they were ever trying to pursue a DUI charge.

[Chaotic_Warlord]

Bex, I agree on both points, however, to have to walk almost a mile to a legal crosswalk and the almost a mile back at night with small children in what is likely to be a bad neighborhood ( judging by the moms haste to get to her apartment and concern with it being dark) when the bus stop is literally across the street is not a viable option either. As far as the specifics of the case go judging by the local newspaper article(link in original article) it would appear that the state ( and jury) feel that the moms in both cases are more at fault than the hit and run drivers were, which frankly is messed up.

[Jesda]

Was he drunk? I heard he had a drink earlier in the day and took medication.

This story needs details.

[nissangirl74]

He had been drinking but I don't think they ever posted up his BAC. He had two prior convictions of hit-and-run.

Update on the mom - she gets probation and community service, but no jail time http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/mom ... 37121.html

The US needs more tent cities (in AZ) to deter criminals. http://abouttentcity.com/

[Dattebayo]

The US needs more tent cities (in AZ) to deter criminals. http://abouttentcity.com/

IIRC, they did this to the Japanese living in the US back in WW2 for a while...

[Jesda]

I'm in favor of Norwegian-style prisons that encourage reform. They work better with non-violent offenders.



In the US system you get tossed in jail for selling a pill at a concert, get raped, become an addict, and become violent. Then when you finish your sentence, you can't find a job.

[frapjap]

I'm with you, Jesda. Folks should be made to fear prisons, like the ones in Mexico or Guatemala. One meal per day, leave sanitation up to them, no goddamned air conditioning, and live bullets from high up points the first time some dude steps out of line. Other than being boring, our prisons are more like a resort compared to other countries.

[hannibal]

Mom got no jail time and one year probation. That's reasonable...

[Dattebayo]

Reasonable?

Well, I don't see how she should be on any probation list, really. Three kids are hard to keep a watch on, let alone manage on the bus, and it sounds like the little one just ran out into the street suddenly. This kind of reminds me of the stretch on MD Route 4 outside of DC where there aren't crosswalks except for one every 2 miles or so at intersections and the apartments along the road have multiple paths into the complex. People ride the bus everyday there, most are so poor they can barely make the rent. Are we really going to penalize someone for something they've probably done successfully 1000 times without incident just because it's technically illegal?

I fully expect you to turn yourselves in to the nearest police station every one of you who agree she was in the wrong; when you cross any street without a crosswalk. I mean any time, especially when you are just crossing from your car to your house.

[hannibal]

It's illegal (and negligent) to jaywalk or cross without a walk sign. I do it everyday. The catch is I'm a healthy young person who can sprint out of harm's way should I find myself in a hairy situation (given that I see trouble approaching). An elderly person or kid should not try those things.

IMO The reason they even charged her in the first place was that she didn't protect the kid from running out in the road. I assume the kids had crossed there many times before. Just cause you get away something 1000 times doesn't mean it's no longer dangerous or illegal.

I will not be surrendering anytime soon. I've crossed busy streets in sight of cops and they don't blink twice. Now if I tried that with a bad limp and a cane, they just might call me over to suggest how poor of an idea it is to dart out in front of traffic. If I caused an accident running across street, I don't find it unreasonable the face a jaywalking charge. Vehicular or negligent homicide is way too much though...

[gearhead05]

Hearing that the mom isn't going to have jail time now kinda kills it, but am I the only one who thought of the opening of Robin Hood: Men in Tights when they're in the prison?

Robin "So, what are you in for?"
Asneeze "Jaywalking"

[Chaotic_Warlord]

The only reason she got a slap on the wrist sentence is because she was interviewed by the Today show and the story made national press, Even GA isnt stupid enough to make an example out of a national story like this, they'll wait for the next shmuck to come along to make an example of. I agree with Datte on this one, then again i have to deal with pedestrians in center city Philly on a daily. it's enough to make you insane with rage.