We are speaking on 2 different issues. I agree that his charges of drunk driving have nothing to do with him hitting the girl or hitting anything at all. He was driving drunk and should be charged for it regardless.
My comments were more in response to this:
However, If we knew all of the facts from the PR, witnesses and the driver. If it could be determined that the girl contributed negligence to the situation is where it would come into play. I am not defending the driver, nor am I putting any blame on this poor girl. I am just indicating that i agree that skateboarding at night is not the greatest idea, but it doesnt necessarily put negligence or liability on her just because she was doing it at night.
But, as I mentioned before, there could be some negligence found on her if she was wearing dark clothing in an area that wasnt well lit and/or also in an area of the road where she should not have been. Majority, No. But a small percentage. But given that she was in the bike lane. It is highly unlikely that anything would fall on her.
I look at things from an insurance standpoint because it is my job. I cant help it… :\
Dr. James G. Corasanti’s actions were not criminally reckless and the evidence is insufficient to prove second-degree manslaughter, defense lawyer Joel L. Daniels said in Erie County Court.
Rather, 18-year-old Alexandria Rice, with marijuana in her system, chose to ride her longboard at night, crouching down low, and without wearing reflective clothing, Daniels said during a court hearing lasting an hour and a half.
Rice’s toxicology report showed the amount of marijuana in her system “was not an insignificant amount,” Daniels said.
Rice referred to herself in social media sites as “a cutter” who suffered from depression, Daniels said. She said she was prescribed medication for depression and that she used to take drugs and had suicidal thoughts, Daniels said.
She also wrote she wanted to die “fast and dangerous doing something exciting,” Daniels said.
“We are very simply following the facts,” Daniels said. “We’re not here to blame the victim.”
Definitely a scumbag move, but exactly the kind of thing a really good lawyer will do for you. Remember, you only need 1 in 12 people dumb enough not to get out of jury duty to believe your defense attorney.
So based off of what the lawyer said and based off of what was said when this first happened… I remember hearing/reading that the driver did not see what he hit, didnt know he hit a person.
Now based off the lawyer, he apparently saw exactly what the girl was doing…etc.
plain and simple. He hit someone, he didnt stop to see how bad they were injured. They died, and now the family is without their loved one. Hes a doctor and could have stopped to help (possibly saving the girls life and his own ass) Instead he drove off. I say he gets thrown in jail. Bull shit!
Imagine how court cases would turn out if juries didn’t deliberate. What I got out of that quote was “She was stoned, riding at night and wearing dark clothing. She was also depressed, cut herself, and may or may not have been suicidal”. Therefore she basically had it coming according to the above. Riding in the street wearing dark clothing was definitely a bonehead move on her part. The FACT of the matter is, that a DOCTOR was driving drunk, hit a person, and then fled the scene. No matter if the person jumps out into traffic or you hit them on the curb, you are obligated to stop IMO. I’d revoke his license at the VERY minimum.
Had time to read the thread… simply put: Shes an idiot, hes an idiot, punish the guy but not to the full extent.
And I bet you he checked the body for life when he moved it. If she still had a chance im going to guess he would have tried to save her but from what I hear the body was pretty messed up. Not justifying, just saying I understand his justification if that is at all true.
Haha whoops, idk if thats public knowledge or not yet. Yeah from a pretty credible source there are INDICATIONS that the body was moved. My guess, he got out and checked her, she was donezo and he fled. I dont think many doctors, let alone humans can just consciously drive off without at least making an effort to save life.
I was told by one of the grand jurors that he was also texting while driving when the accident occurred, and to top it off he was texting his mistress. I thought I heard on the news last night that he had sent his wife back to the scene?
I believe if the case is over you can, unless there is some non-disclosure clause, or the records are sealed AFAIK. Regardless, I’m not putting too much weight on the “my best friend’s sister’s mom’s aunt is the cleaning lady at the court house and she heard…”
All the info about her wearing dark clothing, riding a long board at night, and being high are based off of evidence. The only thing which might point to him seeing her is saying she was crouching down low. That could be argued that it’s common for someone to ride long board like that. Texting info was on the news this morning.
Based on what has been made public, we know he was presumed intoxicated, stuck and killed her with his car, left the scene of an accident, texting, she was presumed high, dark clothing, riding a long board at night, and possibly suicidal.
Prosecution will fight to prove he knowingly killed her. Defense seems it will try to put some of the blame on her.
This is a sad case and will probably turn ugly.
Lol are they scumbags if what they assert is true and may have had an outcome as to if this could have been avoided?
Lets just say, if what the defense will assert ends up being true (which I believe to be based on fist hand accounts of people who knew her, and the facts that night) this guy is not fully to blame.
Listen, like yambag, this happened a minutes walk from my parents house. Many of my friends younger siblings knew the girl.
So this guy could have been .60 bac, getting a hummer from NPH, while smoking a blunt and texting, but if she runs out in front of his car last minute, you think hes at fault for her death? Dont be confused for what hes guilty of, and what caused her death. Theres definitely fault to be attributed to both here, but im saying from what I gather, what I heard about this girl from her acquaintances and the amount of lighting around that gentle bend where it happened, I think anyone whos skateboarding on the street, away from traffic in dark clothes when theres a nice recently paved sidewalk, is an idiot and needs to be assigned a good portion of the blame.
I’m trying to look at this objectively, which is hard because I’ve nearly been run over several times on my board.
There have been so many times that I have swerved around small pieces of black tire on the thruway at 70mph to say that even if she was crouched down, smack in the middle of the road, in all black, that any other sober, non-distracted driver should have had no issues avoiding this issue.
I also see the flipside that it was a poor decision on her part… and I am big on personal responsibility.
From a LEGAL standpoint, however, he was breaking several laws. Was she? I don’t think that riding a skateboard in the road is ILLEGAL. I don’t think that even having marijuana in your system is illegal. Possessing, yeah, but in your system?
We aren’t trying stupidity here… we’re trying legalities. eh?