@izzythepush,
Neither Hawkeye nor BillRM has addressed the issue of drunk driving. They've avoided the most obvious aspect of this case--A man got into a car drunk and killed someone. And now he has to face the penalties for his actions.
There is no legitimate way, from a
moral point of view, of diminishing the driver's responsibility for his actions. All this garbage about the homeless, or the legal system railroading people, or any of the other irrelevancies they've tossed in as diversionary tactics, are just that--garbage. Thom Swift was driving drunk and Barry Lancaster died because he was hit by Swift's car. How could Swift not be responsible for contributing to that death?
Swift will not be railroaded into jail, every aspect of the charges against him will be debated by both the prosecution and the defense. If any exculpatory evidence emerges, or law enforcement procedural errors can be found, they will help to lower his charges and any potential sentence. But there is no getting around the fact that he spent the night in a bar drinking, got into a car and drove impaired by alcohol, with diminished reaction time, depth perception, coordination, visual acuity, and night vision, as a result of the effects of alcohol on his central nervous system, and he ran into a man on a bicycle and killed him, and he did not stop and remain at the scene. He should have been arrested. He should face punishment for the consequences of driving in an illegal and impaired condition. And one of the consequences of his impaired driving behavior was the death of another human being. He didn't hit a tree or a parked car, he hit another person, and killed him, and, for that reason, the legal consequences for Swift should be considerably more than a slap on the wrist.
We are not in a court and sitting in the jury box right now. And we don't have to have nonsensical debates about how do we know Swift was
really drunk or whether the accident would have been unavoidable even if he was sober. Unless one is extremely paranoid, as both BillRM and Hawkeye are, it is safe to assume, for purposes of our discussion, that Swift was legally drunk and that the state has evidence to back that up. And, being legally drunk, his capacity to deal with
any accident avoidance situation would be considerably diminished. His ability to even see, let alone react to, a man on a bike, who was probably in front of his car, would be diminished by the effects of alcohol, and that would certainly contribute to the outcome of the car hitting the man and killing him. That's DUI manslaughter.
These armchair defense attorneys, Hawkeye and BillRM, have engaged in mainly absurd smoke and mirrors tactics, that no actual self-respecting defense attorney would likely employ, because they don't want to deal with the main issue that the man was driving drunk and his ability to operate a motor vehicle was impaired. So, by not acknowledging that essential component, they not only lose all credibility regarding what else they might say, they simply look like fools.
Other than some mild curiosity about the final outcome of this case, simply because jcboy knows the person involved, I can't say that I really care about the exact nature of the sentence that Swift will receive. I don't know him, I don't know the victim, and the basic issues involved seem common to most DUI accidents. I'm not unduly paranoid. I don't think Swift was unjustly arrested or charged, I don't think he's being railroaded, I do think his defense will be vigorous, and whatever punishment is eventually agreed on, whether by plea agreement or jury decision, is fine with me.
I don't need to hear Swift's side of the story because, unlike Hawkeye, I respect the man's right to remain silent. The defense doesn't have to mount a case. And, if Swift eventually pleads guilty, even to reduced charges, unlike Hawkeye, I will accept that as a sincere acknowledgment of responsibility on his part. Should a jury exonerate him, I can live with that as well. I have no vested interest in the outcome of this case and I have no problem with how that outcome is arrived at. Whether or not this goes to trial is a decision for Swift to make, and that decision should not be made to satisfy Hawkeye's or BillRM's desire to see an "accounting of the facts" or anyone else's idle curiosity.
The accident took place only two weeks ago. It's unlikely there will be any major developments in the progress of the legal case for awhile. Until then, I'm not sure there is any point in continuing to re-hash the same few issues over and over again. I can wait to see what actually develops.
But, I am reasonably sure that Hawkeye and BillRM will continue their usual farcical dog and pony show, despite the lack of any new information, because, for them, this is all about their needs for attention, and for an audience, and that's unrelated to the topic, which is also why they can't stick to the topic of this particular drunk driving case, it simply wouldn't give them enough to talk about.
