Posted on 05/07/2008 2:01:31 PM PDT by Sopater
ELLICOTT CITY, Md. — The Howard County State's Attorney's Office says a driver who struck and killed a county police officer last year has paid her traffic fines.
Prosecutors say Stephanie Grissom of Columbia paid $310 in fines for speeding and negligent driving. She also received three points on her driving record.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
She was speeding, but the officer performed the insane practice of stepping out into traffic to flag her down.
Her acts, by themselves, are not criminal (71mph in a 55mph).
It was the officer’s actions that caused this and the Grand Jury saw it that way, as well.
I’d have to agree. I’m not one for huge prison terms for accidents, which this clearly was.
http://www.examiner.com/a-1264252~Police_disappointed_in_decision_not_to_indict_driver_over_death.html
We learn from our mistakes.
I feel for the woman.
Probably nothing she could have done under the circumstances... all for the local government to make a few extra bucks on fines.
The headline makes it sound bad, but it is no worse than cops shooting someone reaching for their wallet, then getting off scot-free.
No such things as accidents.
If she was operating over the posted speed limit it is manslaughter/murder. I am sure the officer did not bound from between two cars. More than likely he checked her speed by radar from a distance and stepped out and began to wave and draw attention. Most departments also require florescent vests in traffic.
Women was driving too fast no doubt with head up rear and probably talking or texting. Had this been a bank robber fleeing or child molester they would have been lynched ( figuratively speaking ). No difference.
All I meant was that if the killing wasn’t intentional, it was an accident. I’m speaking practical definition, not legal.
Oh, and this was on Route 32. Right by where I used to live - EVERYONE goes 70+ on that highway. It’s a 4-6 lane expressway, it’s not a “side road.”
True.
I lived on that same road, too. Howdy, neighbor!
Hi neighbor. I live in Columbia now but used to live right at 32 and Rt. 1.
Whereabouts are you?
I agree completely.
However, he made a fatal mistake when he stepped out in front of a fast moving car, and it's not reasonable to hold the driver responsible for not being able to react quickly enough to avoid hitting him.
It is a shame that such accidents happen, and that an officer died because of a mistake he made while performing his duty.
Manslaughter charges for being a few miles over the speed limit? That is ridiculous. If the cop stepped in front of a vehicle on the road, I don’t care how fast they were going, the burden of responsiblity for him getting killed rests with him.....
No her ability to react was cut in half at that speed as compared to 55.
Apply your logic to your kid stepping in to the street. Sorry she was wrong.
You're right. There are no such things as accidents.
And if the officer didn't step in front of a moving vehicle, he'd be alive today.
This type of law enforcement strategy is designed to generate a huge number of speeding tickets (and thus revenue) in a short amount of time with minimal effort. Well, it cost one officer his life.
Any 6 year old knows that stepping in front of moving vehicles is dangerous. Sadly, the desire for ticket revenue blinded them to the obvious safety risks inherent in such an operation.
The grand jury failed to indict her. The grand jury used a very low bar for evidence that a crime was committed before indicting.
That would seem to indicate that he likely did step out in front of her when she didn't have enough time to stop.
If she had time to stop, or should have been able to stop if she were going more slowly, then I would agree that it was manslaughter. However, if that were the case you would think he would also have had plenty of time to realize she wasn't going to stop in time and would have gotten out of the lane she was driving in.
A car does approach pretty quickly at 71 MPH, but it should be obvious in plenty of time to get out of the way that she isn't slowing down quickly enough to stop before she reached him.
I’m fairly sure that 55 mph limits were imposed to save fuel, not to increase the safety margin.
While I agree that prison is not appropriate for a situation that results in an accident, I can't agree that this was an accident. An accident happens outside of a person's control of a particular situation (e.g., a windstorm blows up debris into the roadway and obscures your vision of an oncoming vehicle). This woman didn't have an "accident". She intentionally committed a vehicle code violation and a man died as a results. The officer may have contributed, but the woman bears responsiblity for what happened above that of a simple traffic violation.
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