randya

https://bikeportland.org/2010/11/08/a...colorado-42320

crhilton

There's a poll if you go through the huff post link, it has about 4,500 signatures now. It requires name and address, so it should have some meaning signing it. Obviously most of us aren't voters in that district, but it creates more and more push for media coverage which is bad news for everyone there until they fix this.

jyossarian

His employers couldn't care less. As far as they're concerned, he's being charged w/ a misdemeanor and will still be able to make people rich. If you're the victim in Colorado, don't expect justice.

randya

BTW, the victim was an equally wealthy liver transplant surgeon

randya

https://www.treehugger.com/files/2010...te+(Treehugger)

Sooner Rider

I've got a few dogs in this fight, and I agree with the D.A.'s decision. First, I'm a cyclist like just about everybody else here. Second, I'm the local Ride of Silence organizer, so I see up close & personal the lives that are affected by fatal car v. bike collisions. Third, a local cyclist was killed this summer by a hit & run driver who still hasn't been found. The family doesn't even have the funds for a reward, so a group of us threw in together for it, which was announced by the police and given good media coverage. THAT was the case that comes to mind here. I don't know the facts, but I suspect that cyclist Milo's career as a doctor is over, and not only has his earnings potential gone way down, his future medical expenses have gone way up. All circumstances are different, and I don't know everything about this one, but based upon what I know, if it were me, the money is going to be of a greater benefit to me than knowing Erzinger is behind bars. Especially when Erzinga eventually is released from prison.

RobertHurst

The victim doesn't see it that way. He doesn't need money. He wants to see this guy behind bars.

Chicago Al 

With all respect, not only don't you know the facts, you don't even seem to have read the articles. The VICTIM is outraged by this and wants the perp prosecuted as a felon. Furthermore neither he nor his counsel were consulted by the prosecutor before lowering the charges. Don't you think that Dr Milo, a well educated, highly successful surgeon, is in a perfectly good position to evaluate, with the aid of the legal talent doubtless at his disposal, whether he can recover damages from Erzinger in civil proceedings even with Erzinger in prison?

billdsd

DA Mark Hurlbert may be reached (970) 393-2600

Kurt Erlenbach

Here's why you're wrong. Erzinger almost certainly has the assets and/or insurance to make the victim whole, regardless of the outcome of the criminal case. The claim by the prosecutor that he needs his job so as to make restitution is almsot certainly incorrect. Further, the victim in any criminal case should at least have a say, if not veto power, over the decision to "permit" the defendant to avoid a felony so as to allow him to make restitution if those outcomes are mutually exclusive. In this case, those outcomes are not mutually exclusive, and the victim was not allowed an input into the result. If a victim wants restitution in the criminal case and the defendant needs to work to make it, reducing a charge is justifiable. But if the victim values punishment over criminal restitution, and the victim can be made whole through the civil process, reducing the charge is simply an example of two-tiered justice - one for the rich, the other for the rest of us.

lubes17319

Originally heard about this Saturday & it didn't make it into the Denver Post till today around noon.....well after it got pushed nation-wide by outraged people.

Saw this as well...

trek2.3bike

The conservative majority on the US Supreme Court (Scalia, et al) have graciously and without a word of backing in the Constitution provided scumbag prosecutors like Mike Hurlburt with ABSOLUTE IMMUNITY for their charging decisions (and their lying about evidence, or anything else they may do). Absolute immunity! The guy can, at most, lose his next election.

What he needs is a public pilloring to make his name synonomous with injustice. Give him his 15 minutes of fame on the national scene.

The Human Car

This post makes a good start of noting Hurlbert is synonymous with injustice https://washingtonwheelman.blogspot.c...e-of-what.html other things not mentioned here that Hurlbert has done are lower punishments for drunk skiing and running over little girls and for white men who go around pulling black women around by their hair.

Pelotoner

Money talks in Vail and the surrounding area. This story makes me sick and I hope that DA gets a clue that the scumbag that left the bicyclist on the side of the road needs to spend some time behind bars thinking about what he did... I am sure his liability umbrella policy provider is getting ready to write a large check to Dr. Milo.... I signed the petition and live in Colorado.

donrhummy

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/1..._n_780294.html

poormanbiking

Restitution for ending a liver transplant surgeon professional career can't be cheap. Leaving the guy for dead - WOW!!!! I understand that everybody gets judged in the end.

the-one1

What needs to be done is take the DA and Erzinger into a dark room tied up. Strip them of their clothes, take out a rusty dull knife and slowly cut off one testicle and shove it into the other guy's mouth. The DA is scum. Scum I tells ya.

Oh and if someone is tracking this message as a threat, yes it is. My name is Peter Griffin. I live on 276 Evergreen Terrace Levistown, CO 23887.

slowandsteady

Well, that is just a little over the top...

vol

So you'd like to have this driver continue driving on the streets hitting other people and running, and be indefinitely excluded from the jail as long as he has the job?

It would be interesting if he hit someone of the same profession as him and having equally wealthy clients. Even more interesting if one of his wealthy clients were a patient of the doctor victim waiting for liver transplant.

P.S. If the opposite happened--if the surgeon was driving and hit the money manager, you bet his wealthy clients will make sure to fine the surgeon as much as the money they lose from losing the manager.

Here, regarding Hurlbert's comment "We have talked with Mr. Haddon and we had their objections, but ultimately it's our call," I have a layman's question: Is the district attorney Hurlbert being the prosecutor for the victim, or the victim's lawyer Haddon? Can't the victim's lawyer be the prosecutor?

Smallwheels

This story doesn't give enough information from both sides. It might be better that the surgeon gets tons of money instead of nothing from a guy in jail. The DA said that the plea deal will still give the driver jail time for misdemeanors. With a felony conviction the driver would loose his prestigious job and not be able to pay the undisclosed restitution. I wish all criminal drivers would go to jail. Perhaps the victim has enough money to pay for his lifetime of care and would prefer the driver to spend many years in jail. That information is missing from the report.

randya

https://www.worth.com/index.php/compo...30&view=single

CritEastwood

The petition is going viral and is up over 9K sigs: https://www.change.org/petitions/view...wealth_manager

akcapbikeforums

Important follow up:

Originally Posted by Mark Hurlbert
Vail, CO, Colorado;68408629
Over the weekend, I have received over 1,000 e-mails from all over the country regarding the Martin Joel Erzinger case.

Because of that I feel the need to explain why I am of...fering the plea bargain proposed in the Erzinger case. Either through the bent of the Vail Daily article or my own inartful comments, I feel that the reason for the plea bargain was not properly conveyed.

First, let me say that from the start I feel for Dr. Steven Milo and sincerely hope that he has a complete and speedy recovery from his injuries. So why did I offer two misdemeanors on such a serious case?

Despite what is implied in the Vail Daily, Dr. Milo never asked me to plea Mr. Erzinger to a felony. Dr. Milo asked that I plead Mr. Erzinger to a felony deferred judgment and sentence.

What this means is that Mr. Erzinger would plead to a felony leaving the scene of an accident, and the judgment would be set aside.

In either two or four years, as long as Mr. Erzinger met certain conditions, the case would drop off his record and he would be allowed to seal this case. Since there was no alcohol or drugs involved, the only conditions I could legally ask for were that he pay restitution and stay out of trouble.

Given that he had a clean history, Mr. Erzinger would essentially have been able to write a check, and the case would then be dismissed. On top of that, while Dr. Milo was still probably recovering from his injuries, Mr. Erzinger would be able to say that he had no criminal history and even deny that anything had happened. That is not something I could stomach.

I therefore offered that Mr. Erzinger plead guilty to leaving the scene of an accident and careless driving causing serious bodily injury.

This means that for the rest of his life, Mr. Erzinger will have on his record that he carelessly drove, caused another human being serious bodily injury and left the scene. He will lose his driver's license, face potential jail time as determined by the judge and still have to pay restitution, which as I said in the Vail Daily is important to us but not an overriding objective in the plea.

Obviously there is a benefit to Mr. Erzinger on taking the misdemeanors -- he keeps his job.

If he were to plead to the deferred charge, he may or may not lose his job. But either way, as mentioned above, in a couple of years he would be able to tell any prospective employer that he had no criminal history.

There has been much made about Mr. Erzinger's wealth. That is of no concern to me other than as it pertains to restitution to Dr. Milo. I have not asked Mr. Erzinger for any money either to myself or to the District Attorney's Office, and he has not offered. Both of us understand that that would be highly illegal.

Finally, I appreciate the constructive comments I have received. And even if I have not responded, I have read every single one of them.

If after reading this, you still feel that I am wrong for the plea bargain, I take full responsibility and welcome any constructive comments.

But be forewarned that there is not much I can change at this point. I made the plea offer months ago, and the defense has accepted. This means that even if I wanted to change the plea offer, I could not.

The only person that can reject it at this point is the judge. Again, I welcome any constructive comments in this case.

Mark Hurlbert is the district attorney of the 5th Judicial District. The case referred to above was an alleged hit-and-run accident in July involving motorist Martin Joel Erzinger and bicyclist Dr. Steven Milo that resulted in serious injuries Milo is still recovering from.

randya

^^^ if that's real it's complete BS

you don't need to be on drugs or alcohol to be a distracted driver capable of doing grave bodily harm, and there should be serious consequences and a criminal record for the actions of people like Erzinger, he shouldn't get a pass just because he's wealthy and no doubt has a bunch of good attorneys working for him.

Kurt Erlenbach

It seem odd to me that leaving the scene of an accident involving serious bodily injury constitutes a misdemeanor in Colorado. That's a felony in Florida. I suggest those in Colorado contact their legislators about upgrading that crime.