SUV driver accused of murdering bicycle messenger finally goes to trial

[ViciousCycle]

I am grateful to a gentleman by the name of Dan Korn, who took a week off from work in order to attend the trial. His detailed accounts (some of which I posted here) provided so much more information about the workings of the trial than the newspaper articles could even begin to get into.

For us Illinois cyclists, it was reassuring for justice to be done and also to hear the details of the case. Nothing in the trial brought into question McBride's right to be on the road. This suggests that such cases will not use Boub vs. Wayne Township as a precedent. (Boub vs. Wayne was a case where we got the contradictory double-speak that "bicyclists are permitted but not intended users of the road.")

[Chris L]

45 years people. This was on cyclingnews.com:

Driver sentenced for 45 years in Chicago road rage case

A 31 year old Chicago man has been sentenced to 45 years in prison for killing 26 year old bicycle messenger Thomas McBride in 1999. Late last year, Carnell Fitzpatrick was found guilty of first degree murder after a jury deliberated for 16 hours over the case. He was considered for reckless homicide, a lighter charge than first degree murder, however the court eventually rejected the former after the killing was deemed to be deliberate.

Thomas McBride was killed on April 26, 1999, after being run over by Fitzpatrick in the 5300 block of West Washington Boulevard. The incident followed an earlier altercation between McBride and Fitzpatrick a few blocks away, where McBride had rapped on Fitzpatrick's Chevy Tahoe and abused him after being pushed close to the kerb. Fitzpatrick then followed McBride and bumped him, running him over. He then drove his car into a nearby alley to disentangle McBride's bike before driving home.

McBride died from the accident and Fitzpatrick later turned himself into the police. The subsequent trial was the first in which a motorist had been accused of killing a cyclist in a case of road rage. Eyewitness reports established the deliberate nature of the killing, forcing the jury to vote in favour of first degree murder instead of reckless homicide.

The 45 year sentence was handed down today by Cook County Circuit Judge Kenneth Wadas, who said that Fitzpatrick's act was "as intentional as it gets."

McBride's parents Robert and Ellen said that they felt justice had been done, while Fitzpatrick submitted a brief statement of apology: "I never had the intention to hurt or kill Tom. I'm sorry to the McBride family."

The judge was asked by Assistant State's Attorney Lynda Peters to impose a heavy sentence on Fitzpatrick in order to deter others from committing similar acts of road rage.

Now if we can just get a few decisions like this on the Gold Coast...