Originally Posted by
cruiserhead
Read the situation before you go blaming the victim.
The Pasadena police, he said, originally levied a more severe charge based on evidence from a surveillance video from an automobile dealership that captured the crash.
"The Pasadena Police Department wanted him to be charged with vehicular manslaughter, and there's no question the driver was at fault," Gil Deane said.
But Monette said he thought the sentencing deal the two attorneys reached was fair because there was no evidence that Misra was under the influence of drugs or alcohol or demonstrated "extreme recklessness" when he hit Deane.
That reporting is somewhat inaccurate. The police does not have the authority to file (or levy) charges with the court (except in some very specific situations). The police can arrest an individual and on the arrest report they can recommend that certain charges be filed. It is, however, the ultimate responsibility of the prosecutor to decide what charges to file. Many times a prosecutor, after reviewing the evidence presented by the pollce agency, will decide on a different set of charges.
BTW, the Pasadena Chief of Police is an avid cyclist himself.