Verdict in Rochester, NY Area Fatality
 

Heather Boyum was on a training ride with a partner at 7:45 on a beautiful Sunday Morning. She was a respected High School Biology teacher, wife and mother. Megan Merkel was driving in a dilapidated car under the influence of alcohol and bath salts. Her ex-boyfriend Mark Scerbo was operating a motorcycle recklessly under the influence of alcohol (about twice the legal limit) and bath salts. He was "playing tag" with the Merkel car. He was speeding up, slowing down, popping wheelies, passing on the right shoulder. The reasonable thing for anyone to do when sharing the road with a depraved maniac, especially on an early Sunday morning on a country road, would be to safely pull over an separate themselves from a dangerous situation. But she didn't. She kept driving, participating willingly in Scerbo's utterly depraved negligence. On one of his passes on the right shoulder of the road, Scerbo encountered the bicyclists, striking Mrs. Boyum and throwing her into the path of Merkel's car which ran over her and killed her. The passengers in Merkel's car said it felt like going over a large speed bump and the impact lifted them off of their seats.
The jury found Merkel not guilty of manslaughter. They convicted her of DWI. She was released on time served.
The jury found Scerbo not guilty of Aggravated Vehicular Homicide. They convicted him of DWI, Reckless Driving and Manslaughter 2nd. degree. His sentence could range from 7 to 15 years in jail. He is a repeat offender and a convict, so he will hopefully get the maximum.

Crap....

x2!!!!

This one sounds really really egregious.

How so?

Not as in I don't believe you. Just interested in your reasoning?

It seems that no matter what state is, it is almost impossible for justice for a cyclist. The woman should have got at least 15 year, and the drunk MC rider should have gotten 30 plus years at least.

Way to lenient for the crime.

The verdict really stinks. And it seemed jury deliberation took a while. I wonder if they were deciding on intent?

Two drivers on the road without licenses, drinking and using bath salts should be labeled with intent to cause grievous injury. Really, really bad decision and I feel very badly for the family.

As in most cases the family will have to resort to a civil law suit for justice. But sadly give what we know about those two there is very little to gain. Maybe they did have auto ins, and the family should sue for the maximum.

1000% agree

I tried to find her stellar radio call in just to remind people how much of a winner this lady is, but I couldn't find it after a cursory search.

I did find her post here (NSFW - language) made after the "accident". Funny how her tune has changed and now she's making public apologies...

More than way too lenient. Downright despicable.

Wow, saw that link...yeah, she REALLY feels bad....................not.

My answer would be NSFW, too. Or, maybe, NSFTW -- Not Safe For The WORLD!

Both Merkel and Scerbo were sentenced yesterday. Merkel gets time served and Scerbo goes to prison for 7.5 - 15 years, plus $25k+ in restitution, court fees, etc.

http://www.democratandchronicle.com/...rbo-sentencing

Our judicial system is broken.

Auto insurance??? Did they even have licenses? This is where the whole "civil trial" system fails. These two should be taken off the road and out of society for as long as possible... they are a waste of skin.

Looking back, at the link that Sudo Bike posted, not only were the authorities lenient on her at sentencing which was expected. The 'Like' and 'Dislikes' about her comment at that time, were running 2-to-1 in her favor. Just absolutely abysmal.

Permanent revocation of license should have been the ultimate way to get some dangerous drivers off the road, but it has been repeatedly proven useless, resulting in more losses of life. Only the jail is effective, but it rarely happens. It's terrying that that Merkel woman will be on the road again.

This just confirms the same pattern we see with all the automobile drivers out there that have either injured or killed a cyclist, they only feel and express regret.....when they get caught.

It really is a tragedy that automobile drivers can commit such atrocities and walk away with a mere slap on the hand. This fails to send any type of effective message to motorists concerning respect and safety toward cyclists, so the real failure is our justice system.

Megan Merkel was sentenced to time served and a $1000. fine. Mark Scerbo was sentenced to 7 1/2 to 15 yrs. in prison an $24000. Just another example of how Western New York accepts drunk driving and tolerates the loss of innocent lives as a result.

Stay classy there Megan!!