ZmanKC

A bold statement, but what this driver did is possibly worse than Carlos Bertonatti.

https://blogs.miaminewtimes.com/ripti...s_most_evi.php

FBinNY 

I'm not usually one of the torch bearing "drivers are murderers" crowd. But in this case attempted murder is a very appropriate charge. Not for the accident, nor for leaving the scene, but placing an injured person out of sight to die certainly fits the bill.

I'm surprised by the low bail, and hope the DA files the appropriate charge.

Pibber

hit a man, drive for two miles and then dump the man in the woods, drive home, hide the car, go to sleep.....wow.....this is worse.

ZmanKC

Old man? He's 8 years younger than I am.

Pibber

oof, sorry! thought it said 63, not 53.

Sixty Fiver

53 isn't old.

This is felony hit and run and could also be looked at as attempted manslaughter or attempted second degree murder.

I like the comment that he should just be dropped in the middle ocean and told to swim.

The bail is too low and if this piece of **** has a passport it needs to be suspended... if he has any idea what is coming he probably would like to get as far away from Florida as possible.

Pibber

no insult intended

FBinNY 

I don't believe there's such a crime as attempted manslaughter. Manslaughter implies lack of intent, otherwise it's murder. You cannot attempt something which implies lack of intent.

It's attempted murder, unless the driver can convince a jury that he knew a crew would be by within minutes to discover the body.

But you're right the bail is way to low (though I hope the judge at least had him surrender his passport)

Sixty Fiver

Looks like the sentence for attempted murder is 7-10 years in most places, a 3rd degree hit and run only brings 5 years in Florida... by taking the injured man to the woods and leaving him to die I am sure that prosecutors will try and find other charges as he tried to conceal the crime and was probably wasted when he hit the cyclist although he made sure that could not be proven.

The guy is a sociopath.

FBinNY 

I've always had issues with the comparatively low sentences for an attempted murder vs. successful one. It's like we're rewarding ineptitude. Here we have a guy leaving someone in the woods hoping he'll die. But he chose a bad hiding place, so the victim was discovered. This stroke of (bad?) luck cuts the maximum sentence by more than half.

Likewise, here in New York, bad shots get off with much shorter sentences compared to good shots.

howsteepisit

In most of life you get lesser rewards for failure. But outside my wise guy attitude, this guy is a cold murderer who just happens to drive, calling him the worst driver diminishes his role as one of the worst humans.

B. Carfree

If that thing is human, I want to belong to a different species.

Perhaps it is a case of confirmation bias, but these documented bad drivers, the sort who get multiple citations, always seem to be the pool from which the killers of pedestrians and cyclists are drawn.

howsteepisit

Think that would be an interesting study,How many of the drivers who manage to kill cyclist/pedestrian and or cause fatal accidents do have strings of other tickets. I'd tend to agree with the above, its a strong correlation between drivers who are proven to be bad drivers as based on their moving violation records and those who cause deaths.

That returns to one of what I see as a fundamental problem in the US. The US is so geographically large and jobs are so far disbursed, that routinely removing the proven poor drivers privilege to drive is not palatable to the general population. For example, what would the acceptance rate be in the general voter population if we say three tickets no drive for 5 years, absolute no exceptions. I believe thee would be voter revolt against a law like this, because we would end up with expanded welfare roles, (if ya cannot get to work, you cannot work), the need for huge expansion of the public transportation system, and other costs.

So we end up with a system which allows poor drivers to continue to drive, and be a hazard to other road users. But I see no afordable, socially acceptable answer.

B. Carfree

I'm not sure the voters would reject the proposition that three citations in a five year period should result in license revocation. I'm depending on the Lake Wobegone theory here, where everyone assumes he/she is a better than average driver. Thus, most of the voters think this will not affect them directly because they are such good drivers. Keeping it the law, assuming cops don't bypass it by not issuing that third citation, would be the challenge.

howsteepisit

I was not clear, I was thinking of 3 violation in a year = five year suspension, but its totally theoretical. But you might be right, I saw an actual study cited once that 60 some % of drivers believed they were better than average drivers, so who knows, it might just fly.

But once again, then what do we do with the rural Montanans who lie far away from any public transport?

vol

More about this here.
"The victim 'had a laceration in the back of his head. His ear was almost completely severed and he had spinal injuries which may result in permanent paralysis'"

FBinNY 

IMO the actual accident is sort of a distraction from the more serious issue. If this DA doesn't seek and get an indictment for attempted murder, based on hiding an injured person out of sight, then someone should ask what he would consider warrants this charge.

Chris516

Broward County needs to update their system. I can't find him through the Inmate Locator.

Darth Lefty 

More evil than Michael Schumacher?

FBinNY 

Maybe he made bail.

Matariki

There is no legal punishment that would suit this animal's behavour.

SHBR

What were the environmental conditions that created this sociopath? Sure he will probably spend time in prison, but that clearly didn't prevent this from happening. There is a larger societal problem here that needs to be more closely examined. Family background, drug use, and perhaps a history of abhorrent behavior went UN-noticed for too long. This reminds me of a broken spoke, most people just replace it, and never examine the root cause of the breakage.

EDIT
Just read the article, he admitted to being drunk, rational thought becomes a bit more difficult, even still, that is no excuse.

B. Carfree

I'd love to hear his response to that question.

the fly

If you're living way out in the country far away from civilization, then you should realize that the ability to drive is very important. Important enough not the jeopardize driving in a manner to jeopardize the privilege. If you're not smart enough/responsible enough to accept that, then you either don't need a license to begin with, or you need to move closer to a bus stop and let someone drive for you.

I think the bigger problem is what do we do with the drivers who have lost their license, but continue to drive. Those are the real hardheads that pose a larger threat than you're average distracted driver. About the only thing that can keep some off the roads is keeping them locked up. Not an ideal situation.

Shimagnolo

EXACTLY!
I've said the same thing for years.
The punishment should be based what the perpetrator did, not on what the results were.

And this concept could also lessen the punishment for a person who did something seemingly minor that had grave, unintended consequences.