genec

Leaving the scene may have meant that perhaps the victim didn't get care soon enough... I think that might be the upsetting factor to some here.

Number400

Hmm, I think that people here, or at least myself, feel that seconds count and had she had the decency to call 911 and to get help on the way, that Tom P. Might have had a fighting chance to get faster treatment and to survive. The 5, 10, or 15 minutes it took for another cyclist or motorist to find the victim could have saved his life or at least given his family a chance to see him still alive. This person chose to leave a man dying in the street and yes, that is the first point of anger here. The collision is secondary and hopefully the investigation will find out exactly what happened. It sucks all around but was made worse for everyone by leaving the scene.

I was hit and the person who hit me quickly called 911 and I am grateful for that. Had he not, I would have likely been in worse shape overall. I was also lucky enough to have an EMT and a Physician stop and assist me. They kept me down and supported my neck. I was trying to get up to walk it off while I had a head/neck fractures...

mconlonx

I don't take away the option to recognize innocence, just didn't get into it in that much detail. In mconlonx's world, the driver whose car killed the pedestrian would be considered at fault and responsible for killing a person until and unless they were cleared of responsibility. Like oil in the road. In which case, the oil-spiller would be responsible for that death. And it would most likely be manslaughter or negligent homicide, not murder.

And yes, they should be held to the same account as the DUI situation you posed. However, US law generally has a range of sentencing, and aggravating conditions, which could certainly be utilized in such a case. But instead of modifying existing law to account for such, we have focused on and passed laws regarding specific impairments, rather than the much harder job of re-considering quite a bit more of any given state's motor vehichle statutes.

mconlonx

No. More people here are upset that she might have been drunk, and that she was still out driving after a DUI arrest 4 years prior which did not involve injury or death.

Coal Buster

Most people here already assume that she was drunk as the title of the thread states.

The bar for driving under the influence has been so lowered, .08, that you can't ban everyone from driving after a DUI. I do know that my wife tells me that people routinely come to the court loaded to pay their DUI fines.

Athens80

And it might be useful for the thread title to be edited. The driver had a 2010 arrest for DUI, and left the scene of this 2014 fatal collision. Looking at the reporting in the Baltimore Sun I don't yet see a report of drunk driving in this incident. The thread title goes beyond the evidence released by the authorities so far.

vol

Thanks for sharing your experience and lesson. Hope you are fully recovered with no long term effect. We need a thread for something like that--what to do immediately after injury while conscious.

Agree.

bicyclelove

This. Pretty much any other "accident" is really avoidable.

Chris516

Don't wait for it to come out in the newspaper, or on the local news.

Go to this website: Maryland Judiciary Case Search

That will show the court activity before the media will. Use these details

First Name: Heather
Middle Name: Elizabeth
Last Name: Cook

Date Range: 1/1/2010-1/1/2015

Change the end date accordingly.

Chris516

Still no charges have been filed.

rydabent

chris

You mean to tell us that a cyclist was killed in a hit and run, and still no charges have been filed? Incredible!!!!

When a death occurs when are cars going to be in the same classification as any other weapon?

howsteepisit

Seems like something strange going on there, unless they have decided that her returning to the scene later cancels the run part, but even old softy me cannot believe that. But the lack of charges seem to indicate that DUI was not a cause. Or maybe the authorities are making sure they have a air-tight case before filing charges. But it would seem that for the closure of the family something needs to be said. also could be waiting for blood test results.

ModeratedUser150120149

Not strange at all. Pretty common for law enforcement, unlike internet gossip sites, to take time to get all the facts before taking action. Actually, there is no hurry as long as the delay isn't excessive as defined by their laws there. From the media article there just aren't enough facts to show she had any more liability than failing to promptly render aid. It will be interesting to see what actually happens after the investigation is complete.

Then, maybe, folks can get out their buckets of tar and bales of feathers.

B. Carfree

What!? And leave the torches and pitchforks at home?

Chris516

Annotated Code of Maryland
Copyright © 2014 by Matthew Bender and Company, Inc., a member of the LexisNexis Group
All rights reserved.

*** Statutes current through 2014 legislation ***

CRIMINAL LAW
TITLE 2. HOMICIDE
SUBTITLE 2. MURDER AND MANSLAUGHTER

Md. CRIMINAL LAW Code Ann. § 2-209 (2014)

§ 2-209. Manslaughter by vehicle or vessel -- Gross negligence


(a) "Vehicle" defined. -- In this section, "vehicle" includes a motor vehicle, streetcar, locomotive, engine, and train.

(b) Prohibited. -- A person may not cause the death of another as a result of the person's driving, operating, or controlling a vehicle or vessel in a grossly negligent manner.

(c) Name of crime. -- A violation of this section is manslaughter by vehicle or vessel.

(d) Penalty. -- A person who violates this section is guilty of a felony and on conviction is subject to imprisonment not exceeding 10 years or a fine not exceeding $ 5,000 or both.

(e) Charging document. --

(1) An indictment or other charging document for manslaughter by vehicle or vessel is sufficient if it substantially states:

"(name of defendant) on (date) in (county) killed (name of victim) in a grossly negligent manner against the peace, government, and dignity of the State.".

(2) An indictment or other charging document for manslaughter by vehicle or vessel need not set forth the manner or means of death.

HISTORY: An. Code 1957, art. 27, § 388; 2002, ch. 26, § 2.


Annotated Code of Maryland
Copyright © 2014 by Matthew Bender and Company, Inc., a member of the LexisNexis Group
All rights reserved.

*** Statutes current through 2014 legislation ***

CRIMINAL LAW
TITLE 2. HOMICIDE
SUBTITLE 2. MURDER AND MANSLAUGHTER

Md. CRIMINAL LAW Code Ann. § 2-210 (2014)

§ 2-210. Manslaughter by vehicle or vessel -- Criminal negligence


(a) "Vehicle" defined. -- In this section, "vehicle" includes a motor vehicle, streetcar, locomotive, engine, and train.

(b) Prohibited. -- A person may not cause the death of another as the result of the person's driving, operating, or controlling a vehicle or vessel in a criminally negligent manner.

(c) Criminal negligence. -- For purposes of this section, a person acts in a criminally negligent manner with respect to a result or a circumstance when:

(1) the person should be aware, but fails to perceive, that the person's conduct creates a substantial and unjustifiable risk that such a result will occur; and

(2) the failure to perceive constitutes a gross deviation from the standard of care that would be exercised by a reasonable person.

(d) Exception. -- It is not a violation of this section for a person to cause the death of another as the result of the person's driving, operating, or controlling a vehicle or vessel in a negligent manner.

(e) Violation. -- A violation of this section is criminally negligent manslaughter by vehicle or vessel.

(f) Penalty. -- A person who violates this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and on conviction is subject to imprisonment not exceeding 3 years or a fine not exceeding $ 5,000 or both.

HISTORY: 2011, ch. 334.

FarHorizon

So "criminally negligent manslaughter by vehicle" is a misdemeanor! WHAT'S WRONG WITH THIS!!!

Chris516

ditto!!!

jhazel

The difference in the level of the charges is one reason that charges are not filed until the police have all the facts in an orderly framework. You want to charge the most serious crime you can prove. They are working on that.

rydabent

Some times people are not charged right away, but it is usually in a case where the person is sent to the hospital and might die. If charged too soon with a lesser charge, and then the person dies, it it hard to get the charge changed.
But in this case the cyclist is dead, and should be charged with motor vehicle homicide.

howsteepisit

would seem unfair to charge a dead cyclist with vehicular homicide. Maybe charge the driver instead.

rydabent

howsteep

Maybe poor choice of words on my part. I mean the driver should be jailed and charged.

mconlonx

Oddly, because they are strictly defining what constitutes a vehicle here, and because it specifically does not include bicycles, it appears that one could kill another while riding a bicycle negligently and not face such charges...

Nothing?

Number400

Picking up and posting any new news articles that pop up. This one has a few more details from the scene that I did not see on earlier articles.
Church: Md. bishop who left scene of fatal crash was 'in shock' - Baltimore Sun

achoo

"In shock" my ass.

"Three sheets to the wind", more likely.

achoo

Another article here:

Police Building Criminal Case Against Bishop Heather Cook for Fatal Hit-And-Run; Church Says Her Fate Is Out of Their Hands

I don't think it's been linked yet in this thread.