hammond9705

https://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lano...ling-case.html

Biker395 

I'm not surprised at all at the verdict. The sentencing will be interesting, though.

Personally, I'd like to top off whatever he gets for a sentence with a requirement that HE ride a bike enough to get himself honked at, cussed at, and buzzed by bullying motorists like himself.

DiabloScott

He was convicted of the following:
2 counts of Assault with a Deadly Weapon (245a)
2 counts of Battery with Serious Bodily Injury (243d) reckless driving (23103a) Reckless driving causing specified injury (23105a)
Mayhem (203)

The first five charges are felonies, the judge would not release him on bail so he goes to jail for the moment.

I just want to see him in a poopie-suit and shackles at the sentencing. Haven't seen any photos at all yet.

fast

Force him to race to get at least Category 3.

Biker395 

^ LOL! He'd have to lose some of that pudge.

BikeWNC

He should have to surrender his driver's license in addition to any other sentence imposed.

Cleave

Hi,

The Mrs. predicted correctly. BTW, the mayhem charge is pretty significant (mandatory jail time).

333foto

Sweet sweet justice.

DScott

What exactly is "mayhem"? That he deliberately tried to mess someone up?

rpeterson

Mayhem is intentionally causing gross harm, violently rendering the person useless. Basically the same as aggravated assault most places.

Barese Rider

Wow ! This guy is in jail and it looks like hes going to be there for some time. Good for a LA jury!

Kurt Erlenbach

Believe it or not, the system actually works most of the time.

patentcad

About friggin time. Good grief, if that ahole doesn't get serious time for that, it's open season on two wheelers. Well, it already is open season on bikes of all kinds, but still.

patentcad

I disagree completely, when it comes to bicyclists and motorcyclists killed by motorists, it's a joke. A total friggin joke.

pharding

It is about time that cyclists receive some legal protection. All that cyclists have for protection from cars is a helmet and a handful of lightweight fabric.

patentcad

Pharding knows this from painful personal experience.

zac

Mayhem in some instances can be a predicate offense to aggravated assault, in that they can share some elements (intent to maim, for instance), (in that respect, mayhem can be, but is not necessarily an LIO of AA), but more generally they are not the same thing.

Mayhem is typically any willful malicious act (or an act with wanton indifference) that causes permanent disfigurement, loss of limb, or major body function. For instance biting an ear off, or cutting off a finger (or tip of finger) or causing someone to lose an eye, or permanent serious disfigurement. In this case, the severed nose and the severe facial scarring would have been an element for mayhem, while the loss of a couple of teeth would not.

Aggravated assault is typically an assault or battery with a deadly weapon and with an intent to kill, **** or maim.

So while using a gun to unlawfully shoot someone can be an aggravated assault, it is not mayhem unless you shot off their ear or took out an eye for instance. Aggravated assault is generally considered a more serious offense because the actor intends to cause the serous injury or commit the ****/murder.

petalpower

LOL

From another forum I frequent in which we were discussing the story:

They should make him ride a century on a Huffy 10 speed on the autobahn at night while it's snowing wearing all black

tsohg

Thanks for the update. Hope he sees serious hard time.

spry

Time for the civil trial to cash in on this Monster of Mandeville Canyon.$$$$

Hopefully this president will fall into other state hearings.
Any barristers in BF have an opinion on that point?

Biker395 

^ Hehe ... even better.

The word that comes to mind with this guy is ARROGANCE. Arrogance in the way he drives, arrogance in the way he responded at the scene, and arrogance in the way he tried to float outrageous lies in court.

Arrogance has its price. I can't think of a better guy to pay it.

In law school, they teach you never to make arguments that don't "pass the straight face test." This guy violated that rule. We'll see about how the judge sentences him, but I think some of those BS lies may come back to haunt the good doctor.

Cleave

It turns out that my wife thinks there is mandatory jail time but she is not sure.

I found this reference on the California Penal Code on the definition of mayhem:

https://law.justia.com/california/cod...203-206.1.html

It looks like Section 203 pretty well describes what happened to Ron Peterson.

zac

I am assuming you mean what precedent this will have on any other California court cases not related to this one? None. This is a trial level court, not an appellate court. This verdict has no precedential effect.

As to how this will affect any future civil proceeding, that depends. The convictions will certainly aid the cyclists in proving causation and damages, as generally convictions of crimes are usable in related civil matters. That being said, I am not sure how California law handles this, nor am I sure whether or not the defendant would be estopped from raising any new defenses or re-litigating any previous issues (as he has no obligation in the criminal trial to defend himself).

Lastly, now this can be somewhat a double edged sword. The criminal convictions establish that the ∆ acted intentionally and willfully. Because of this, it can be grounds for his auto and umbrella (if he has one) insurers to deny coverage. This means he is paying his own freight both for a civil defense attorney and for any potential damage award. I am assuming he has assets, and I am assuming they are already attached by the cyclists. Note also, that willful and malicious acts are generally not dischargeable in bankruptcy proceedings, so this is something that could economically crush him for the rest of his life.

HTH
zac

jmpsmash

i wonder how many appeals will there be.

Rumpled

This story led off the Channel 7 news in Los Angeles. They mentioned he was remanded as a flight risk and could face up to 10 years.
I think he'll get 6-8; anything less than 5 is a travesty for the multiple felonies.