So, Jim, this jury I was on...

[Doktor Howl]

That sucks, no witnesses as far as the intoxicated driver goes, huh?

None.  This was a classic example of horrible, horrible things happening to really good people for no reason whatsoever.

[Doktor Howl]

They did their job.  
Sucks for the family, but those officers weren't the ones who got drunk and drove over 100.

Cop:  110 MPH, not involved in accident.
Drunken Maniac:  97 MPH, no attempt to brake.

Personally, I suspect he wanted to kill himself, and chose a very selfish way to do it.

[Shibboleet The Annihilator]

They could check his credit cards for recent transactions and inspect his car for receipts or other items from local bars in addition to canvassing the bars in the area with a photo of the man to determine where he came from. It's probably too late to do any of this though. If you can contact the woman maybe she can get her lawyer to subpoena this stuff.

Horrible story but unfortunately this shit happens all the time.

[Doktor Howl]

They could check his credit cards for recent transactions and inspect his car for receipts or other items from local bars in addition to canvassing the bars in the area with a photo of the man to determine where he came from. It's probably too late to do any of this though. If you can contact the woman maybe she can get her lawyer to subpoena this stuff.

Horrible story but unfortunately this shit happens all the time.

Yeah, and I had to sit on that jury.  I felt ill the whole time.

[BADGE OF HONOR]

It's possible he was drinking at home.  Then what, sue the liquor store he got his booze from?

[Shibboleet The Annihilator]

They could be charged, IIRC it's illegal for a store to sell alcohol to someone who is obviously drunk.

[Doktor Howl]

They could be charged, IIRC it's illegal for a store to sell alcohol to someone who is obviously drunk.

Supposing he was drunk when he bought it.

[LMNO]

You know, this is showing me another angle why I don't like the death penalty.

What I mean to say is, if the guy lived, and was competent to stand trial, and was convicted, and (for whatever hypothetical) was executed, I would presume that the victim's family would have some sense of closure.

But the guy is dead.  It's like God saw the accident coming, said, "Guilty", and capped his ass. But I get the sense that the family still feels helpless, hopeless, and fucked.  So it's not the death that makes people feel better.  

But it has to be more than just the ritual of a trial.  

So, maybe it's making the perp realize and admit to his guilt, and to have to live with it.  I dunno.  I haven't come to a conclusion on this yet.


Dok, if the above is a threadjack, split it.

[Doktor Howl]

It's not a threadjack, but I disagree.  The ritual of the trial seems - to me - to be what they wanted.  To hear that the sole person at fault was the drunk, and that their daughter did nothing wrong, seemed to have an effect on the mother.  I am not sure of this, though.

When I heard the synopsis of the case at the beginning, I really, really wanted to get off that jury.  But you can't really do that, not if you spend all day laughing at complacent primates who want the benefits of civilization without having to perform the unpleasant, vitally necessary duties that make that civilization possible.  But now I feel rotten and depressed.

[P3nT4gR4m]

This is why I'm kinda funny with the whole issue of criminal justice. Sometimes bad shit just happens and there really nothing you can do to fix it. Whether the guy had lived and gone to jail and eventually repented and set up a charity drop in center for homeless kids or whatever ... the woman is still brain damaged. Is there any way to make up for that? I'm not for a minute suggesting that had the driver lived there'd be no point in punishing him, I'm just not sure if it would make anything better.

[Doktor Howl]

This is why I'm kinda funny with the whole issue of criminal justice. Sometimes bad shit just happens and there really nothing you can do to fix it. Whether the guy had lived and gone to jail and eventually repented and set up a charity drop in center for homeless kids or whatever ... the woman is still brain damaged. Is there any way to make up for that? I'm not for a minute suggesting that had the driver lived there'd be no point in punishing him, I'm just not sure if it would make anything better.

No, but there is a way to make sure she gets proper therapy so that she progresses rather than regresses. 

And the punishment isn't to make things right.  It's to punish a person for doing something wrong.  Whether it be rehabilitative or as a deterrent, there must be an accounting.  In this case, the criminal involved escaped by being crushed to death.

[Richter]

Whole situation = "Well, Shit."

[Doktor Howl]

Whole situation = "Well, Shit."

That's about it.  It's nice to know I still have a sense of outrage, though.

[P3nT4gR4m]

I'm not sure I agree that being crushed to death is escaping but I'm pretty sure it's a personal opinion - I aint going to argue the toss. Just hope you don't lose too much sleep over the whole thing - sounds like a shit couple of days.

[Doktor Howl]

I'm not sure I agree that being crushed to death is escaping but I'm pretty sure it's a personal opinion - I aint going to argue the toss. Just hope you don't lose too much sleep over the whole thing - sounds like a shit couple of days.

It was 6 days of tedious misery.  I haven't lost any sleep, but that may simply be because I bludgeon myself to sleep with drugs every night.