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[YoungHav]

Oh the horror, how can you post such a terribly depressing story? I come on the internet to escape the cruel reality of being a college student. I wish threads like these would just go away.

 

[q_q]

I think that article was written poorly - i don't think the victim's mom was charged the 36 months but the drunk driver...

I am guessing the mom didn't take a plea bargain, right?

Edit: Oh, she hasn't been given a sentence yet? God damn media.

The article didn't say she got 36 months, the OP did. Blame him.

 

[xxracerxx]

To the people saying they would never cross the road there. How else are you supposed to get across a country road with no crosswalks or lights? Especially if a bus drops you off there?

 

[HomerSimpson-Man]

6 months for vehicular manslaughter with a history of hit and runs but 36 months for jaywalking.

What the hell is this?!

 

[Deified Data]

Let's not ignore the fact that he hit the child with his car and left the scene .. Let's also not ignore the fact that he had two previous hit and runs the same day.

I do somewhat agree with you that she should have been more careful with the kids but this was a hit and run.

Recall that I in no way believe justice was served as far as the driver was concerned. He was driving while impaired, and deserves so much worse than he got. But, that seems to be a given on this thread. No one's saying the mom's more guilty than the driver. I'm not saying that they even deserve the same sentence - the mom 36mo, the driver 10 years, perhaps.

All I'm saying is that I used to live on a country road, and the sound of a car approaching my house from half a mile a way would keep me up at night. I grabbed my mail every morning from a mail box on the opposite side of the road, and managed not to get hit because I stopped, looked both ways, and listened for traffic. If I see a car approaching in the distance, I can wait the 5 seconds it takes for it to pass me.

 

[ultron87]

You dont have depth perception. You need two eyes for that.

It's legal to drive in Georgia with just one eye, though restrictions can be imposed.

 

[Devolution]

To the people saying they would never cross the road there. How else are you supposed to get across a country road with no crosswalks or lights? Especially if a bus drops you off there?

Caution and common sense obviously.

 

[SolKane]

Not sure why charges are being pressed against this woman if the driver was already convicted and sentenced, and why they're seeking felony homicide charges against a pedestrian. If anything we should consider the municipality at fault (in addition to the driver) for failing to provide safe infrastructure for pedestrians. Confusing article.

 

[Deified Data]

Also, I lvoe the blame the victim theme. Keep it going guys. Maybe she should have aborted because shes not fit to have children? God forbid a mother with 3 kids try and cross a road.

No one's "blaming the victim", at least not at the expense of blaming the drunk driver. The "victim's" to blame because she wasn't keeping a tight hold of her kids in a perilous situation. It sucks that her kid got hit, truly, but two dominant factors converged to make this happen: a man decided to drive drunk on that one road, and a mom decided that a (busy or not) roadside was the best place to take her kids. While the drunk driver should rightly be more criminally responsible for this, objectively? The blame is pretty even for me. I don't like kids, and so cannot comprehend how she's feeling right now, but I think her conscience is all the punishment she really needs.

Also: I would not suggest she hop, skip, fly, or jump across the road. I would merely suggest she wait for a period when the road is devoid of traffic to lead her family to the other side. She alone decides how cautious she wants to be with what she holds dear.

 

[sajj316]

Recall that I in no way believe justice was served as far as the driver was concerned. He was driving while impaired, and deserves so much worse than he got. But, that seems to be a given on this thread. No one's saying the mom's more guilty than the driver. I'm not saying that they even deserve the same sentence - the mom 36mo, the driver 10 years, perhaps.

All I'm saying is that I used to live on a country road, and the sound of a car approaching my house from half a mile a way would keep me up at night. I grabbed my mail every morning from a mail box on the opposite side of the road, and managed not to get hit because I stopped, looked both ways, and listened for traffic. If I see a car approaching in the distance, I can wait the 5 seconds it takes for it to pass me.

I agree with the 36 months - 10 years sentence ...

 

[Frankenstrat]

6 months for vehicular manslaughter with a history of hit and runs but 36 months for jaywalking.

What the hell is this?!

a load of crap is what I call it

 

[Pandaman]

Also, I lvoe the blame the victim theme. Keep it going guys.

i dont see anyone blaming the kid.

 

[YoungHav]

To the people saying they would never cross the road there. How else are you supposed to get across a country road with no crosswalks or lights? Especially if a bus drops you off there?

LOL don't pay them any mind. Puritan, the law is the law-GAF are simply here to be laughed at.

 

[The Faceless Master]

seriously, most of these country roads in GA have no crosswalks period. i can't speak for that specific road, but it's really nothing like a big city with crosswalks every 1/8th of a mile. they don't have sidewalks either.

 

[jamesinclair]

The "victim's" to blame because she wasn't keeping a tight hold of her kids in a perilous situation.

mom decided that a (busy or not) roadside was the best place to take her kids. .

Once again, you're suggesting that a mother is to blame FOR CROSSING A STREET!

In what kind of rational society is getting off the bus and crossing the street supposed to be a "perilous situation"?

Again, this was an intersection! EVERY other state legally gives the pedestrian the right of way at ANY intersection, regardless of the status of white lines on the pavement.

I wonder why Georgia makes it so pedestrians cannot legally cross the road at intersections?

Wouldn't have anything to do with a certain minority group being less likely to own cars, would it?

 

[Utako]

Wouldn't have anything to do with a certain minority group being less likely to own cars, would it?

Waitwaitwait

Georgia legislators are trying to kill black people via traffic laws?

WHAT?

 

[Cereal KiIIer]

I cannot wait to see a majority of black people in the US. It will be soooo good to watch them reverse the situation.

 

[Count Dookkake]

I cannot wait to see a majority of black people in the US. It will be soooo good to watch them reverse the situation.

Uh, that's not gonna happen.

 

[jamesinclair]

Waitwaitwait

Georgia legislators are trying to kill black people via traffic laws?

WHAT?

No, not trying to kill people, but you're surely aware of many laws that target certain groups right?

Again, Goergia is the only state that REQUIRES pedestrians to cross at marked intersections. No other state does this. Most states allow pedestrians to:

Cross at any intersection, because the definition of crosswalk is the extension of the sidewalk, regardless of white lines. In almost every state, this woman would have been crossing legally.
or
If intersections are more than x feet apart, pedestrians can legally cross at any point (again, probably would have made it legal to cross here even if it wasnt an intersection, because no crosswalk was in sight)
or
If intersections lack traffic signals, pedestrians can legally cross at any point.


Putting this ridiculous limitation accomplished two things:

It allows communities to put up "walls" against those "unlikeable" types that don't own cars. The wall is as simple as not drawing white lines. This is a fact. Notice why almost no community built in the 1950s had sidewalks? It was to keep those "urban" (minority) types OUT. Only car owners (wealthier, whiter) types could access the neighborhood.

And it allows police to stop, question and potentially detain pedestrians for the heinous crime of crossing the street outside of a marked crosswalk. And again, who is more likely to be crossing the street on foot? Those without cars.

 

[Forever]

I cannot wait to see a majority of black people in the US. It will be soooo good to watch them reverse the situation.

You'll be waiting a long time.

 

[distantmantra]

I come on the internet to escape the cruel reality of being a college student.

You're funny.

 

[xxracerxx]

I cannot wait to see a majority of black people in the US. It will be soooo good to watch them reverse the situation.

Pardon?

 

[Forever]

You're funny.

Yeah I'm pretty sure that college is the best time of life. You don't quite have the responsibilities of adulthood but you have freedom lacking in childhood.

 

[Plywood]

I cannot wait to see a majority of black people in the US. It will be soooo good to watch them reverse the situation.

Hispanics are actually the largest and still growing minority.

 

[Javaman]

http://www.myfoxatlanta.com/dpp/news/Accused-Hit-and-Run-Driver-Due-in-Court-041110

The scene with the fire department hosing off the road is so depressing.

 

[Darkmakaimura]

That pretty much sums up how I feel.

 

[DrForester]

Update: No Jail

http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2011/07/27/jaywalking-georgia-mom-spared-prison-time/?mod=google_news_blog

A few we backs we noted the sad case of Raquel Nelson, a 30-year-old Georgia woman, who faced prison time after her 4-year-old son was struck and killed by a motorist while the kid was crossing a street.

Nelson’s alleged offense: Jaywalking. She was convicted of “homicide by vehicle” earlier this month because her son was struck while the two were crossing a street outside of a crosswalk.

Nelson yesterday was spared jail time, when Georgia state judge Katherine Tanksley sentenced her to community service and 12 months probation. (Here are reports from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and MSNBC.)

We don’t know if it played any role in the sentencing, but the organization Change.org, which bills itself as an online platform for change, is boasting that it presented Nelson’s counsel with the signature of more than 140,000 people who joined the group’s online campaign to clear Nelson of charges. Here’s a report from the group about the campaign.

Prosecutors in the case had recommended that Nelson receive a sentence of probation. “The state never thought this defendant deserved jail time,” prosecutor AnnaMarie Baltz told the judge yesterday, according to the Journal-Constitution.

But Nelson, it appears, is not completely satisfied with her sentence. David Savoy, her lawyer, told the Journal-Constitution that she would seek a new trial to try to win a full aquittal. (The Law Blog has sought comment from Savoy.)

“The purpose of punishment is for a person to pay their debt to society,” Georgia resident Beverly Ward told the Journal-Constitution. Nelson’s “debt is paid.

 

[Dead Man]

Update: No Jail

http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2011/07/27/jaywalking-georgia-mom-spared-prison-time/?mod=google_news_blog

That's better... but still ridiculous that she was charged, let alone convicted.

 

[ThoseDeafMutes]

Wait, did we just have a thread full of outrage over the theoretical maximum sentence she could have received for this assuming the judge gave her that, but that the judge did not in the end?

Fuck, legal case reporting is as bad/worse than science reporting.

 

[Dead Man]

Wait, did we just have a thread full of outrage over the theoretical maximum sentence she could have received for this assuming the judge gave her that, but that the judge did not in the end?

Fuck, legal case reporting is as bad/worse than science reporting.

It's bad, but a fair portion of the outrage was over the conviction.

 

[David Incorporated Esq.]

Just wanted to say it's entirely possible the mother was grossly reckless in deciding when to cross the street. More than once I've had to slam on the brakes to not kill someone crossing the street who had more balls than brains. I would imagine this was the case if they actually convicted her.

I remember a place down south of Atlanta where there was some cheap housing across the street from a convenience store and I often saw people running across the 4-lane road instead of waiting for the light (there was a crosswalk).

Then one day I was driving down that road and drove over bits of a person--on the side of the rod was half a man with a dozen people around him.

People can cry "Don't blame the victim," but if someone runs out in the road and gets nailed by a car either it's the driver's fault or the pedestrian's. And if you drag a kid out with you as you run across the road at a poor time...well...I don't see how their death would not be your fault.

But this is speculation, we don't know the details of the accident at all.

 

[Biff]

Glad to hear she didn't get jail time, but community service is bullshit especially when her family will be coping with the loss of her son over the next year... Yeah I'm sure I want to serve homeless people chicken soup while I fight back tears thinking about my dead son.

On another note, what is up with the surge in GAF threads having ridiculous titles? It's almost like GAF Gold is real, and to get there, you need to get as many thread views as possible...

Article: 'Man gets ticket for parking near fire hydrant.'
Thread: 'COP CHARGES GUY WITH DANGER TO SOCIETY BY PARKING CAR. WTF GET IN HERE EVERYONEEEEE'
First 20 posts: 'FUCK PIGS FUCK AMERICA I WANT OFF THIS IS DISGUSTING'

 

[jamesinclair]

UPDATE

Drunk and high half-blind murderer gets 6 months. Now free.

Mother (black), choosing to commit the crime of crossing the road where the county has located the bus stop, still looking at a year to three years thanks to all white jury and then appeals court.

Even hand of the law indeed.

The impaired hit-and-run driver who struck and killed her son on a metro Atlanta road in 2010 has been released from prison by now, but Raquel Nelson is still being prosecuted for her purported role in the tragedy.

The single mother of three was injured trying to prevent the collision that killed four-year-old A.J. Newman. That didn’t stop an all white jury from convicting the African-American woman of vehicular homicide last year. Prosecutors brought charges on the grounds that Nelson and her children were not in a crosswalk, though the suburban arterial that separated her apartment complex from a bus stop had no crossing nearby.

Nelson faced three years, while driver Jerry Guy, who has glaucoma and admitted to drinking and taking pain killers before the crash, was sentenced to just six months. After the trial attracted national media attention, a Cobb County judge offered Nelson a reduced sentence of one-year probation or a retrial.

Wanting to clear her name, Nelson chose a retrial. She has since teamed up with high-profile Atlanta defense lawyer Steve Sadow, who took on the case pro bono. Sadow asked an appellate court to throw out the conviction for lack of evidence. But late last month the Georgia Court of Appeals upheld the decision, according to legal website Law.com. “[We] conclude that the evidence presented at trial was sufficient to support the jury’s guilty verdict,” wrote Judges Charles B. Mikell, M. Yvette Miller and William M. Ray II.

The court cited a state law which “says that any person who causes the death of another, without an intention to do so, by violating traffic laws commits the offense of homicide by vehicle in the second degree,” according to Law.com. Sadow argued that the driver of the vehicle, not Nelson, caused A.J.’s death.

“While we have the greatest sympathy for [Nelson's] plight, this court must interpret the law and apply it with an even hand; the appellate process affords us no latitude to make adjustments for the ill-earned good fortune of the lucky, or as in this case, the heart-rending misfortune of the unlucky,” the judges said.

Cobb County Solicitor General Barry Morgan has said he will continue to prosecute Nelson. In a brief filed with the Court of Appeals, Morgan wrote: ”When a pedestrian chooses to cross a divided highway … outside the protection of a crosswalk, she risks her own safety [as] well as the safety of those with her.”

http://dc.streetsblog.org/2012/09/11/georgia-prosecutor-continues-case-against-raquel-nelson/

 

[steelcity]

UPDATE

Drunk and high half-blind murderer gets 6 months. Now free.

Mother (black), choosing to commit the crime of crossing the road where the county has located the bus stop, still looking at a year to three years thanks to all white jury and then appeals court.

Even hand of the law indeed.



http://dc.streetsblog.org/2012/09/11/georgia-prosecutor-continues-case-against-raquel-nelson/

Disgusting