261 replies to this topic

[cw68]

I absolutely agree with everything said in earlier posts and believe that your view to not look outside of the box on this is a huge part of the flawed judicial system...also the fact that it is proven that incarceration is not the best way in which to effectively change people only prevent the truely incapable of further harming the innocent...it's a day care for adults with absolutely no other value than containment...and YES I do think a purposefully distracted driver is the exact same...the problem is you don't see so...even when the outcome is exactly the same and often times it is the distracted driver that feels no remorse "cause it was an accident"...I don't understand how talking on your cellphone while driving is an accident...seems pretty well thought out and malicious to me>>>>>

Well, one big difference is that going 90mph on Iron Point breaks a law, but talking on your phone while driving does not. One is a willful disregard for the laws and another is a judgment call.

[ChipShot]

Tired of the excuses. Tired of the nonsense. Tired of the bloodshed. If we don't bring the hammer down on these animals, it will continue. It's time, folks. It's time.

[camay2327]

Tired of the excuses. Tired of the nonsense. Tired of the bloodshed. If we don't bring the hammer down on these animals, it will continue. It's time, folks. It's time.

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I agree 100%....

[Robert Giacometti]

I wonder why these 17 1/2 year olds were never tried as adults instead of juveniles?

If they were tried as adults there would have to be a jury trial. 12 jurors would have to agree they were guilty before they could be convicted. The defense would bring in their own experts and challenge the officers report as to how fast they were going.

I had the opportunity to talk with someone who has been looking at traffic accidents for almost 34 years and has estimated he has reviewed over 100,000 accidents. He was very emphatic that there was no way the car was going 90 mph and that the impact was significantly less than 70 mph. He said, If the impact was 70 mph, the car would have crumpled and the engine would have been pushed into the front seat probably killing both occupants.

When I go around that curve at 45 mph, I have to take my foot off the gas. I can't imagine 2 cars racing side by side going around that curve at 90 mph. Again, how did the second car manage to change lanes going 90 mph to avoid the accident and not loose control and amazingly NOT leave any tire/skid marks?

Just because we are told Iraq has Weapons of Mass Destruction doesn't make it a fact that they do!

If there was a jury trial all these issues would have been questioned thoroughly and the jurors would be somewhat unsure, but in this case there won't be a jury trial only a judge to decide. Maybe this is really the best possible resolution to this tragedy. The kids were speeding and that speeding contributed to her death. Sadly she pulled out in front of 2 speeding cars and it cost her, her life. None of us would probably pull out across 2 lanes of traffic if we saw 2 cars coming towards us that were 166 feet away, so I still suspect for whatever reason we will never know, the victim never saw the cars coming.

The defense could bring in experts to argue the boys weren't going as fast as the police claim, but they were still speeding, so they are guilty and the Judge knows this. I understand why the defense is willing to plead guilty and ask the judge for consideration during sentencing.

Typically, when a tragedy like this occurs the case is judged more in the court of public opinion, rather than the court of law, so now we are seeing the defense's turn in the court of public opinion, with their letters of apology and character references.

We all want justice but what is justice in this case based upon the facts and not the emotions and biased public statements we have heard from some? My thinking on the sentencing should be a combination of penalty for the boys and some action they have to preform that could possibly prevent this from occuring again with other teens.

If the boys could somehow share their story in a way to prevent others from doing this and its save lives, maybe in some small tragic way the victim who was a teacher, could have her legacy of teaching others could live on and be honored.

This is a tragedy and reminds all of us how frail life really is and this may be what troubles all of us more than anything!

[Steve Heard]

I had the opportunity to talk with someone who has been looking at traffic accidents for almost 34 years... He was very emphatic that there was no way the car was going 90 mph and that the impact was significantly less than 70 mph.

Sadly she pulled out in front of 2 speeding cars and it cost her, her life. None of us would probably pull out across 2 lanes of traffic if we saw 2 cars coming towards us that were 166 feet away, so I still suspect for whatever reason we will never know, the victim never saw the cars coming.

um, because they came at her at 90mph.

[Andrea V]

um, because they came at her at 90mph.

And it is a blind corner.... very hard to see coming out of that parking lot!

[banana]

Anyone ever heard the phrase "GROSS VEHICULAR MANSLAUGTHER" ??????? That's what these punks should be facing...and that comes with a nice little prison term, and not a slap on the wrist. A jury would no-doubt convict them in a heartbeat. Too bad our D.A. Jan Scully is so gutless.

Thank the liberals for giving more rights to criminals then to regular citizens and fighting for them so vigorously to ensure they don't get punished too hard. Gosh, all those boys did was kill a person, why be so mean to them? (that was sarcasm for those who don't get it)

[banana]

And it is a blind corner.... very hard to see coming out of that parking lot!

So that makes it ok for them to have broken the law, and killed a person? You libs slay me with your desires to make sure criminals aren't punished for their crimes

[ChipShot]

So that makes it ok for them to have broken the law, and killed a person? You libs slay me with your desires to make sure criminals aren't punished for their crimes

Amen. It makes you hope, in a way, that violent crime pays them a visit at some point...then we'll see how they feel.

[cw68]

So that makes it ok for them to have broken the law, and killed a person? You libs slay me with your desires to make sure criminals aren't punished for their crimes

Don't make such blanket statements. I'm a lib and I want to make sure criminals are punished for their crimes. However, I would like to rehabilitate them too so they don't commit more crimes and tax our system even more.

[Steve Heard]

Thank the liberals for giving more rights to criminals then to regular citizens and fighting for them so vigorously to ensure they don't get punished too hard. Gosh, all those boys did was kill a person, why be so mean to them? (that was sarcasm for those who don't get it)

I don't think it's liberals. Often, it's often the wealthy parents who hire lawyers to get kids out of trouble.

Sometimes, we find people who aren't even connected to the case defending them by saying "Don't send them to jail, they have such promising futures!"

[Family Friend]

As some of you know, One of my friends is a Folsom PD Motor Officer. I remember after the crash the Police took a lot of hits and some people questioned their ability to investigate something like this. I remember "family friend" telling us that there was no way the kids were driving reckless and that the truth would come out at the end. Well, the truth came out and most will never hear it because the facts now say what the kids did not want to admit. My friend tells me the CHP MAIT report was incredible, the "icing on the cake". I guess it shows the Stealth was going almost 90 MPH when he hit his brakes, and about 70 when he hit McNew. That report along with the security video and the rest of Folsom's report, forced the hand of the Lawyers to plead out.......Good Job FPD and CHP!

I still have a lot of questions about how the FPD has handled this case.

In the first interview with the police the boys said they were speeding.
The first night on the news one of the moms said the boys were speeding.
I came online here and said we will not deny that the boys were speeding.

Now after an 8 month investigation the only charge left is one charge of manslaughter caused by speeding and the boys will plead guilty. All of the other charges that the FPD tried to place on the boys are being dropped by the DA after the CHP investigation.

What happened to all the other charges that the Folsom Police have alleged?

And if you read the article the DA is not offering any plea deals.

How much did it cost to run all these investigations for a guilty plea that the police had in the first hour after the accident?

Now if the FPD was so sure of their case why did the person using the name "idunno" come on this board to attack me? We have since learned that "idunno" is police officer Steve Knudsen.

The post he made on the public board were not bad, but I have 12 private messages from him that are complete police intimidation. I was told that "we know who you are" and if you don't stop posting on this board that my friends are going down.

At the time, I thought he was just some random nut case until the private messages started to be about the boys statements. He gave direct quotes from the kids and the witnesses from court sealed records. Why is he sending confidential information over the internet to random posters? At the very least this is a huge police leak.

How close am I to the truth if the police feel the need to shut me down and make me go away?

All the reports are in and next month the boys will be sentenced by a judge that has seen all the evidence. The boys lawyers have really had nothing to do so far in this case. The DA has chosen the venue and the charges. The boys have pleaded guilty without any plea bargain or deal.

Only one person will have the final say on their sentence. The sentence will be easy or hard based on how the judge views all the evidence.

Months ago on this board I talked about filing a complaint against the Folsom Police Department, but at that time I did not want to risk hurting the boys case further. It was very clear that the Department was going after the boys with everything that they had. After the boys hearing is finished I will be filing that report.

[banana]

Tired of the excuses. Tired of the nonsense. Tired of the bloodshed. If we don't bring the hammer down on these animals, it will continue. It's time, folks. It's time.

I too am tired of all the excuses. People seem to want to always find an excuse or reason for it to be ok for a criminal to commit a crime. Some posts here even blame the woman for pulling out into traffic! WTF? nobody should have to worry about cars going 90mph on that street!

Stop making excuses for these two boys who had no regard for human life and no regrets for their actions that resulted in an innocent persons death. They need to be punished more then just getting a slap on the hand. Stop defending criminals, start thinking about the husband and children of the deceased for a change.

[banana]

Sometimes, we find people who aren't even connected to the case defending them by saying "Don't send them to jail, they have such promising futures!"

Those people are liberals.

[supermom]

When I was a teen our school had a visitor speaker come to our school. It was a guy convicted of a DUI crash, and killing of innocent people from another vehicle. The guy was ordered by the judge to do community service by doing speeches with a MADD representative about the dangers of driving drunk. The guy had done more than half of his tour of speeches when he was standing in front of an auditorium of HS kids when it truly hit him what he was speaking to all these kids about. He said up till that point he was just reciting what he was told to say. He broke down and wept and begged for Gods mercy and that families-for forgiveness. The school auditorium was shocked into true silence.

So he said that at that point his life really was changed. He continued his speeches well past the judges sentence and became a true champion of anti-drinking and driving. He eventually split from MADD and went on to doing speeches specifically for HS aged crowds arcoss the country.

I remember his speech. Inspiring-motivating. It touched me deeply. I believe in giving kids a second chance--if they can be saved. The tough part is trying to figure out which kid deserves the break and which kid is already too broken to save. I donn't envy the police for an investigation that is undoubtedly going to be questioned every step of the way-by heartbroken family members of ALL the people involved. I don't envy the judge or the prosecutor or the defense lawyers--who are all looking at a bunch of grieving people and baby faced boys and a community shell schocked by the loss of a teacher of a class young school children.

But I do feel grateful that these kids aren't driving anymore. I do feel grateful that there was only one casualty and not more. I do feel grateful that in the wake of this terrible tragedy- the Folsom PD and the Folsom leg. has attempted to tighten speeding laws and such.

I just think that in a time and place that we are in (how many other cities have dealt with this?-and why has Folsom not learned from other cities painful lessons?)-I wonder--why did it take a death to get this street patrolled? After the fact, when so many other times, that street was a menace by teen drivers?

I can't say more patrolling would have stopped a death or even a terrible injury-but doesn't it seem Folsom was has knee jerk reacted rather than being proactive on these types of crimes?