Woman died in arms of injured husband after alleged drunk driving crash

[WhiteTiger]

I can't imagine what the husband is going through right now. Something like this always makes me wonder what I would do in that person's place. I can't imagine that there's any way that the drunk driver could be 'sorry' enough for me. =/

[MoneyGuy]

Why is Der a tool? I'm guessing it's because he defends successfully accused clients. I have no problem with that. Our legal system depends on a system that includes a good defense for everyone. Maybe the tools are the prosecutors who are unable to get a conviction.

[RougeUnderoos]

Originally Posted by gonzo29

Driving drunk at a speculated 180 km/h and killing someone deserves a murder charge IMO. This guy wouldn't get a second chance if it were up to me. On that subject, how long is he likely to spend behind bars if found guilty (seems like a slam-dunk).

Where is this 180 km/h speculation coming from? The only place I've seen it is in those (as usual) idiotic comments on the Herald page.

I don't think it makes a difference how fast this moron was going (regarding his guilt), but it seems unlikely to me that he t-boned an F150 going that fast and walked away.

[gonzo29]

I believe the speculation is coming from a global reporter who was at yesterday's court proceedings - that's where I saw it. I agree that it's hard to believe a small sedan could impact a pickup at that rate of speed with the driver surviving, but the fact that the truck came to rest 63 metres from the point of impact means the Mercedes must have been going extremely fast. I've been t-boned by a vehicle doing 60 km/h and my car probably slid 15 metres.

[TSXCman]

Originally Posted by Five-hole

Do you know the guy? Cuz I do, and he ain't a tool. Don't be an ass. I'm guessing you think all defense attorneys are slimy right?

I grew up with the Der family and don't think that they are bad people at all. This guy has a profession that exists whether he serves it or not. Being a defense lawyer shouldn't make you as bad as the people you represent. We live in a country with as fair legal representation as possible for all parties included.

[Vulcan]

Originally Posted by MoneyGuy

Why is Der a tool? I'm guessing it's because he defends successfully accused clients. I have no problem with that. Our legal system depends on a system that includes a good defense for everyone. Maybe the tools are the prosecutors who are unable to get a conviction.

Der's a tool because he attacks the victim with scenarios that only exist in his imagination. Recovering from his wife's death will only be the first part of the husband's torture.

[T@T]

Originally Posted by RougeUnderoos

Where is this 180 km/h speculation coming from? The only place I've seen it is in those (as usual) idiotic comments on the Herald page.

I don't think it makes a difference how fast this moron was going (regarding his guilt), but it seems unlikely to me that he t-boned an F150 going that fast and walked away.

There were witnesses saying "he went by us like we were stopped,must have been going well over 100 mph".

Second part doesn't surprise me at all, the shear speed allowed him to "go threw" the truck instead of hammering it and stopping on the spot, years ago I had a friend who hit a brand new telephone pole doing 130 mph in a cuda, he hit it dead center and snapped the thing like a twig, if he was doing even 80 he would have been hamburger.He walked away with a little forehead scratch and he wasn't even wearing a seatbelt.

Kinetics.

[T@T]

Originally Posted by TSXCman

I grew up with the Der family and don't think that they are bad people at all. This guy has a profession that exists whether he serves it or not. Being a defense lawyer shouldn't make you as bad as the people you represent. We live in a country with as fair legal representation as possible for all parties included.

I've met Der a few times, pleasant guy really...wouldn't want to be a prosecutor against him though...can be very ruthless and cold.

Thats his job

[Mean Mr. Mustard]

Originally Posted by T@T

There were witnesses saying "he went by us like we were stopped,must have been going well over 100 mph".

Second part doesn't surprise me at all, the shear speed allowed him to "go threw" the truck instead of hammering it and stopping on the spot, years ago I had a friend who hit a brand new telephone pole doing 130 mph in a cuda, he hit it dead center and snapped the thing like a twig, if he was doing even 80 he would have been hamburger.He walked away with a little forehead scratch and he wasn't even wearing a seatbelt.

Kinetics.

Someone more scientifically inclined will have to explain this to me - how can going faster result in less injuries and damages than going slower?

Edit: Your friend hit a telephone pole going 210 km an hour?

[Ducay]

This Ramandeep Singh Jaswal guy is a killer, plain and simple. I hope his life is ruined. I don't want to turn this into a legislation debate; but sh*t like this just reinforces the need for changes to our DUI laws & penalties.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by MoneyGuy

Why is Der a tool? I'm guessing it's because he defends successfully accused clients. I have no problem with that. Our legal system depends on a system that includes a good defense for everyone. Maybe the tools are the prosecutors who are unable to get a conviction.

I agree that it's a dirty job and somebody has to do it but it takes a special person to make a career of defending people that he/she knows are guilty of careless acts have led to innocent victims being injured and/or losing their lives. A good day for Der is a victim & family of victim's worst nightmare.

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by Ducay

This Ramandeep Singh Jaswal guy is a killer, plain and simple. I hope his life is ruined. I don't want to turn this into a legislation debate; but sh*t like this just reinforces the need for changes to our DUI laws & penalties.

Well thankfully our fearless provincial government stepped up big time and took away the rights of people who blow in the .05 to .079 range. That should stop things like this from happening.......or maybe just give them the ability to point to the new legislation and say "See look, we got tougher on drinking and driving and NO ONE can be anything but happy with us for that, unless you support drinking and driving!!!"

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

I agree that you can't call it murder because proving intent is impossible. But vehicular manslaughter charges definitely deserve to have much, much stiffer penalties.

Someone more in tune with the law can correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure there's no such thing as vehicular manslaughter in Canada. I think our equivelant is like careless driving causing death or something like that.

I know it sounds like splitting hairs, but one to me sounds worse, like you've actually murdered someone, where as the canadian equivelant sounds more close to the truth.....you drove dangerously and caused a death.

[T@T]

Originally Posted by Mean Mr. Mustard

Someone more scientifically inclined will have to explain this to me - how can going faster result in less injuries and damages than going slower?

Edit: Your friend hit a telephone pole going 210 km an hour?

Yipe, we were racing and he didn't slow for a curve and went straight off the road headon into a pole, his cuda snapped it in two (pole was hanging by the wires.) Had he had been going slower and the pole didn't break all the impact energy would have been on the car and ultimately on his body.

You have to take into consideration this car was a 1969 cuda, back in those days they actually had medal and weight,had it been one of these new dodge challengers I bet the pole would only have paint stains

Like they say...speed doesn't kill, it's the sudden stop!

[RT14]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

I agree that it's a dirty job and somebody has to do it but it takes a special person to make a career of defending people that he/she knows are guilty of careless acts have led to innocent victims being injured and/or losing their lives. A good day for Der is a victim & family of victim's worst nightmare.

Yup, completely agree. My father began his career as a prosecutor but couldn't live with himself defending people he knew were guilty just to get paid more. He switched to Defence and was much happier for it.

Just being a prosecutor says a lot about a persons character IMO. Just because someone is nice in social situations doesn't necessarily mean he/she is a good person.

[gonzo29]

Originally Posted by RT14

Yup, completely agree. My father began his career as a prosecutor but couldn't live with himself defending people he knew were guilty just to get paid more. He switched to Defence and was much happier for it.

Just being a prosecutor says a lot about a persons character IMO. Just because someone is nice in social situations doesn't necessarily mean he/she is a good person.

I think you've got that backwards.

[T@T]

Edit:gonzo beat me to it

[DownhillGoat]

Originally Posted by T@T

You have to take into consideration this car was a 1969 cuda, back in those days they actually had medal and weight,had it been one of these new dodge challengers I bet the pole would only have paint stains

This isn't really a thread to start embedding videos, but if you seriously an old Cuda is safer than a new Challenger you should probably watch this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1aDs1sHJLFE

Don't get me wrong, I love old cars, but they're certainly not safer.

- - - edit - - -

Never mind. You were talking weight/momentum vs the pole, not the safety of the vehicle. Misread the post.

[Shawnski]

I was DJing a wedding out in Canmore that night. Fantastic event.

Coming home I turned off the TransCanada onto Sarcee Trail and two cars in front of me is a cop that turns his lights on and boots off quickly.

I come onto this scene when the first responders were just getting there....

A couple minutes difference (like when I made a wrong turn to get out of Canmore and had to back track a bit) and I would have been smack dab in the middle of that.

[flylock shox]

Originally Posted by RT14

Yup, completely agree. My father began his career as a prosecutor but couldn't live with himself defending people he knew were guilty just to get paid more. He switched to Defence and was much happier for it.

Just being a prosecutor says a lot about a persons character IMO. Just because someone is nice in social situations doesn't necessarily mean he/she is a good person.

This post: I'm not sure it means what you think it means...