[Burr]

Los Angeles Times | November 2, 2009 | 3:49 p.m.


Physician convicted on all counts in cycling case



A physician accused of deliberately injuring two cyclists by slamming on his car's brakes on a narrow Brentwood road last year was convicted Monday of assault and other serious criminal charges.


The three-week trial of Dr. Christopher Thompson drew close attention from cyclists, many of whom viewed the case as a test of the justice system's commitment to protecting cyclists.


Prosecutors alleged that on July 4, 2008, Thompson stopped his car after passing the two cyclists and shouting at them to ride single file. One cyclist ran face-first into the rear windshield of the doctor's red Infiniti, breaking his front teeth and nose, and leaving his face scarred. The other was sent hurtling to the sidewalk and suffered a separated shoulder.

[Xela]

Good! Wonder what his sentence will be. Thanks for the update, Burr!

[djcyberlegend]

Repost

[funetical]

They'll merge them or erase one. That seems (the doc thing that is) to be a point of contention among our rights groups. Why is it we can be assaulted with a car and the driver not be charged with anything but assault? Here's my favorite quote from this


"Thompson's lawyer had argued that the cyclists were belligerent and may have fallen because of the inherent instability of bicycles. He suggested that in any case the incident was accidental, not criminal."

[lotek]

yes, accidental.
as in "The cyclist accidentally struck the back of my vehicle and flew through the
rear window after I slammed on my brakes".

[CTD50]

I've been following this in some detail over the last week or so; the sleazy tactics of the defense lawyer (trying some verbal sleight-of-hand and outright lies) were pretty transparent. So was the defendant's testimony on the stand. He denied both the police officer's testimony that he said, "I wanted to teach them a lesson", as well as the 911 recording where he stated he "slammed on his brakes". After trying some sappy sob-story about a childhood friend who was supposedly killed at a young age in a car/bike accident, I'd had about enough.

I cheered when I read of his conviction; six felony counts and either 1 or 2 misdemeanors. LA Times said he's facing up to 10 years, and the judge ordered him remanded without bail after the verdict.

Self-important monied vigilante-types like him offend me by drawing breath.

[Burr]

CTD, I'm with you those are about my feeling.

It's doesn't hurt to be nice.

[mtndoc]

Originally Posted by Burr

CTD, I'm with you those are about my feeling.

It's doesn't hurt to be nice.

My feelings precisely!!!!!

DrB