If we can’t prevent this sort of stuff from happening, then maybe society is better served by not locking up someone on such a minor charge in the first place. Then you don’t have to worry about preventing it.
What was the “minor charge”?
Lane change. He could have written her a ticket as his “escalation” effort and let her go. No evidence she is a danger to society.
But she was not locked up for “lane change”.
And the snake keeps eating its own tail…
Driving without insurance? DUI? Assaulting a police officer?
No danger to society, she was.
But the rest of the action only happened because the cop did not choose what I said should have been the proper escalation path. Had he written her a ticket and let her go it is most likely that the assault never would have taken place. That is all.
Is it your contention that everyone who ever had a DUI should be locked up whenever they commit any future traffic violation, including changing lanes without signaling?
Sure, if they haven’t made restitution for their previous crimes.
Sure. But you said that we shouldn’t lock people up “on such a minor charge”. I agree that people should not be locked up for lane changes. But she was locked up for assault. Whatever you think led to it, “assault” is not “such a minor charge” and yes, people should be locked up for it (until they make bail).
AIUI the officer was going to let her off with a warning. Although you are correct that changing lanes is not evidence that she was a danger to society.
The $7500 in unpaid fines is another matter. I wonder if the police officer knew, or could have known, about that. Would he have run her plates and/or her driver’s license thru the DMV to see if she had outstanding charges, or a bench warrant, or anything like that? If he did know, it is a little more surprising that he wanted to let her off easy. And she allegedly had a DUI - maybe he was going to order her out of the car to do a field sobriety test. That’s pure speculation on my part, but I can see him doing that, either because he knew about the drunk driving or just because he wanted to do a field sobriety check on her because she was being obstreporous.
I have no idea what probable cause a cop in Texas would need before he can do a field sobriety check. I know that in most states you cannot refuse a drunk test if you are driving, and given that he could have arrested her for failing to signal, I suspect she would have no right to refuse a Breathalyzer than she did to refuse to step out of the car when ordered.
Regards,
Shodan
Yes, but any wrong action (minor or major, and that’s assuming it is actually WRONG) can cause a cascade that leads to tragedy. The fact it ends in tragedy doesn’t make the original wrong any worse that it would have been without the tragedy.
I could get pissed at my neighbor for some crap she’s pulled and cuss her ass out and threaten to sue her. Maybe I’ve overreacted. Maybe my ability to sue her ass is legal bullshit.
I didn’t know she had depression and PTSD. I didn’t know she had thousands of dollars in unpaid bills. I didn’t know she had just lost her job.
Just how guilty am I because she offs herself over the weekend?
We’ll have to disagree on that matter.
I think the cop acted unprofessionally and could easily have avoided the escalation to assault.
Which is completely irrelevant to your statement about “locking people up on such a minor charge”.
I mean, to take it to the extreme, let’s say the police officer in a hypothetical situation stops someone for a lane change, acts unprofessionally, it escalates to a fight, and the police officer is killed. Should we be locking up the killer “on such a minor charge”?
What’s the point of having fines as punishment (often in lieu of jail time) if people just won’t pay it?
There’s also the possibility that she was impaired due to marijuana. It’s only a possibility, but there were significant amounts in her system when she died, and if she knew she was impaired at the time she was stopped it could account for her reluctance to get out of the car.
That’s a possibility. She must have been pretty wasted if she still had a lot in her system three days later, or she got hold of a lot of the stuff while in the pokey.
The autopsy also said she had some 30 cuts on her wrist that were at least two weeks old, so she didn’t get them during the arrest. Previous suicide attempt? Self-cutter?
Regards,
Shodan
She worked at Staples.
Maybe she was a mohel in her spare time.
Regards,
Shodan
Or that she was a chronic user.
A quick Google reveals that the tests for pot are usually for metabolites rather than active ingredients.
It also reveals that metabolites maybe present for weeks in some chronic users.