Reporter's Notebook from VeloNews on Dr. Thompson Sentencing

The Bad Lawyer Blawg has followed the Mandeville Canyon Road Rage case that culminated in the 5 year prison sentence for LA emergency room physician Chritopher Thompson since the inception or the Blawg; but there is not better coverage than that at VeloNews. 

Serious cyclists in all categories subscribe to this the Bible of cycling, and this is one of the definitve articles on the issues, the "Reporter's Notebook from the Sentencing."

L.A. Doctor In Road Rage Cycling Assault Case Sentencing Today

Dr. Christopher Thomspson, the L.A., California former emergency room doctor who was convicted on all counts of felony assault wtih a deadly weapon after nearly killing two cyclists along Mandeville Canyon Road in THE cycling case of recent years faces a Superior Court Judge in Los Angeles for sentencing today.  Prosecutors are asking for 8 years.  The Los Angeles Times has an eloquent and extensive report at the link. 

This story was covered here at Bad Lawyer and by the great cycling publication Velo News and you can find their website here, where no doubt comments from the cycling community all over the world, can be read.  Since one of the managing editors of Velo News is veteran journalist and newly-minted good attorney, Charles Pelkey I expect excellent coverage and commentary.  Speaking of which, here's the link to Pelkey's story on the sentencing. 

Shoot a Cyclist in the Head, That'll Be, 120 Days

Asheville firefighter Charles Diez got really pissed when he had to tap his brakes for a a couple of cyclists and their child who were riding along what Diez determined to be a dangerous road way.   Mr. Diez pulled ahead of the bicyclists and confronted them.  You know the typical enraged motorist rant, "why-are-you-impeding-my-path-of-travel you freaking commie eco-terrorist, you?!"

So Diez gets out of his vehicle, begins to argue with the male cyclist, pulls a gun and shoots him in the head.  The bullet passes through the bicycle helmet without hitting Alan Simons, the cyclist.  The police charge Diez with attempted murder, the Grand Jury reduced the charge to felony assault with a deadly weapon.

The Asheville Superior Court Judge James Downs felt that 120 days and restitution of $1200 to Mr. Simons for his damaged eardrum should about cover it.

for more:
http://www.mountainx.com/news/2009/former_asheville_firefighter_gets_4_months_for_shooting_cyclist; and
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/11/man-gets-120-days-shooting-cyclist-head.php?campaign=th_rss

The LA Times Update on Doctor Road Rage Assault on Cyclists

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-cyclist3-2009nov03,0,761131.story  With pic of Dr. Chrostopher Thomas Thompson taken into custody to await sentencing.

Closing Arguments in the LA Doctor Road Rage Case

http://www.velonews.com/article/99685/la-road-rage-trial-closing-arguments-wrap-up

In other News, LA Cyclist Road Rage Trial, Continues. . .

I updated from the road, yesterday in the comments section of the earlier post about this case. The pic shows the back of the LA doctor's car.  The car that the doctor used as a weapon "to teach the [cyclists] a lesson," as described by the traffic accident scene investigator at the trial in Los Angeles, see http://www.velonews.com/article/99513/-i-want-to-teach-them-a-lesson---road-rage-trial-resumes.

Where do we get off, "teaching" others a lesson?

How is it that we lose what it means to be a good and decent person, neighbor, friend, parent, professional?  What process occurs in our individual and collective brains that tells us we have some sort of obligation to use a two ton automobile to "teach a lesson?"  How do we go from the Hippocratic Oath to a motorized monster?

Likewise, how does a parent forget to love and care for their precious child, so that the parent not only permits to the child to be raped by a relative, but in turned blamed by the adult/parent for the injury?

In my sordid career I encountered, again and again, victims of childhood sexual violence blamed by his or her parents; and, worse, blamed by the authorities, the Church for the crimes of others.  How in God's name does the child go from being the blessing in your, our arms, to the discard pile in favor of the rapist, the relative, the priest?  You see, I think, we all understand the outrage of the cycling community over an arrogant, narcissistic doctor in his luxury car intentionally driving in front of road cyclists and then brake -esting the cyclists in a way that one of the rider's loses his nose when thrown head first into the car's rear window--but, it's a harder case when we deal with the spiritual murder of children.