Truck driver sentenced to 110 years for accident.

Should the Colorado governor commute the sentence of truck driver that lost his brake

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I remember something about a trucker explaining why they were afraid of runaway truck ramps. Something about booby traps or poor maintenence or homeless people living on them. Forgot what exactly he said.
 
Yakuda said:
That is not justice.

I sat on a jury in a civil case where again alcohol was involved. Two guys were drinking and started mouthing off to each other. One guy was huge 6'5" over 200lbs and the other was under 6' and 175 lbs soaking wet. The little guy was the instigator. The bug guy walked away but the little guy wouldn't let it rest. The big guy left the bar. After more drinking the little guy went looking for the big guy. He found him and attacked the big guy. The big guy beat the snot out of the little guy and the little guy was in the hospital for weeks. He tried to sue the big guy but we told him to screw. He couldn't leave well enough alone.
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Good, glad they threw that out.

He tried to sue in a CIVIL case? Why didn't he call the police? I bet it was because he instigated it and threw the first punch, and everything after that was self defense.
 
NiftyNiblick said:
I find it curious how some people think that a year of incarceration,
even in a minimum security jail,
is a slap on the wrist.

Minds obviously work in different ways.

I never spent any appreciable time in jail,
but I was in the military.
I know how slow time can pass.
Perhaps that's why I see things differently
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A year for drunkenly killing someone is nothing.
 
ThatOwlWoman said:
A year for drunkenly killing someone is nothing.
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That's the normal sentence in Massachusetts.
It's pretty well established, actually, for many decades.

One of the Little League parks where my son used to play in the mid-1980s was next to a minimum security facility like that--drunk drivers, deadbeat dads, that sort of thing.
The guys often came outside to watch the games that were played there.
One of them was a Boston Bruins hockey player who got a year for running over and killing a little girl in a drunk driving accident.
The kids would walk across onto the facility grounds, which were unfenced, and get his autograph...I kid you not.

You can't impose Middle American mentality where it doesn't fit.
Those of us who choose to live here belong here.
 
NiftyNiblick said:
That's the normal sentence in Massachusetts.
It's pretty well established, actually, for many decades.

One of the Little League parks where my son used to play in the mid-1980s was next to a minimum security facility like that--drunk drivers, deadbeat dads, that sort of thing.
The guys often came outside to watch the games that were played there.
One of them was a Boston Bruins hockey player who got a year for running over and killing a little girl in a drunk driving accident.
The kids would walk across onto the facility grounds, which were unfenced, and get his autograph...I kid you not.

You can't impose Middle American mentality where it doesn't fit.
Those of us who choose to live here belong here.
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Well, good luck to you. I cannot imagine allowing my child to get the autograph of an imprisoned/convicted DD who killed a child. Or any righteously convicted/imprisoned person, no matter how famous they were. Aren't we supposed to teach our kids to look up to real heroes instead of stupid drunken sports idiots?
 
ThatOwlWoman said:
Well, good luck to you. I cannot imagine allowing my child to get the autograph of an imprisoned/convicted DD who killed a child. Or any righteously convicted/imprisoned person, no matter how famous they were. Aren't we supposed to teach our kids to look up to real heroes instead of stupid drunken sports idiots?
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Hmmm ... do you have the same amount of concern for the victims of the Colorado truck driver ???
 
ThatOwlWoman said:
Well, good luck to you. I cannot imagine allowing my child to get the autograph of an imprisoned/convicted DD who killed a child. Or any righteously convicted/imprisoned person, no matter how famous they were. Aren't we supposed to teach our kids to look up to real heroes instead of stupid drunken sports idiots?
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Parents didn't go get the autographs, Owl. The kids did.
Were the parents supposed to physically stop them?

A few years ago, an NFL player was suspended from the league for inflicting corporal punishment on his child.
The league, of course, is headquartered in New York.
The mid-west was aghast. We do that here! (You admit to having been spanked yourself, Owl.)
New York was not deterred. The suspension derailed the player's career. I hope he's dead in a dumpster somewhere.

It's a different world, here, Owl. Thank God, otherwise I'd have no place in America to live.
 
Eagle_Eye said:
In April 2019, the truck Aguilera-Mederos was driving lost its brakes, CBS Denver reported. He passed one of the state's runaway truck ramps as he descended from the mountains, a point the prosecution focused heavily on during the trial.

He then crashed into several cars stopped on eastbound I-70 in Lakewood, sparking a massive fire. The highway was shut down in both directions for roughly 24 hours, according to the station.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/rogel-aguilera-mederos-sentenced-colorado-traffic-crash/

Should the governor commute the sentence?
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Yes, the sentence should be shortened.
 
McRocket said:
'“This is the result of the defendant pulling over near Berthoud Pass because his brakes were smoking away, but he chose to get back in that truck and keep driving,” Wildeman told the jury.'
https://www.denverpost.com/2021/10/15/i-70-crash-guilty-rogel-aguilera-mederos/

This guy saw his brakes were smoking, stopped the truck, looked at the brakes and got back in to continue driving...and eventually crashing.

I have driven tractor-trailer trucks.
When you drive one of those things?
You are responsible for the condition it is in.
Do you people think truckers check their trucks before they drive, just for fun?
Whether they own the rig or not?

If you are not sure about the brakes?
You do NOT drive the bloody thing.

We are talking about a vehicle that can weigh 40 times what surrounding vehicles do.
It's like a bull in a china shop.
You cannot just 'assume' everything is 'okay'.

What you people who are calling for letting the guy out after two years are saying - whether you know it or not?
Is that a truck driver is in little/NO WAY responsible for the condition of his/her truck.
That even if he suspects the brakes are faulty (which this guy did)?
It is wrong but no huge deal for him to get back in and keep driving.
Even if he ends up killing people because of that suspected fault.


I would take his license for life and give him 10-15 years for every death he caused.
To be served consecutively (one after the other).
He would be out - with good behavior - in about 13-20 years (if Colorado's parole laws are like most states).

Four people are dead.
And he KNEW his brakes were not working properly.
Yet he still kept driving.
And that decision caused 4 innocent people to die.

And some of you want to give him only 2 years in jail?
Jeez.
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Truck Drivers are going to want to see him in jail for murder- because he violated the law by not taking the ramp- AND IT CAUSED LIVES TO BE LOST!

And every truck driver knows not to use his/her breaks in the mountains and they know why not to use them. This was drilled into them while training.
You have to use your tach in the mountains and keep the RPM's down so that you can use your trans to regulate your speed- AS YOU KNOW but I thought I'd throw that out there for everyone else's appreciation.

So yes, the Truck Drivers have a strict safety code- and he violated it- and they will want the book thrown at him.

I drove trucks also but very late in my career. So, I really don't have much sympathy for this guy either!

Let's just say, he better be glad I am not the judge or on the jury - in his case!
 
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Sirthinksalot said:
There's a lot of bleeding heart simps in this country. Sad and disappointed to see that you're one of them. I usually agree with you, but this guy getting off after only 2 years would be a travesty. :(
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I'm not saying he should get off with only two years...but I truly don't believe he deserves life in prison....It was an accident... The petition was to reduce the 110 year sentence...
 
Geeko Sportivo said:
Truck Drivers are going to want to see him in jail for murder- because he violated the law by not taking the ramp- AND IT CAUSED LIVES TO BE LOST!

And every truck driver knows not to use his/her breaks in the mountains and they know why not to use them. This was drilled into them while training.
You have to use your tach in the mountains and keep the RPM's down so that you can use your trans to regulate your speed- AS YOU KNOW but I thought I'd throw that out there for everyone else's appreciation.

So yes, the Truck Drivers have a strict safety code- and he violated it- and they will want the book thrown at him.

I drove trucks also but very late in my career. So, I really don't have much sympathy for this guy either!

Let's just say, he better be glad I am not the judge or on the jury - in his case!
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HUH?
 
TOP said:
I'm not saying he should get off with only two years...but I truly don't believe he deserves life in prison....It was an accident... The petition was to reduce the 110 year sentence...
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Well I agree 110 years is too harsh. Unfortunately, I have not seen any info indicating that the governor can change the sentence. He can either commute it, meaning the guy gets out after 2 years or let it stand. There doesn't appear to be a 3rd option. And as I pointed out before, the dude was offered a chance to take a plea deal and refused to accept anything more than a traffic ticket. That tells me, despite his apology during sentencing he really doesn't accept responsibility. He chose to take his chances with the jury. Now he has to live with the consequences.
 
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