Perhaps it's a bit surprising Amherst Police bagged only two DUI drivers over the Halloween weekend considering all the intoxicated college aged youth AFD ended up transporting to Cooley Dickinson Hospital and how busy APD was otherwise with Party Houses all over town.
Of course when a Party House or fight on the street attracts a half dozen police cars, that's a fair amount of time those vehicles are not on the prowl or ensconced in a secure/hidden location observing routine traffic watching for killers on the road.
Making simple mistakes like running a stop sign will of course garner the attention of a patrol car -- especially at 2:33 AM. And Rebecca L. Tobey, age 23, should know that since this was her second offense.
Doing 68 in a 35 MPH zone at 2:13 AM will also garner undivided attention. Newman M. Galati, age 21, flunked his FSTs and was arrested. Although not his second offense for DUI, Mr. Galati did manage to get arrested at a Party House last year (where residents were abusive to APD).
Arraigned on Monday morning before Judge Payne, Mr. Galati had a plea of "not guilty" entered in his behalf, the Judge then assigned him a court appointed attorney, freed him on his own recognizance to return for trial on December 10.
Larry, is it too much to use the adjective "allegedly"?
ReplyDeleteI realize that culturally and otherwise we have gone a long ways from the days of Adam 12 -- but we still have presumption of innocence in this country.
Until Judge Payne says these people were driving drunk, they are only accused of it - and it's actually libelous to say otherwise. In some cases, people truly are innocent - I know of one case where, essentially, the APD alleged that one young man had the ability to walk through solid concrete walls.
Upon realizing this, the judge advised the ADA of the wisdom of not bringing that particular set of allegations (i.e. arrest) back into his courtroom.
So you want "alleged" put into the first sentence before "DUI"? I think Larry could do that. Otherwise, it seems to be a straight narration of the facts.
ReplyDeleteAlleged facts, Judge Dredd.....
ReplyDeleteTo every police officer who has an issue with this, I ask but one question: "why do you need a union rep?"
What a lot of cops fail to realize is that the same presumption of innocence that they find so annoying is something which protects them as well. The same requirement that they prove their accusations protects them in that those who make accusations against them face an equal burden.
For example, the officer accused of racial profiling is every bit as entitled to the presumption as the driver accused of OUI. The person accusing the officer has the burden of proof -- and the officer is PRESUMED INNOCENT until some disinterested (not uninterested) third party finds against the officer. The officer has the right to representation and due process and all the rest.
Eliminate the protections of the accused (OK, the protections of the guilty) and they won't be there for you either -- except you'll be innocent.
But why would an honest, professional & hard-working officer ever need to be presumed innocent and due process proceedings? Why would he/she/it ever need union representation to ensure procedural fairness in disciplinary hearings?
Innocent police officers aren't going to ever be accused of anything, after all....
As to OUI, I was once doing the paperwork for a property damage claim -- a woman had swung wide making a turn -- way wide, going up over the curb, across the sidewalk, then across the lawn before taking down a light post which I want her insurance company to pay to replace.
ReplyDeleteWhile I had the police report, I needed some more facts and called the officer who had investigated the accident.
And then I asked -- "very much off-the-record, was she drunk"?
"NO", the officer said emphatically -- she had lost control of the vehicle and he had questions about her competence as a motorist, but she definitely had been sober at the time.
As was the woman who - while parking her car -- somehow found the gas pedal instead of the brake pedal -- and pushed it to the floor. And held it there.
She jumped the curb, went through a hedge, took out a decorative iron railing, and struck the brick side of a building. (Lincoln Apts Bld #5) She was sitting there, tires spinning, when the mailman (a USAF vet) reached in through her open window and shut off the engine.
Just sayin....
Just remember the more you feed Ed's head the more he'll post. If you ignore him he'll go away. Just like at the zoo, "Don't Feed the Animals". In this case Ed's head.
ReplyDeleteJust remember the more you feed Ed's head the more he'll post. If you ignore him he'll go away.
ReplyDeleteSomething like this says far more about the schmuck who wrote it than it ever could about me.
My anonymous critic truly misunderstands me -- and we can start with his/her/its delusion that I write things in hopes of receiving the praise of others so as to gratify my ego. No, at is most basic, I seek truth and I seek to profess truth -- I seek to enlighten the ignorant.
To understand me, think in terms of Martin Luther -- "here I stand, I can do no other." I stand for what I believe in, what I believe to be right & just, regardless of consequences. That truly terrifies those so insecure that they require peer affirmation in order to make a decision as basic as to eliminate fecal waste.
There's an infamous psychology experiment (now ethically prohibited) where the volunteers administered what they thought were life-threatening electric shocks to a trained actor pretending to be in great pain and pleading for mercy.
The subjects went all the way up to what they thought was a lethal electric shock -- they administered it because they were told to do it, because the "authority figure" (the voodoo scientist) told them they had to.
Well I would have told him to go fire truck himself -- and I think that those who know me personally understand both that "fire truck" would be pronounced with just one syllable and that, yes, Ed really would do that. And a lot more if need be.
And I've been through a hell of a lot more than just the trauma of not having people pretend to ignore what essentially are statements I make in the public forum. I still stand for what I believe in, I don't need groop affirmation to have the courage of my convictions.
And my critic is a coward -- a pathetic human being without the courage to sustain a principled conviction in the absence of peer acceptance. A Lemming who would nonchalantly rush over the cliff to certain death merely because all the other Lemmings were doing likewise.
Hey hey hey! I'm so happy to hear there were only 2 DUI arrests over Halloween weekend! Let's thank Mercy House who ran their free ride program Friday and Saturday nights shuttling close to 3000 students to those party houses and back home. I volunteered with them for the first time this year- what a great bunch of young people they are, giving college students and Christians a good name! Who knows how many tragedies may have been averted!
ReplyDeleteFuck you. I got an oui for alladgedly speeding, only cause it was it a shiny white porsche the cop estimated 68mph, in reality 45 in a 35. Profiling.
ReplyDelete