Guilty or Not?

[Texsox]

Trial examines role of dashboard electronics

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) -- When a pickup truck crossed the double yellow line along Seward Highway and killed two occupants of a Jeep Grand Cherokee, police initially thought the accident was another tragic mistake by a momentarily distracted driver.

 

Then they spotted the dashboard DVD player.

 

In what may be the first trial of its kind in the nation, prosecutors have accused the pickup truck's driver of second-degree murder for watching a movie instead of the road when he crashed head-on into the Jeep.

 

The pickup's driver, Erwin J. Petterson Jr., denies using the DVD player as he drove north on October 12, 2002 and contends he was only listening to music from a compact disc, said his attorney, Chuck Robinson.

 

"It's an excessive charge for what happened here," he said. "This was not a murder. Even the state medical examiner said during cross-examination that the manner of death for the people in the other car was accidental."

 

Petterson, 29, is accused of killing Robert Weiser, 60, and his wife Donna Weiser, 56, of Anchorage, while on a three-hour drive between Kenai and Anchorage. In his truck was the equivalent of a home entertainment system -- a DVD player, speakers and a Sony PlayStation 2.

 

While no Alaska law prohibits operating a DVD player in view of a driver, prosecutor June Stein said the facts warranted charging Petterson under one of two theories: that he knew his conduct was substantially certain to cause death, or that he knowingly engaged in conduct showing extreme indifference to human life.

 

Initial Alaska State Trooper reports said Petterson was at fault when he took his eyes off the road to reach for a soda. Stein, though, will try to prove that the DVD player was on, apparently playing the movie "Road Trip."

 

"We know it was," she said. "It was wired so that the screen was in the open position when the ignition key was turned out."

 

The murder trial, which got under way last week in Kenai Superior Court, may be the first of its kind in the nation, said Matthew Swantson, director of communications for the Consumer Electronics Association, a trade association.

 

Installed as recommended, DVD players and TV screens are either visible only from the back seats or will not work unless the vehicle is in park. But owners can defeat the safety measures by installing the devices themselves, as Petterson did, according to prosecutors.

 

Robinson said he expects prosecutors to have trouble winning a second-degree murder conviction. "I think the prosecution is going to have a tough time proving the mental state of Mr. Petterson," he said. "It's a tragic accident that happens all the time on our highways."

 

Liz Neblett, spokeswoman for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, said more than 25 percent of police-reported crashes are distraction related, which covers everything from cell phone use to changing channels on a radio, screaming at kids, eating, applying makeup or reading a newspaper.

 

Vehicles can be equipped with fax machines, cell phones and two-way radios. But none should be used if they interrupt the concentration of drivers, she said. "It's a no-brainer. If it's distracting, don't do it," Neblett said.

 

After the crash, Petterson and his passenger, roommate Jonathan Douglas, were transported to an Anchorage hospital. Within hours, Douglas called his ex-wife and told her he was not sure how the collision occurred because he was "spacing out on a movie they were watching," according to prosecutors. The woman is scheduled to testify.

 

David Weiser, 34, the son of the slain couple, said only two people know what happened in the cab of the truck. But equipping a truck with entertainment options that can be used while driving goes beyond a momentary distraction of putting on makeup or using a cell phone, he said.

 

"This takes forethought, this takes methodical steps," David Weiser said. "You have to go to the store, plop over money, install it, and install it so it can be used without a brake employed.

 

"I view it as no different than walking into a bar, having five beers within an hour and getting behind the wheel," said Weiser, who quit an eight-year career as a loan originator in Boston to attend the trial.

 

Driving laws have not kept up with technological changes, Weiser said. He plans to work toward changing that after Petterson's trial is over.

 

"I would like for the jury to sit and hear the evidence, and if the evidence shows what I believe to be true, that his conviction reflect that," he said.

[Queen Prawn]

Why the hell do you need that crap in your car?! I can kind of understand in the back seat if you have kids and do road trips, but otherwise it is completely unnecessary. But that is JMO.

[knightni]

I would say it would be plead down to involuntary manslaughter.

 

 

Vehicular manslaughter is nearly a slap on the wrist as opposed to murder.

[BridgeportHeather]

DUH!!!! The driver shouldn't be WATCHING DVDs!!! He or she should be focusing on the traffic instead!!! The driver should be charged with the worst punishment for homicide if anyone dies, and charged for wreckless driving or something else if nobody dies.

[cwsox]

depending on your state's laws...

 

in most states probably not guilty of 1st deree murder which usually requires an element of pre-meditation

 

in most states you are looking at anything from 2nd degree murder to manslaughter to negligent homicide if a jury decides to reckless endangerment or someting if plea bargained

 

the laws in each state will vary

 

the moral question that Texsox poses is compelling and in that arena one certainly has to consider the callous and selfish disregard for the lives of others to watch a dvd and drive and the moral question of guilt becomes very compelling

 

but let us not miss the bigger picture here - who is the real force behind reckless disregard for human life, the driver, or the corporation that put a dvd player in the driver's line of vision? Not since the Titanic sailed without enough life boats...

 

I am sure the civil suit naming the driver, the manufacturer, the automobile dealer, and everyone who had a hand in the design and production of that vehicle is filed and awaiting the criminal verdict before the civil proceedings continue.

 

If that was a custom job and not a manufactured job, that custom auto place can shut down now because it will never survivie the civil liabilities.

 

because manufactured or custom, when you palce a dvd player in the drivers lione of vision, there is no excuse; just what the hell was one thinking? Might as well give loaded handguns to infants and place toddlers in vipers dens. The proabability of innocent death is very high with such callous disregard for common sense on behalf of whoever designed and placed that there. The manufacturer, stock or custom, as well as the driver, must be held responsibe and if stock, then much more so because they have put a lot of missilies of death out there.

 

The grounds that are being claimed in that criminal action - those are such great grounds for the civil action to follow:

 

that he knew his conduct was substantially certain to cause death, or that he knowingly engaged in conduct showing extreme indifference to human life.

 

Lawyers will be lining up to handle that case and well they should be, that is law at its best protecting us from corporate putting gadgets and bobbles in cars to increase their profit while endangering lives. Might as well put the fuel tank under the front seat in an open container. The results are the same.

[Chisoxfn]

I'd say manslaughter. Murder is something I consider where the person was trying to do something along those lines. I think this was a horrible accident. I also think it should be illegal for any tv to be in the front seat of a car. They should be allowed in the back seat only.

[soxman352000]

He should be guilty, but it probably varies by the state in which it happened in