There is a disturbing report out of Las Vegas this week concerning a fatal crash involving a police car. Officer James Manor was driving at 109 mph without either lights or siren on May 7th. The sheriff admits that the speed and manner of Manor’s driving was “excessive and unsafe” — leading to his own death after crashing into the the pickup truck of Calvin Darling. Yet, the police promptly arrested Darling for failing to yield to a police car and driving under the influence (despite the fact that he was not driving under the influence).
A patrol car traveling at 109 mph would cover the length of a football field in about two seconds. When Manor hit Darling, the speed was no less than 90 mph in a 45 mph zone. The collision was virtually instantaneous for Darling. Manor was not wearing a seatbelt at the time.
However, Darling was arrested and charged with failing to yield and drunk driving.
At the time, an outraged Clark County Sheriff Doug Gillespie insisted that Manor had both his siren on and lights flashing.
Not only was Manor not using a siren or lights but neither was the second officer responding to the call.
Gillespie also said that Darling admitted to drinking and failed a DUI field test. Police now say that Darling was below the legal limit, here. little over an hour after the accident, a blood test showed Darling had a blood-alcohol level of 0.035, well below the legal limit of 0.08. A second test an hour later showed his level had dropped to 0.021.
It is important to remember that this man had just been struck but a car at roughly 100 miles per hour and had physical injuries at the time of his interrogation and testing. Darling has no prior record.
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Simply incredible. I especially like how they did a BAC blood draw an hour after the first one came back with a .035. There is no legitimate reason to do this — the law is that you can’t have over a .08 at the time you are DRIVING, NOT TWO HOURS LATER! The only reason the police had to do this was a CYA. They are well aware that when a person is drinking they don’t reach their peak BAC level for a while because it takes time for the body to digest the alcohol (30 minutes to 3 hours depending on the source of alcohol, the person’s metabolism and whether they ate before drinking). Your BAC will therefore rise for a while after you last had your drink.
In waiting so long to administer a second test the cops were trying to get an artificially high BAC reading to justify their initial verdict on the man. Instead the second reading only shows how careful the man had been after having a drink. He waited long enough after drinking that his BAC had already peaked and was being metabolized out of his system – it’s clear he waited at least 30 minutes after his last drink to drive.
I can’t imagine the outcry that this would have generated had the cop been white & the guy he hit been some poor black man minding his own business…..
Oh well, one less a-hole cop abusing his position, so it’s a start.
Mike Appleton
1, May 22, 2009 at 9:10 am
I forgot to add that Mr. Darling’s inevitable lawsuit will not have to go to trial.
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🙂
You’re right but it’s a heck of a way to win the lottery, he’s lucky to be alive. The cops that charged him instead of getting him proper medical care should go to jail.
Dredd:
“Like the case Harry Reid cites in his book. A controversy arose in his home town when a brothel was placed too close to a school in violation of local ordinances.
They solved the problem!!!
They moved the school.”
*******************
Pity the lost opportunity for real education. I think much could have been learned from simply logging the license plates in the parking lot and then running the names. What a chance at entrepreneurship. I would just want the DC ones.
Nevada. What happens there should stay there instead of becoming metastatic.
Like the case Harry Reid cites in his book. A controversy arose in his home town when a brothel was placed too close to a school in violation of local ordinances.
They solved the problem!!!
They moved the school.
aNON:
“In F***ing Incredible.”
isnt that inF***ingcredible? Far be it from me to be a nitpicking nagging troll.
I am positively surprised the unsuspecting citizen has not been charged with manslaughter, i.e. being a “copkiller.”
I forgot to add that Mr. Darling’s inevitable lawsuit will not have to go to trial.
I expect that were I to be hit by a car traveling 109 miles per hour, I would have difficulty walking a straight line or responding to questions.
In F***ing Incredible.
Didn’t we just cover this scenario with police blasting through red lights?
I wrote at the time that should an offending officer strike another vehicle with such an unsafe maneuver, that the police would instantly assert that “the citizen [is] at fault.” It looks like that’s exactly what has happened here, and I’m sure it’s common practice.
Do such claims get the family added compensation in the officer’s death? Or is the interest of the department only to deflect the reality that these testosterone-driven high speed responses truly risk public safety?
Were I a member of the Nevada bar, Mr. Darling would be getting pro bono representation for a fact.