Florida trooper Detrick McClellan (left) was on-duty when he sped at more than 100 mph without emergency lights down a county road and slammed into a Mitsubishi Galant driven by Michelle Campbell, 51. Campbell died in the crash and her granddaughter, 12, flew through the windshield. Her adult niece was also injured. McClellan was found at fault and given three traffic citations even though he said he was responding to a call about someone throwing rocks off an overpass. He was facing citations for careless driving, speeding, and failure to use his emergency lights. Yet, when McClellan came up for his hearing, the ticketing officer was no where to be found and the judge therefore dismissed the case. A video shows officers and McClellan laughing after the dismissal.
The FHP has said that it cleared the missing trooper who asserted a legitimate reason for missing the hearing. It would not say what that reason was or why there was no effort to guarantee that the hearing was postponed or an alternative officer be present. Prosecutors also refused to bring criminal charges against McClellan.
I can understand the decision not to bring criminal charges but the convenient lack of a witness remains a concern at the hearing. If this officer had a conflict, why did he or she not raise the matter with supervisors and take steps to postpone the hearing? I am also not sure why the court did not see a problem with a police officer being allowed to benefit for the lack of the appearance of a fellow officer in such a case. A postponement would seem an obvious response for the court.
The question now will be whether the family will file a lawsuit against the state and whether the failure to even supply an officer at the traffic hearing could find its way before a jury in a wrongful death case. It would likely be included in a motion in limine to keep it out of the trial and most judges would grant it despite the fact that it would tend to show the lack of concern of the FHP in pursuing such cases against its own officers. Nevertheless, the state should pay dearly for such this accident. It certainly cannot argue that that this was done outside of the scope of employment since it declined criminal charges on the basis that “he took a life while trying to save a life” in responding to the call.
Source: Sun Sentinel
If the family does file a wrongful death suit and wins, I’d suggest they give the governor a choice.
Say to him, “We’ll accept half the settlement IF McClellan pleads guilty and is executed within a month, and the one who deliberately avoided showing up in court is given 25 years without parole.”
A pig…uh, “cop” laughs about getting away with killing an innocent person and laughs about it.
And people wonder why I laugh when I hear about “cops” being killed.
You are right to say what you say, Proverbs 1:26 24Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded;
25But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof:
26I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh;
27When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you.
28Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me:
29For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD:
The fear of the Lord is fearing to harm any of his little ones like young chicks under his wings. To not fear harming them Gods glory will be feared by them
I say it every time we get another godawful action by police. The problem with the “bad apple” theory, that is, not all or even most cops are bad, just a few is that when the bad apples do this kind of crap we here nothing from the “good” ones.
Just once can we hear some cops calling for justice when one of their own commits one of these acts (and let’s be honest, this one probably isn’t near the top of the list)?
Not a single solitary policeman will lay his life down to save the life of another. Nether will a policeman die rather than kill. No one teaches anyone to save the soul. To be absent from the body is to be present with the lord
Coast is clear, I am gone. CUL
Completely OT OT OT OT
Met a swedish lady today who had studied statistics at GWU. In Foggy Bottom she said. She lived neaby. Was aghast that she could not find a BOOKSTORE in downtown Washington, DC.
Was she blind, or are you so little interested in litt, tech, etc.
Is the daily blat all you read and the channel of your choice.
I know, your eyes are tired after a day reading at work. Apply for a disability pension. Congressmen do not read anything other than teleprompters. And their sound bites are brief. The fewer the words. the fewer lies to be caught in later.
I see now that I was on the common thread. 51 is old?
One good suggestion (beside mine 🙂 )
Felony reckless driving. But will that be done by the prosecutors? The injustice system reigns.
Maybe we need to bring guns to court. How to do that? Literally taking justice into your own hands. I understand the gun nuts better for each passing day.
If she had her first child when she was 15, and that child had a first at 15, then we have 30. Add 12 years for the grandchild, and you get 42.
Elderly, depends on how you age. Some have an ageing environment, if you know what I mean. At the bottom of the rung.
However will finish off with by wondering why he was not indicted for a capital crime. Cops get all the breaks?
UC(M)J should be compulsory in all states. And prosecutors should have their pockets sewn up. or their a55es. Leeway, BS. It is worse than that.
Back to reading the rest.
The story was shocking but trying to create more drama by calling the victim elderly is irresponsible and inflammatory.
Both will be judged by Gods light Moses could not see from Gods glorified face. Panicking caused that crash.
Wee the people are such a bother sometimes. Always getting in the way of the big brother people who are only trying to help us.
What JohnLouisville said. Really, Jonathan? ELDERLY?
Lesson learned so far: make sure your officer buddy doesn’t show.
Lesson to be learned, I hope: wrongful death suits are expensive
51 is elderly? When I was that age I thought I might be close to starting to be middle aged.
I would say it was very convenient for the officer issuing the traffic citations to fail to appear. If the trooper causing the accident actually was convicted / found liable on the traffic violations it would have made the civil suit against the state all the more easy for the plaintiff.
Responding with emergency lights and siren serves to warn others and to direct them to pull over. Many people, if not most, are not capable of differenciating the speed of an oncoming car travelling 60 mph or 100 mph at a distance but yet the vehicle closes in on them in just over half the time. They might think they have enough room to pull out in front when they don’t and an accident results. There is certainly a negligence involved on part of the officer for not turning on the overheads and the siren due to safety issues.
From a legal point of view if the lights and siren are on, it is the duty of the public to pull over, however in at least our state (which is the only one I am familiar) the privledge of exceeding the speed limit and being exempt from certain traffic laws while responding with emergency equipment activated does not relieve the driver of the emergency vehicle from excercising due care and caution.
I will say there are times when it is necessary to respond without lights and siren, such as when an officer is responding to a residential burglary call and you shut off the emergency lights a couple of blocks before the scene so that you don’t alert the offender of your impending arrival and he flees. Also, in attempting to catch up to a recklessly driven vehicle if you are a half mile away, the driver might see you and will take evasive actions to hide. But in the case of this incident with the FHP there was no reason that I can see for not activating the equipment as soon as the call was received. Throwing rocks from a bridge can certainly injure or maim others and was cause to respond Code-3.
I agree with Mike, no siren, lights makes no sense, especially at that speed. I wonder if the officer was impaired at the time. How many stories of cops covering up or mistreating citizens before the citizenry finally stands up against them?
“he took a life while trying to save a life”
Nonsense. Why weren’t his flashing lights and siren on? A total coverup by the
LE “in crowd” including the judge. If he was really responding to a call, then he shouldn’t have been originally cited. With so many subject to draconian justice in our system for “crimes” that involve no injury, this is yet another travesty of justice.
Highway Patrol Gone Wild” !!!!!
In view of the number of highway patrol acting bad stories we see, seem like this would be a perfect project for some interested student of the Professor’s.
Of course, JT still has to drive between GW and his home, which I believe is somewhere is the verdant environs of Norther Virgina. Can’t be too cautious with these goons on the loose
51 years old is now “elderly”?
I agree, John. A law against Felony Reckless Driving would cover cases such as this one.
You agree with that, MESPO, right?
Illinois put restrictions on speed after some deaths like this.
But restricting everyone for the screw-ups of a few I don’t think is the way to go either. I would hope most officers know how to safely answer calls.
Anybody else would have been hung out to fry…