In New York, former state trooper Brian Beardsley is now clear of any criminal charges following the announcement yesterday of Hamilton County District Attorney James Curry that the grand jury had dismissed an earlier felony charge. Beardsley was charged after he ran over Chad Finch, 20, (left) who had fallen in the road. Beardsley, who was returning from a party with this girlfriend, pulled over briefly and she called police. However, they then left the scene and returned home.
The felony was for leaving the scene of an accident. However, Curry concluded that the purpose of the law was not really to keep people from leaving the scene of an accident but to call the police and identify themselves. That is not the view in many states, but Curry said that his review of the legislative history led him to conclude that Beardsley could not be charged. Curry wrote that “The statute does not specify the period of time within which the operator must report the incident should there be no one to whom he or she can make the report at the scene of the accident.”
Beardsley admitted to having “three or four beers” at the party before driving his truck.
Finch himself had also been drinking. Indeed, he ironically had a history of DUI. He had just completed a two-year sentence in 2004 after his third driving-while-intoxicated offense in four years. In 2000, he struck a 14-year-old girl riding her bike while driving drunk. In 2004, he injured an 11-year-old child that resulted in Chad Finch’s prison term.
Testing showed that Finch’s Blood Alcohol Content level at .20. It also showed that he was alive before being hit by Beardsley.
Police say that they performed a “prescreening” for alcohol on Beardsley but there is no indication of a BAL test or level determination. They insisted that they had no reason to believe that he had been drinking, but he had in fact been drinking. The question is whether he lied or they failed to ask their fellow officer that relevant question.
Last year, Beardsley agreed to pay $75,000 to lawyers and the victim’s family in damages. He will pay about $43,000 to Finch’s children and about $30,000 to lawyers. The remaining $2,000 will be used to reimburse funeral expenses.
Beardsley was criticized at the time by the sheriff for leaving the scene of an accident. He later insisted in court that Finch “was obviously deceased . . . It (sic) wasn’t really much that could be done except get struck myself or her. …I indicated to her that we should stay until police arrived. She said she wasn’t really comfortable with that. There really wasn’t much we could do, and I agreed with her.”
Source: Times Union
BTW “drinking three or four beers” really doesn’t add much to the discussion unless we know the drinking time frame, the beverage alcohol content, size of the drinker, size of the beer container, and the relative absorption rate of the alcohol in his blood stream. He could have just eaten or not eaten at all which would affect his susceptibility to blood alcohol absorption. The actual BAC at the time of the accident would be helpful, too.
I have no doubt that it occurred to our former officer that leaving the scene AFTER calling the police was in his best interests –personally and professionally — but speculating about the actual reason is pointless.
Bottom line: this is a regrettable act of judgment worthy of separation from the police force but hardly enough to charge criminally.
Annie:
Personally, I like tough mysteries to solve but a layup is fun, too.
@Annie: “long before the Obama Presidency. It’s been the culture in law enforcement for decades.”
Then make that argument, rather than all your prior nonresponsive asides.
Mespo,
No, not surprising at all.
Darren Smith
Is James Curry a prosecutor or a public defender?
I doubt ordinary citizens were afforded such deference.
__________
Darren,
We have more than enough evidence to sadly prove you correct. It world be a terrible but interesting statistic to find out how many ignition interlocks installed on police cars.
There was a very good article this week in Politico magazine from Frank Serpico discussing some of the problems in law enforcement these days. This is just another example of the incestuous relationship between prosecutors and police.
Putting aside issues of police conduct, I fear we’re entering an even darker area where prosecutors view themselves as one with the police seeking convictions and case closure, and not as independent agents seeking truth and justice.
BTW this is a tough case to prosecute given the vagaries of the law, the lack of a blood alcohol test within the requisite time frames and the general lack of evidence about what actually happened. I would like to see Darren’s take on whether the former officer could have been charged under the law of his state and under these facts.
@Nick
Yes, dear prudence.
The sun is up, the sky is blue…
@mespo
Stating that police officers ignoring the law is akin to the President ignoring the law is clearly on topic.
Annie:
Does it really surprise you that some folks can’t stay on the topic at hand without a reflexive and distracting stab at someone or something they dislike? Sometimes in the community in which you thrive, it pays to be unpopular.
mespo – got the day off?
So he left and expected the responding officers to find the body on their own rather than his vehicle with hazard flashers on. BTW he resigned but not is working for another department.
Pogo, your first few comments on this thread made no sense what so ever in regard to the subject matter of this post. I’m sure you were trying hard to make that connection though. Cops engaged in overreaches and abuse long before the Obama Presidency. It’s been the culture in law enforcement for decades.
Pogo, Might I suggest prudence.
Pogo, you seem to be having ‘issues’ understanding comments this AM. Mike Appleton’s and my own are pretty easily understood by most here, I’ll wager.
Annie – the question is are you lamenting the oligarchy?
And that statement also makes no sense in the context of this discussion.
Representative Democracy, this is how Professor Turley describes our form of government, any arguments, take it up with him.
“The devolution of a Democracy into an Oligarchy …but I don’t hear you lamenting over that fact”
Given my comments, that makes no sense at all.
“…here and now, there are liberals who have pushed back and continue to push back against the overreaches of this President…”
Now that’s funny.
And yes, many independendents, GOPers, and libertarians have been complaining about the progressive statism under Bush, Clinton, Bush, Reagan, and on and on, back to Woodrow Wilson, the first true US socialist.
But you think it’s hilarious.
And you seem to believe there are liberals arguing against the advancement of statism, which is risible.
The devolution of a Democracy into an Oligarchy isn’t funny either Pogo, but I don’t hear you lamenting over that fact either.
Pogo, when Bush got us into a war of choice in Iraq and began the shredding of the Constitution with the Patriot Act, which our state Senator Feingold pushed back against, did you become morose back then too? At least here and now, there are liberals who have pushed back and continue to push back against the overreaches of this President. Where was the outcry of conservatives in Bush’s Presidency? You people were nodding yor collective heads in agreement back then under Bush. And if you don’t like being reminded of it, too bad.
Another reason you would leave the scene of an accident, in a rural area is that there is no cell phone coverage in some areas……at least in our area. No way to MAKE a call and report the accident unless you leave the scene and drive for several miles to either a cell phone hot spot or a farm or house where they MIGHT not shoot you in the middle of the night for approaching them before asking to use their phone. You HAVE to leave the scene of the accident. If you stand around and wait for the police to happen by, it will be a very very long time.
I’m not saying this is the case here. however, I AM pointing out that there are some significant differences in how people live and react to things in rural areas. All of you who live in the cities and suburbs might need to reflect that not everyone has the same conveniences or lives the same way as you do.
Is James Curry a prosecutor or a public defender?
I doubt ordinary citizens were afforded such deference.