L.A. Driver's Trial Update

The L.A. Times had a story on the trial of Dr. Christopher Thompson accused of intentionally braking in front two cyclists and sending them both to the hospital. 

As they demand more respect from motorists, many cyclists see Thompson's trial as a test of the justice system's commitment to protecting the rights of bike riders. They point to the case as an extreme example of what they see all the time: arrogant drivers who either unwittingly or deliberately push bike riders aside.

When I read the details of the case, I was blown away by some of the evidence.

The two were traveling about 30 mph -- the speed limit on the road -- when they heard a car honking behind them. The cyclists testified that they began maneuvering to ride single file. The Infiniti sped past within a foot of Peterson's handlebars and the driver shouted to them to ride single file. Peterson swore at him. "He was acting like a bully," Peterson told jurors.

What happened next remains in dispute.

Peterson and Stoehr say the Infiniti pulled in front of them and braked hard. Thompson, who contends that the cyclists never moved into single file, said he felt uncomfortable behind them so he drove wide around the riders and pulled to the curb at what he thought was a safe distance. He denied slamming on his brakes.

So why did he feel "uncomfortable" behind them? When I see someone behaving erratically, I back off and give them plenty of space. I don't pass them and then stop in front of them. Still his story is contradicted by the 911 tape

Thompson called 911. A recording of the call picked up Thompson telling one of the cyclists: "Get your bike out of the road, why don't you?"

The doctor told the 911 operator about the profanity the cyclists yelled at him. "I slammed on my brakes. They went into me."

"I passed them up and stopped in front of them to teach them a lesson," Thompson said, according to Rodriguez. "I'm tired of them. I've lived here for years. and they always ride like this."

On the stand, Thompson denied making the incriminating remarks.

But Rodriguez insisted that he knew what he had heard.

"The statement was so shocking . . . that it just burned into my brain," he testified.

Prosecutors say the collision was the latest in a series of aggressive confrontations Thompson has had with cyclists on the same road.

Among them was a strikingly similar episode four months earlier in which two other cyclists accused Thompson of trying to run them off the road and slamming on his brakes in front of them.

Thompson disputed the account, saying he and a passenger felt threatened. He told jurors that he honked and told the riders to ride single file but that one "shot me the shaft," so he stopped to get their names. When one cyclist hit his car, he drove away.

He stopped to get their names? What was he going to do, call their moms? Was he going to have them arrested for giving the finger? And how did he, in a car, feel threatened by two cyclists?

The defense is trying to do it's job, but I suspect the case went to court because the prosecution is unwilling to deal when they have so much evidence.

Thompson's attorney, has sought to portray riders in the case as foul-mouthed road hogs with little respect for motorists. The defendant testified that he and his neighbors were upset at cyclists running stop signs and blocking motorists by riding side by side along Mandeville Canyon Road.

Thompson testified that he and neighbors agreed they needed to identify misbehaving cyclists. With a photograph of the offenders, the homeowners' association could contact their cycling club to complain.

When he encountered the cyclists on the July 4 ride, Thompson said, he decided to stop and take a photo of them.

Update: As noted in the comments, he was convicted of mayhem, assault with a deadly weapon and other serious criminal charges. He faces up to 10 years in prison when he is sentenced Dec. 3.

Comments

[TWK]

Convicted!

[wd]

woohoo!

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-cyclist3-2009nov03,0,761131.story

This guy's a MD? Was business slow?

[SJE]

So, the doctor was speeding, then assaulted and seriously two cyclists. He justifies his behavior by pointing to scofflaw cyclists. Sadly, no surprises there.

[Eric_W.]

This is good news but you can see what kind of BS this guy rolled out...

Up to ten years! We'll see how it goes. That he was jailed immediately is probably a sign that the sentence is not going to be light.

BTW, what does such a convition mean for his certification as an M.D.?

[Washcycle]

It doesn't automatically bar you from practicing medicine, but it does make it extremely difficult. There are doctors out there with felony convictions in their past, but I doubt it is of this magnitude.

[SJE]

If he is let out on parole, I hope he will have his license revoked. How will he get around then? Karmic justice to see him riding around on a bike just to get to work.

[miguel betancourt]

Hmmm...

He's now in the hands of the JUSTICE system, where they will process him through the CORRECTIONS department, and possibly send him to a PENITENTIARY. Now, how much justice, penitence and behavior correction do you think will come from his being so subjected?...

Why jail? Why not put him in a halfway house for ten years, where he must practice medicine in a public clinic at no pay? Why not sentence him to "volunteer" at various transportation functions where bicycling figures prominently in a multi-modal transportation future?...

As a culture, and particularly as a bike culture, we need to get beyond this idiotic jailing mentality: justice is best served dsitributively, not retributively. Our legacy as Americans should be as much about creating a better future than just redressing past injustice.

Will the Police change their inability to enforce the extant traffic laws? Will the Police make it better for bicyclists after this? My guess is that rather than see this case as a symptom of a larger social problem, they'll see it as the illegal actions of a single, individual bad apple.

Will our Legislators direct the Police to respond differently to transportation rage -- always and only expressed by car-drivers -- after this incident, because it represents a pattern of behavior on the part of car-drivers?...

In this case, jail is a medieval response to a contemporary issue -- as such it doesn't seem to portend much in the way of progress for better bicycling. We bicycle people always need to be more creative, more able to see the long term, and better able to strategize in the short term, because our social institutions are retarded and bureaucratic. The car-transportation system, described by Kuntsler as "the greatest misallocation of resources in human history," is what should be serviced by the verdict in this case -- not just the punishing of an individual asshole acting in the kind of predictable manner he has been encourage to act by virtually every single social totem in the culture over the past 50 years.

[Contrarian]

I'm pleasantly surprised with the verdict. I'd been following the case and was concerned that anti-cyclist bias is common enough that they'd be able to get at least one juror to agree that the cyclists had it coming. So the verdict is encouraging.

Some observations on the case: First, this was at least the third time he had acted in this way. The way the assaults escalated in seriousness show strong evidence that he was emboldened to act more and more brazenly each time because he faced no consequence for the previous actions. If you are the victim of assault, you owe it to yourself and to future victims to report it to the police.

Second, according to media reports Dr. Thompson had more supporters in the courtroom than the cyclists. Things like that do affect the judge and jury.

According to the Toronto Coroner's Study (the only cyclist safety study I know of with any academic rigor), assault by motorists is a significant cause of cyclist injury. It probably leads to more injuries than cyclists running stop signs or rear-end collisions. Yet we don't take it seriously, and we let the police get away with treating it as something that cyclists bring upon themselves by their behavior.

[Washcycle]

well put Contrarian.

[Amy Smith]

Well put. I hadn't thought of it that way, but my closest calls always involved criminally inattentive or outright malicious drivers, not me running into an innocent parked car.

[JeffB]

I hope that after Mr. Thompson is done serving his prison sentence that his driving license if forever revoked. Driving is a privilege not a right and we shouldn't ever have to fear having him behind the wheel again.

[Susan]

I would hope that because Levi-Strauss died today that we might all take seriously the question posed above:

"The car-transportation system, described by Kuntsler as "the greatest misallocation of resources in human history," is what should be serviced by the verdict in this case -- not just the punishing of an individual asshole acting in the kind of predictable manner he has been encourage to act by virtually every single social totem in the culture over the past 50 years."

Yet Contrarian writes: "assault by motorists is a significant cause of cyclist injury. It probably leads to more injuries than cyclists running stop signs or rear-end collisions. Yet we don't take it seriously, and we let the police get away with treating it as something that cyclists bring upon themselves by their behavior."

This latter claim would seem to ignore the import of the prior passage. The question seems to be: Why do the Police act as they do? As a cyclist, it seems to always be nothing less than frustrating to deal with Police regarding anything to do with bicycles. Doesnt this frustration have something to do with the first quote, as highlighted by Contrarian in the second quote?

Should advocacy efforts focus on organizing bicyclists to flood DC Council meetings demanding to have the streets tamed by the Police by enforcing the traffic laws -- rather than always be disapointed, as Contrarian seems to be -- that the police have once again let us down? Shouldnt we USE THIS CASE as the example of WHY we cyclists want such recognition from the City Council?

The Police worship the same totems that allowed the increasingly "brazen" behavior of the Dr.. Shouldnt we as cyclists be able to articulate those totems so as to make them visible, first, to local political leaders, and, second, to the directives those leaders give to Police?

Or will the impact of this trial not be more than just putting another American behind bars? Let's do Levi-Strauss proud...