"Not all accidents are criminal"

True, but this one probably is

Robert Roedell, 24, was arrested in January 2009 -- one year after he allegedly struck and killed Luis Rivera Ortega on Forsyth Road in Orange County.

Luis and his cousin were riding their bicycles New Year's Day 2008 on the sidewalk near Cheney Elementary School when he was struck by a 1995 Dodge driven by Roedell, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.

The car was northbound on Forsyth Road traveling about 50 mph in a 35 mph zone, troopers said.

FHP's early report said Roedell lost control of his car, began to spin counterclockwise, traveled across the turn lane, the southbound lane, struck the raised concrete curb and then traveled onto the sidewalk, where it struck Luis.

a state prosecutor argued Roedell was racing on a public road, his vehicle was modified with zero-tread tires,

Comments

[give up]

nope: not criminal. stupid, but where's the criminal *intent*?...

the law as it stands is too awkward (and backward, as in medieval) a social tool to be flexible enough to prosecute this moron and place him in the custody of social authrorities for public safety reasons....so we "criminalize" the behavior...but, hopefully you know this sociological story...

you know, like the guy who smokes grass is a "criminal"...yeah, sure he is..

[SJE]

Give up:
1. Not all crimes require intent: negligence is a crime of failing to take care.
2. Intent is typically inferred from the circumstances. Special modifications to a car are consistent with prior intent to go well beyond the speed for which a road was designed.

I agree that we should be careful about criminalizing all sorts of behavior. However, negligence has been a crime for centuries.

The question then turns to punishment. I suppose your question is whether it is a misdemeanor or a felony. I think that the evidence of excessive speed, and special modifications, are the sort of things that suggest we are dealing with more than a lapse of judgement, perhaps supporting a felony charge.

Society has an interest in preventing reckless behavior that has a high risk of killing others. If someone with a gun, that was specially modified to fire on automatic, was showing off near a school, and the gun went off and killed as kid, I don't think that we would say "oops".