Posted on 12/23/2024 11:52:36 AM PST by BenLurkin
A man has been sentenced in connection with the death of a woman that occurred while they were on a motorcycle the man was operating recklessly.
According to a press release from the Huntington Beach Police Department, officers responded to a fatal traffic collision on Pacific Coast Highway south of Wagner Avenue on Sept. 11, 2021, at 8:17 p.m.
Upon arriving, officers located a motorcycle that had collided with an SUV. The passenger on the motorcycle, 22-year-old Meghan Wautlet, died at the scene.
...
As a result of the investigation, Murray was arrested in February 2022 and the Orange County District Attorney’s Office subsequently filed murder charges.
After a three-week trial this month, Murray was found guilty of murder by a jury on Dec. 19. A judge immediately sentenced him to 15 years to life in prison.
(Excerpt) Read more at ktla.com ...
Loosely translated, he’s eligible for parole next week . . .
From the article: “Further investigation revealed that, in the seven months leading up to the crash, Murray had been arrested or cited at least five times for various traffic violations, including speeding and reckless driving.”
So that explains the long sentence. But here’s the thing. An acquaintance of mine (not a friend, I don’t like him) was convicted of 2nd degree murder.
He got 10 years. Five years less than this motorcycle guy got. Something doesn’t seem right here.
That’s a coincidence... I have a friend who’s up for murder in Huntington Beach, due to an accident of a different nature. I’m praying she only gets “Manslaughter”, but the case depends on if they agree it was a horrible accident.
In some states, like California, it can be 2nd degree murder from an auto accident. Usually, to be murder, it needs to be driving the wrong way on an interstate, racing on residential streets, or something like that, usually while over the legal alcohol limit.
Todd Spitzer, The D.A. is notoriously tough, and defies the “soft on crime” stereotype of CA Law enforcement. I know a guy from Riverside who got a DUI here, for over .10 (limit .08) and his lawyer said “OK, well see about getting a deal . . . oh wait, Orange County ? You are getting the max.”
I suspect this guy rides a sport bike.....whether or not, those idiots are a menace.
There’s a reason they’re called “organ donors”.....and if this guy was in fact on a sport bike it’s a perfect example as to why.
Never understood the need to scare or try to impress the passenger on a motorcycle. I never spent much time on the street on one.
After my motocross racing days were over, I hopped a plane to CA.
When thru the California Superbike School. Road raced a few years. If I killed myself, that’s on me. No since taking anyone with me.
A wonderful, beautiful girl that sat next to me in homeroom for 6 years died falling off of the back of a motorcycle driven by another another classmate 2 weeks before graduation.
Walking into school the next morning i was shocked seeing every girl in school bawling their eyes out and me not knowing what the heck happened.
I think of her often and all of the amazing things she missed out on due to her short life.
RIP Susan..
In Cali, it boils down to “malice aforethought”, which can be either express or implied.
The jury instructions elucidate:
https://www.justia.com/criminal/docs/calcrim/500/520/
That stretch of the Coast Highway seems to be a favorite strand for those inclined to do so. I used to walk the estuaries that are on one side of it (State Beach on the other), and every time it was a given that at some point there would be the roar of a few bikes, going through their gears up to high revs, usually two or three at the same time, drowning out the bird calls.
I used to wheelie on my Ducatis.
I still do... but I used to, too.
So out in five to seven?
There are jackasses on all types of bikes from rice-burners to Harleys. (just as yes, there are jackasses in cars on the road too)
I was driving up to a beach in my area back in September, and on the way up on the main two lane road going into it, with a speed limit of 40 mph, I had a group of six motorcycles overtake me doing at least 60, they came up behind me, then went around me simultaneously, three of them on my driver side (and threading through the oncoming cars!) and the other three went by me in the narrow breakdown lane.
Then, when in front of me, one of them popped a wheelie, then another one. What stuck out to me was one of the riders wearing a full black body suit with a skeleton on it, and a helmet that looked like a skull.
I was glad I had seen them coming up behind me, because if I had swerved slightly to the breakdown lane on the right to avoid them or give them room not to head-on the oncoming lane (and possibly embroil ME in their fatal accident) I would have definitely hit the ones that decided to pass me on the right.
I came up behind them at the next stop light, all six of them grouped together, and I could only shake my head. Effing stupid and crazy, all looked like guys in their mid-twenties, and the skeleton outfit guy with long blond hair streaming out the back.
At the beach, I parallel parked on the main road, and as I walked towards the main part of the beach, I passed the group of those bikers parked, sitting on their bikes.
Mister Skeleton was sitting there, and when I passed, it was a beautiful young blonde girl, not a guy. I know I am a dinosaur on this, but...I still expect young women to have more common sense than young guys. But now, in today’s society, they have license to be just as much of a jackass as any young guy, and that is saying something, having once been a young guy.
I thought of how sad it would have been to see that beautiful, attractive young girl smeared along a road, just because she had to show the guys she could be as much of a jackass as they could be.
One of the guys looked at me when I passed, perhaps he recalled seeing my military ball cap I wore in the car when they passed, and he nodded and said “Hello”. I nodded back, but decided not to stop and lecture them. Wouldn’t have done any good, I suspect.
This isn’t a screed against bikers, but it is a screed against jackasses!
Biden may pardon him...
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