Drag Racing Murder Trial in San Diego, CA.

[Guest Anonymous]

Well... today the judge determined that the left hand turn made by the victim was reckless driving.... I think this may play a role in the jury's decision.

 

I think this move could determine one critical stage of this trial.

 

In other words...

 

If you wave a red flag in front of a bull, and it charges you and causes you injury... that doesn't mean you get to have fresh beef on the table at dinner time.

 

Dennis

[Mike kZ]

Well... today the judge determined that the left hand turn made by the victim was reckless driving.... I think this may play a role in the jury's decision.

Dennis

 

Wow... After reading these posts it seamed to me that these teens where not paying attention. How could you make a turn at only 12mph when oncoming traffic is going at least 50mph? I don't know about you guys, but when I make a turn I keep an eye out to see how fast traffic is approaching, and if I have too, I mash the gas to make it.

[Guest Anonymous]

A new problem has developed concerning the left hand turn made by Ms. Jump. There is a restriction on her license that requires her to wear glasses. Her glasses have not been located, and its suspected that she was not wearing them.

 

This could explain her actions while making the left hand turn. She might not have ever seen the drag racing cars coming.

 

The Ford Ranger that made the turn before the victims car did report that he "floored it" to get out of the drag racers way.

 

For those not able to view the trial... closing arguments are expected after lunch today 12pm PST. Then its up to the 12 juriors to make alot of decisions.

 

Mike, Miles, and Scott, you've all made some very good comments.

 

Dennis

[Dragonfly]

Dennis thanks for keeping us updated on the trial as I know I have not been keeping up with it myself.

 

This is going to be my last post on this thread as I can see be re reading the thread that I am letting far to much emotion and opinion get into the way of reality. I am going to try to put into a simple explination of my feelings on the actual incident. The guys racing are the reason for the accident the girl driving the Geo was in a position to prevent the accident from happining but did not. It is now up to others to determine the amount of responsibility each person involved had and how they should be held accountable for their actions. I wish the best for everyone involved.

 

Dragonfly

[Mikelly]

Good info and a good MATURE Discussion here... I'm always happy when these potentialy dangerous topics go well... Comment about the girl in the metro... "Deer in the headlights" is how you "COULD" explain why she may have started across and then realized "OH NO..." and hesitated... Just one possibility... The ruling by the judge SHOULD have a huge impact on the victim's responsibility in this tragedy. Once the final word is given by the jury, you can then expect round two in litigations court with a civil suit...

 

Mike

[Guest Anonymous]

THe actual charges the Drag Racer's are facing are posted at this link.

 

http://www.courttv.com/trials/dragrace/docs/dragrace.html?page=1

 

I took the time to read all four pages. I'm not involved with law, however, I think if I had to look at these four pages I would drop a load in my pants.... well maybe not... but it would be a close call.

 

If anyone is involved with law enforcement, Criminal law, or god forbid... a lawyer? If so, it appears to me that Lawrence Calhoun is looking at 10 additional years for leaving the scene of the accident.

 

Can anyone translate this document for the lay men?

 

Thanks,

Dennis

[VRJoe]

I think you missed my point about the publicity and severity, slowing someone down is the ONLY good thing I could see coming out of this trial. The loss associated with the families involved on both sides is too great to imagine. Does that mean I agree with the charges, no, but that's the way the courts work. I think the decision about the turn will open a hole for the defense to downplay the speed issue, even more so if she wasn't wearing her glasses. I've never know street racing to be legal, I've just seen times and places where enforcement was lienient, and that's where things get squirley for these guys. No matter what, it's a terrible thing, but if it makes you think for an instant about you own speed then these people have not paid the price in vain, something good can be derived.

 

- Joe

[Guest Anonymous]

VRJoe,

 

I did read your comments and actually took the time to read them 2 or 3 times. I do feel that I understand them and I agree with you on the points you made. The price is diverse and is strongly being paid by the people involved as well as the community - society as a whole in the state of California. The media... I could get started on them very easily. But I think you have added enough on them to leave me feeling content.

 

I'll also share something with you. I own (3) 240Z's, (1) Corvette, (1) Toyota 4x4, (1) Small class C RV (20 Ft), and (1) Large Class A RV (30 ft.). This is 7 vehicles which are costly to keep insured, maintained, and in running condition. The largest investment I have is in the (3) Z's. They are my fun cars, my toys if you will. Two of them are SBC conversions. Before this case came to trial, I wouldn't be afraid to do alittle street racing. In the San Francisco bay area, street drag racing is called The Runs. The runs here are mainly the Honda/Import crowd aka: ricers. Their has been some deaths in the area as well, but the local PD's have really come close to eliminating the runs. Owning the Z's and converting them has kinda left me out of the "normal" grouping of cars. The Fat fender/hot rodders think my cars don't fit in their group... The Ricer's don't think I belong in their group either... So I would go where I could and be accepted as an outsider to some degree. I would hate to discontinue my involvement in Z's because I enjoy most of the people that own Z's. I wouldn't say I'm a weekly street racer, but I have been involved. However, now I don't feel that the price is worth paying for street racing. I do feel that the men charged in this trial could have been me, or one of my friends.

 

My 71 240Z, has a 6 point roll cage, 4 point harness, a big tach with shift light, and many of the modifications that were made to the drag racer (George Waller Jr.) involved in the collision. This case is hitting home with me.

 

I do feel that my time as a street racer are over. Even if I'm the only one on this board to acknowledge this. Its either that I'm getting older or I'm getting wiser... maybe both eh? Either way you look at it, I'm stopping my involvement with street racing.

 

So... there you have it one person, maybe more... that are contributing to the price that was so hard to pay by the faimlies involved.

 

This afternoon I had a short amount of time to read the words posted by Debbie Hanson - the mother of the two boys in the victims car. She was sitting at a computer and was in a chat room that Court TV presented. It was difficult to see what this has done to her family and what her perspective is, her plans to move forward, and the issues she is facing.

 

Anyway... Maybe I should step down... and see what happens next.

 

Thank you for your comments, the time you took to think about what you had to say, as well as taking the time to post them.

 

Dennis

[Mikelly]

Dennis, Your comments in your last post are comments that make us all stop and think about what we do. I'm not sure if there is a single person on this board who hasn't done a little stop light to stop light racing in their day. However, I'm also not sure to many of the members have contributed to an actual "Organized" street race where people meet, discuss the terms and conditions of the race, and then go to the location and commit the act. I have. In the late 80's I was into it a little bit because there was some easy money to be had. I also was involved in a race where a guy in a Corvette ended up on his roof, in which I won a LARGE sum of money. Thankfully no one was hurt and I got a clue and grew up mentally (OK, Just a little ).

 

The fact that this has effected you to the point of NOT street racing is NOT a bad thing. It is a positive step towards becoming legitimate. You have three Zs. Why not take one of them and turn it into a bracket racer? You have an RV (Two actually!) and you could certainly tow a car to the track for a weekend event every now and then... Or better yet, how about autocross or driving schools?

 

I used to love to get on my bike or in my car and go through the gears on the street. But now when I go to an event where I can get on the track, It takes all the fight out of me when I get back to the street. You know why? Because no matter how hard you drive or ride on the street, you will never push yourself or your vehicle as hard as you will in one afternoon at a simple autocross... You simply can't. I know drag racing is a little different, but less challenging in my book. But my point here is that you have three Zs and apparantly, not unlike a few of us on the board, enough discretionary income to take advantage of it and go play legally, where you would most certainly get MUCH MORE bang for the buck, and certainly without the hassles of Johnny Law and the legal system.

 

As our society becomes more and more crowded, it will become less and less tolerant of US. The recreational hobbiest car and bike geeks will be forced into more and more legitimate means of playing with our cars. I fully expect it to be MUCH more of a headache to drive a tricked out car on the street. There is already a bill in my state house being voted on soon with regards to ANY modifications to vehicles to include Exhaust, suspension, and lighting. If it passes, you can forget about tweeking your car or modifying it without antique plates being on it. These types of laws are aimed squarly at making the street racing scene go away. Motorcycles will be next. I know of several police officers in my area who will pill you over if your bike has an extended swingarm. They are starting to crack down on all forms of lighting and exhaust already. Why? TOO MANY PARTICIPANTS. We have exploded into a generation of CAR PEOPLE. It has become to easy to "BE A PART" of the culture by just slapping some stickers and fart pipe on a car, get some bling bling wheels from tires.com, and go pimp out at your local spot. All of a sudden you can consider your car "CUSTOM" for the sum of about $800, Which is more than it cost me to "Customize" my little 90 civic commuter box... There are too many people, using to little discretion and that is my opinion on why we will see more crack downs... So the only way we can escape the heat is to become legitimate. The money I've spent on cars in the last 10 years could have funded a very nice little amature racing business in either Karting or motorcycles, and I certainly could have gotten into the whole ITS scene with one of the Zs.

 

This is a turning point for you. I'd hate to think though that your cars would end up on E-bay or the forsale section of the BBs just because you just stopped to think about something that has been there the WHOLE TIME you have owned your Zs. The laws were on the books already. The difference now is the fact that you are aware of them and their severety. I'm glad this has made you stop and think about it. However, I think now you are armed with valuable information. You can do many GOOD things with that information .

 

I'll really be interested to see how the jury rules on this... I bet they come back with a verdict today.

 

Mike

[Guest Anonymous]

A simple update that isn't to wordy...

 

Closing arguements started late yesterday and finished early this afternoon. The DA is pretty good and made some very good arguments. He chartacterised the defendents and the type of answers they gave. The defense, did its best to place things into perspective. A sharp focus was placed on the number of injuries that take place in street racing. The numbers stated:

 

For every 1000 people involved with street racing, there will be 49 deaths or serious injuries (4.9 %)

 

Of these 49 deaths or serious injuries, 13 (1.3%) of them are not connected to street racing event.

 

The number of deaths of the 49 is 12. The remaining 24 people were taken to the hospitial.

 

These are reported numbers for San Diego only.

 

The jury is out and its now in their hands. Its hard to tell how fast they will return. Once that happens, I'll post the results.

 

Dennis

[VRJoe]

Dennis, I hope you don't unload any of your great cars. The main problem with street racing these days is that there are so many cars on the road. Years ago you could find an empty stretch of road and go at it safely, now a days it seems like the only time you can find an empty road is between 4:10 and 4:20 AM. One other problem I've noted is that cars handle better now. Back in the 70's if you fiddled with the car you'd start to see handling problems around 50MPH and cars normaly topped out a little over 100. Now you can get a car that will go 120 in a heartbeat, when the kids start to tinker with the car and change suspension the car handles so well that they don't know there's a problem until they're loosing it at 90 in a curve. I'm convinced that this is why the death rate is high, it's happening at higher speeds and the younger drivers don't have to experience to recover. The better handling of the car gives them a false sense of ability, I can't convince these kids that they don't have the skill to drive fast on the street. I'll be running autocross to get my speed fix, I love a road course. I sadly miss being able to run a couple of the roads around here at good speeds, but the traffic has made it too dangerous ( I know I can handle it, but the other drivers scare the heck out of me ), so I'll set up for the track. I also suspect that these poor fellows would be a friend if I'd known them. I hope the jury has some common sense. I hope you consider us here on the board friends and I can't believe the fat fender boys don't drool over the SBC-Z. Unfortunatley we all get painted with the same racing brush, around Philadelphia 87 in 50MPH zone won't even rate as speeding durring rush hour, but add the word race ..........

 

Sorry for running on, thanks for keeping us updated

 

- Joe

[Guest Anonymous]

Joe,

 

naaaa.... I don't for see making any changes in my mini fleet. Just in the aggressiveness of my driving style and typical habits. I really need to get out of street racing. Like I said, I've done the runs, and some other street racing too. 7 members of the local Z club decised to make a run around Lake Berryesa. This lake borders the wine country (Napa Valley) how stupid of us to decide to race where wine tasters gather. We met early and broke the race into 3 legs, listed some guidelines, and put some cash on the table, it wasn't much just something to add alittle motivation. I like the twisties too and the best I did was 2nd in the in the 2nd leg. I've also raced from Livermore to Los Angeles. That was the worst run I've made, the fastest guy's lay back until the cops pull over the front of the pack, the guy's in the front never get a reasonable chance to catch up in a four hour race. It was also very boring and I'll never donate to a race of this type again.

 

I see you live near Philly, I fly in there once or twice a year. I have family that lives between Philly and Reading. So its always a week or so trip and I enjoy the area you live in. However, growing up in California since I was 12 makes me call this home.

 

I really think I need to tame down my involvement of the street racing scene. Because its so easy to do here, I thought everyone did it. I don't post much anymore due to the young'ns atlering the conversation into something "silly" for lack of a better term that won't offend. You can see by my status that I haven't posted much. I've been a member of this board for 4 years or so. I kinda like the placement of this post because its out of the main stream. The level of maturity in the discussions is appealing to me.

 

I hope you come back and read the verdict or catch it some where. This case is interesting.

 

I wish you luck in your autocrossing. Are you running a V8 car too?

 

I'm think that I'd like to try to organize a Race Legal venue like they have in San Diego. This would be a good way for me to be involved in a positive manner. I was heavily involved with DatsunFest at Rebello racing a few years ago. I enjoyed doing that event.

 

Dennis

[VRJoe]

Dennis, let me know next time you're out this way and we can get some coffee. I'm in the process of sticking a 94'LT1 and T56 in a 78 280Z. Once this gets far enough along I'll order the Velo Rossa kit from John Washington as a coupe. I love the lines of the Ferrari 250GTO, when you add the full tilt front clip of the VR it became a no brainer. That run around the lake sounds great, one of those tempations that just couldn't be resisted.

 

I don't post all that often, but this thread caught me, there's been a lot of thought put into the responses members have left. I'll definately be keeping an eye out for the verdict ( and apeals ).

 

If you know Philadelphia at all picture a run around the Art Museam circle, up Kelly Drive (used to be East River Drive), over the Falls Bridge and back down West River Drive. I'd love to see a race set up there that way, maybe a Grand Prix or such. If I could just convince them to close Kelly Drive for a day .............. :flamedevil: Road Racer Heaven.....

 

Thanks Again for keeping us posted

 

- Joe

[Guest Anonymous]

For those following this thread, the issue is being decided by the jury.

 

As you know, this trial is rather interesting and has taken on some serious charges. Stay tuned and we'll be able to discuss their verdict in the near future.

 

Joe, That sounds good to me - espresso is my favorite. It goes well with my personnality. I found a Starbucks in Telford, if you know where that is. My father's side of the family is 15 miles (give or take) north west of Pottstown.

 

Dennis

[VRJoe]

Scheez, next you'll ask me if I know where Perkasie is I can make Telford in about 20 minutes, 30 if the cops in Montgomeryville are out. 309 used to a fun road, now there's too much traffic. Espresso, I guess things seem a little slow in Telford compared to the Left Coast.

 

- Joe

[Guest Anonymous]

The jury came out today and announced their verdict. The 2nd degree murder charges - both defendents were found not guilty. As for the remaining charges - guilty to each and everyone one of the charges of manslaughter with gross negligents. The sentencing phase will begin and will take a few weeks to be determined.

 

Needless to say, the emotions of the defendents was relieved when the jury findings were read. Using max. numbers for the charges that were brought against the defense makes a possible sentence of 8 years for Waller Jr. (the driver directly involved in the accident) and 13 years for Calhoun (the person that fled the scene of the accident). This compared to 30 and 40 years respectively to life is a big difference.

 

To me, common sense was used by the jury. The DA was over charging the defendents in this case. Even tho the DA didn't get the 2nd degree murder conviction, he does favor the 2nd degree murder charges when a death occurs when drag racing is involved. The DA does have another case involving drag racing and death coming up in the near future. Again the DA is charging 2nd degree murder.

 

I'll be keeping an eye on the results of that case as well. That is if time allows.

 

I want to thank everyone that has posted comments on this case. I've found it to be interesting and educational. It has also changed my mind about street racing. Be it the runs, the easy to find light to light drag racing or racing the local street twisties. There's just to much of a chance of something happening that is unexpected. With the defendents still facing possibly 8 years + in prison, that's to much for me. The price remains unafordable to me.

 

 

Joe, I saw your comments... I see we've driven the same roads near your house. cool... I was talking to my brother yesterday and we discussed the Outlaw racing at Grandview. Do ya ever watch or get involved with Outlaw race cars? I also watched the Busch cars at Nazarath(sp) this past weekend. Maybe we should take our conversation to the e-mail level..

 

Dennis

[Lockjaw]

Man I missed this thread. I tend to agree with the position taken by Your car is slow, in that these people did not intend to kill anybody. In fact I am sure the thought never entered their minds.

 

Having said that, though, I have always said that I think if you want to street race, you accept responsibility for your actions, and I think the people should be punished. The whole thing sucks, its sad, and tragic and all that, but we do have a system of laws to deal with it, and ultimately they will be punished by thier peers, and conscience.

 

I disagree with the idea of having a track around helping prevent this sort of thing. We have a 1/4 mile track outside of Bham, several 1/8th mile tracks, a 1/4 mile track in montgomery, an 1/8th mile track in huntsville, and yet we still have a huge street racing scene here. I get a lot of static from some of the died in the wool racers who think I am to conservative, but I generally take my car to the track.

 

The bottom line is that street racing has been glamorized by Hollywood and kids think it is kool, and it is also a social event. More often then not when I have gone down to watch I see cars I could spot car lenghts in the 1/4 mile, give them the go, and still beat them. They are slow, riced out POS. Most of the fast car guys go out of town to a secluded location, like the interstate or something like that.

 

Street racing is dangerous, and as this story/case shows, the risks are very real, and the impact is lifelong. I personally would not want to have to wake up and look at myself in the mirror every morning knowing I killed a couple of people and caused irreparable damage to another due to a foolish and childish activity. Jail is one thing, living with it is another.

 

I guess it all boils down to personal preference. Are you willing to take the risks and accept the responsibility?

[Mikelly]

Excellent comments LockJaw. I think we all learned something from this thread... This manor of discussion is why I STILL SAY this is the best place on the web!

 

Mike

[VRJoe]

Mike, once again I'll second your statement. This is one of the better examples of why this board is so unique.

 

Dennis, tried to send you an email, didn't go through. check your email address in your profile.

 

- Joe

[Guest Damn Cracker]

While I'm not driving right now, and won't be until I turn 18 (august), I still like to follow up on news like this. I've met dozens of people during high school that street race, and while I realize how tempting it is to let loose a little on the street, I don't feel its worth it. I love cars, from t-buckets to skylines, (no hondas, ugh), and with Sears point 30 minutes away, and a sports car club that does auto x's once a month 5 minutes from my house, I don't see how pople can put their lives, others lives, and the integrity of our hobby at risk just to go a bit faster than the speed limit. Seriously, I've been in the car with my best friend when he was racing his old supra on the freeway, and at the most, we got up to about 90. Big friggin deal. Most of the people I know that are the big street racers in my area are the ricers. I've known a few that have totoled their cars, and are lucky to be alive. My guess as to why these losers do this is becouse they know their car is slow, and they can't beat anyone in a timed 1/4 mile race, so they take it to the streets, becouse they can win there by being stupid, and taking retarded chances. Back to the street rcae with my friend, we were racing a del sol. Now come on, what do you think is fgaster, a supra, or a del sol. But tgechnicly, the del sol won, becouse he started weaving in and out of traffic, cuting cars off by less than a foot. Tankfuly, my friend backed down after i told him that this was stupid, and not worth it. But I bet you that other guy called up his friends, and told them all about how he dusted a supra.