The injustice.  So what can we do?  How can anyone allow this women to get locked up?

While I don’t agree with the mother being charged with vehicular homicide, to act like the mother deserves no blame is absurd. You can complain all you want about the lack of pedestrian friendly planning, but at the end of the day the mother chose to cross a busy 5 lane major road with traffic traveling at a high rate of speed while trying to keep track of her 3 children in the process because she couldn’t walk another half mile to a safe crossing. Sorry, but she deserves part of the blame for putting her children in that situation. As a father, I would take the time to walk the additional half mile to be sure my 3 year old crossed a major road safely. But hey, that’s just me being silly and being a responsible parent… heaven forbid parents be responsible and use common sense in this day and age. I know, it’s so politically incorrect to do so.

And what would’ve stopped a drunk and drugged driver from plowing thru the “safe” crossing?  Or the child from darting off the sidewalk on that extra 1/2 mile trek TO the safe crossing?

@twitter-14326028:disqus @ Carl, it’s not obvious to me that walking with a kid (or 3 kids) a mile along each side of that street would be safer than crossing it; there’s a median in the middle, so let’s assume 3 minutes wait at each point (after getting off the bus and again on the median) for a total time of roughly 8 minutes if she crosses by the bus stop.  I’d guess my 4 year old can walk a mile (half-mile up the street, half-mile down) in perhaps a half-hour, so adding a 3 minute wait, again, for the light at the “safe” crossing, we’ve got 4 times as much time near the street if I got off the bus and walked up and then down.  Assuming some non-zero chance of a 4-year old doing something dumb on a sidewalk, I don’t know that 8 minutes for a non-marked crossing is less safe than 33 minutes to walk to the light.
Also, per the blog description, Ms. Nelson had the option of walking to a “traffic signal.”  There are plenty of major roads in my town (much smaller than Atlanta and reasonably pedestrian friendly) that have traffic signals that I’d not consider safe to cross, period — e.g. because when the light is red (for oncoming traffic) it’s green for turning traffic, with no pedestrian crossing times when turning traffic is blocked.  That is, sure, Ms. Nelson could have walked to a traffic signal a half-mile up the road, but was *that* a safe place to cross?  I don’t think we have enough information to judge.

@twitter-14326028:disqus @ Carl, it’s not obvious to me that walking with a kid (or 3 kids) a mile along each side of that street would be safer than crossing it; there’s a median in the middle, so let’s assume 3 minutes wait at each point (after getting off the bus and again on the median) for a total time of roughly 8 minutes if she crosses by the bus stop.  I’d guess my 4 year old can walk a mile (half-mile up the street, half-mile down) in perhaps a half-hour, so adding a 3 minute wait, again, for the light at the “safe” crossing, we’ve got 4 times as much time near the street if I got off the bus and walked up and then down.  Assuming some non-zero chance of a 4-year old doing something dumb on a sidewalk, I don’t know that 8 minutes for a non-marked crossing is less safe than 33 minutes to walk to the light.
Also, per the blog description, Ms. Nelson had the option of walking to a “traffic signal.”  There are plenty of major roads in my town (much smaller than Atlanta and reasonably pedestrian friendly) that have traffic signals that I’d not consider safe to cross, period — e.g. because when the light is red (for oncoming traffic) it’s green for turning traffic, with no pedestrian crossing times when turning traffic is blocked.  That is, sure, Ms. Nelson could have walked to a traffic signal a half-mile up the road, but was *that* a safe place to cross?  I don’t think we have enough information to judge.

So we should absolve the mother of any and all blame for putting her 3 children in danger by choosing to cross a major road in a dangerous manner rather than walking to the nearest safe crossing? I don’t agree with her being prosecuted for manslaughter.  But I also don’t agree with you trying to place all the blame on city planners.  There is a major lack of common sense in this country.  As a father of a 3 year old boy, I would choose to walk the additional half mile to cross at a safe location rather than trying to do so because I wanted to take the quickest way.  I know it’s politically incorrect to be a responsible parent, heaven forbid parents be responsible and use common sense.  Sorry.  The mother is partly to blame in this situation.  She put her children in a dangerous situation.  She had an alternative route that was safer.  She chose not to use it.  

Did he plow thru the “safe” crossing? Did the mother give her child a chance to go to the safe crossing? I’ll guess we’ll never know because the safer option wasn’t chosen in this situation so asking “What if” is pointless.

@twitter-14326028:disqus Our point isn’t that she was or wasn’t in some way at fault. Or that a planner should be hoisted up on charges instead. Our point is that the way we’ve designed and built these streets are “accidents” waiting to happen. Pedestrians are second class citizens, rarely with safe accommodation as a matter of course.

And we didn’t say she was to be absolved of all blame.

“Raquel Nelson probably made a mistake in following her fellow bus riders and trying to get home sooner. The driver made a series of errors, and was convicted of hit and run. But these are “accidents” waiting to happen, thanks to poor planning and dangerous designs.”
What parent wouldn’t, in hindsight, say that they’d gladly walk the extra half mile? But perhaps after years of waiting hours for infrequent buses, toting 3 kids along as a single parent, exhausted at the end of a long day, the answer changes. I think it’s disingenuous to say that you or I or anyone else in the exact same position would always do the same thing.

Carl, I don’t believe you. I simply don’t believe that after taking two buses, shopping for groceries, waiting an hour and a half, all while having three children with you, that you wouldn’t follow the other riders across the street. I don’t believe that. Simply put, I think if you were in a state of exhaustion you would let your otherwise gold standard of parently lapse, as one does when exhausted. Please just contemplate that for a moment. Really put yourself in that scenario. I have no horse in this race and am disgusted by irresponsible parenting as much as you but I can see how this so easily could happen. The author is not standing in judgement. You are.

Well, I’ve never before been to this blog but I do want better public transportation systems and safer, more walkable communities (and am happy to pay taxes to get them).  And yes, I think the US would be a much better place were it routinely true that one could safely reach bus stops routed in either direction from a given spot (i.e. if I hop off the bus on this side of the street I should be readily able to cross safely to the other side of the street without, e.g., having to walk a half mile).  My town recently installed divided crossings (a median with barriers and a flagged crosswalk) at a number of bus stop locations, something that would be an obvious (and cheap — heck, the median’s already there) improvement to this one.  

And I for one hope we’ll not stop discussing the ways in which people of different racial groups (etc.; I note age is also raised is this post) are disproportionately affected by different aspects of our society, unless of course that disproportionality itself disappears.  Nor do I think we should cease to respect (or discuss) the value the US founders recognized in the right to be judged by a jury of one’s peers (based on my admitttedly limited knowledge, personally, I’d be skeptical that in this case, it mattered whether the jurors were white or black, but would think that it would be appropriate for the jury to have both parents and bus users among its members).

And she will pay for her choice for the rest of her life – knowing that if she had made a different choice it’s possible that her 4 year old would still be alive.

That’s punishment enough – no need to charge her with “vehicular homicide” and stick her in jail for 3 years when the drunk driver only served 6 months according to a source I saw on my way to this article.

I am sick to my stomach.

So it’s ok for a single mother to have a bunch of kids whom she could have refrained from having, then somehow it’s not her fault that she is burdened with feeding too many mouths(probably on taxpayer assistance) so she cannot afford a car and then not control them as they jaywalked(illegally) across a multi-laned highway, which anybody can understand is extremely unsafe for adults and small children alike..

She had that child, it was her responsibility.  this was no accident, this was a careless decision based on laziness to put her children in a harmful situation by running across a busy and dangerous road and not walking half a block to a crosswalk to cross with the signal with other responsible people.

She’s just as guilty as the driver in this case.

KILL THE DA AND THE JUDGE   FIGHT BACK AGAINST THESE BASTARDS

 Carl is just a troll  best ignored

I shouldn’t respond to the trolls, but I do have a question. Maybe some of you can answer it.

I’m not familiar with the Georgia traffic code, but from what I’m reading, this woman was crossing within the bounds of the law. Crossing at an unmarked intersection is legal… isn’t it? I’ve been googling the subject, and what I’ve found suggests (more than suggests, outright states) that it is… so how can people be condemning this woman for “crossing illegally” when she wasn’t? Or is there something I’m missing that makes this crossing illegal after all?

Kidnappings by strangers aren’t really common… but darting into traffic is something highly possible.

(Also, most kids that age can make it at least half a mile. They shouldn’t have to walk a mile out of their way when tired and hungry, and I don’t fault the mother for choosing not to, not at all, but it’s reasonable to expect that a four year old child could walk half that distance if they had to.)

Do what? She broke the law. She should get locked up.

Wow, walking a mile with small children… sounds better than leaving one splattered on the pavement. And accidents do happen… but sometimes they can be avoided. She was irresponsible. I don’t understand why you defend somebody who is being a neglectful parent and putting her children in harms way.

From the article, it sounds as if the child ran out into the road while they were waiting for traffic to clear (don’t know how long the pedestrian signal is, but I know of plenty of wide roads where slower pedestrians need to wait in the middle on a traffic island for a second signal change to complete the crossing). Would it have made a difference if the child had darted out into traffic in front of the drunk driver at the crosswalk while waiting for the light (I’m assuming there was one there, the article doesn’t say) to change? If so, why?

In this case, it sounds like no one should be legally blamed. The child probably would have been run down even by a sober driver and the mother could just as easily have lost control of him at the crosswalk.

I feel for the mother. Maybe it is because I live in an area where the fairly well to do also take mass transit to work in NYC and live in an area where we have bus stops at a similar location as in the story. When my neighborhood was built the bus stop was on a fairly quiet 2 lane road and the bus stop at a full intersection. Today, the NJ Transit commuter bus, in the same location, picks up/leaves people on a 55MPH (in theory) divided roadway at stops where the nearest crosswalk is a 1/4 mile up the road. When I took the bus I never came close to having a car run into me while illegally crossing Rt 9 in the evening. Ironically, there were a few close calls in the crosswalks from drivers turning right & not paying attention (at least NJ has stepped up ticketing drivers like that). A real jury of her peers would have been fellow mass transit riders, no matter the race, parenting ability or income level. I also question what was not said in the article to make the prosecutor’s decision to charge her seem so mean spirited.

“That’s right: Because Nelson did not lug her exhausted little ones three-tenths of a mile from the bus stop to a traffic signal in order to cross five lanes of traffic, she is guilty of vehicular homicide.”

It’s fun to watch people come to terms with reality.

Sure you would of…lair.

It wasn’t at an intersection, it was the middle of the road.  The bus stop isn’t near the intersection, so rather than walk to the closes intersection, she chose to cross where the bus stop was. 

 Because she is a fricken idiot. You might have to go a long ways to be safe, but its always worth it.

Most of you seem not to have read that “over half a mile” was a round-trip figure from the bus stop to the crossing, and back to her home.  The article says it was 3/10ths of a mile to the crossing.  While I think that the planning was poor, and it was too far to have to walk from the bus stop, the mother definitely bears responsibility too.  Drunk driver or not, she took a huge risk crossing there with her kids.  To prosecute her and send her to jail is preposterous though- she’s certainly suffered enough, and “learned her lesson”, and to send her away would only punish her surviving children, who are doubless grieving too. 

 You don’t think another 33 minutes was worth the safety of her child?  Wow…

 The article says that the driver was convicted of hit and RUN.  Maybe they didn’t catch him in time to determine if he was legally drunk.

Some of these comments are ridiculous. It is silly to think she could easily drag (yes, after shopping and hoping buses you are dragging kids to keep them moving at this point) these kids another half-mile to a stoplight and then another half-mile to her home. Someone needs to find the definition of vehicular manslaughter in Georgia . . . even if you did find her guilty, wouldn’t it be negligence and not vehicular manslaughter? Yet Casey walks. Yep, that’s justice for you.

It’s incredibly sad that this woman lost one of her children. Many people are at fault here for various reasons and to various degree, but to make it sound here like she’s a total victim is ludicrous!  She made an incredibly poor choice that day.  Yes, it sucks that the alternative would have taken more time and effort that it was the safest and legal way to go.  You can’t absolve someone of their actions  because unfortunate circumstances caused someone to make a very poor choice.  Also, a jury should only be aloud to listen to the trial and only view physical evidence.  That way you can’t claim someone made a biased decision based on someones skin color.

Common sense is a collection of colliding concepts that allow us to justify any decision we make. They’re like aphorisms: “look before you leap” but also “the early bird gets the worm.” It covers everything, and you can use it to protect your smug sense of self-satisfaction, but you can’t use it to actually live a day to day life.
Saying “use common sense” is an AUTOMATIC indication that you don’t have enough information. I really suggest you learn about this important psychological concept that you (and all human beings) fall prey to everyday, which clouds their ability to see the world around them. Here’s a very accessible book to get started. http://www.amazon.com/Everything-Obvious-Once-Know-Answer/dp/0385531680/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1311111862&sr=8-1

And please PLEASE stop saying “common sense” like it’s an easily-definable set of rules that anybody could easily follow.

The comments do not address the underlying problem. It is not a matter of who is at fault in this specific incident as much as what is being done about the problem wherever it exists. This incident is proof that there is a problem with the way transportation is planned.  The funding to fix these problems is being voted down. The ones voting against the funds are likely fine with that as the people affected will mostly not vote for them. Win Win for them.

seems very fair just being lazy killed this kid . its sad but who crosses a five lane highway with kids regardless of the situation. it was like poor people frogger and they lost a life big time

Again, I ask, where is the proof that this is illegal? Because everything I have seen indicates that crossing at an intersection (and that’s what the picture shows, one street intersecting with another) is legal, and that it is usually legal in Georgia to cross in the middle of the street as well.

and now you have pulled the curtain on the reason the DA convicted the mother. 

This comment has been deleted by the moderator. Make a substantial comment and not sarcastic one liners if you want them to appear, please.

both insane and tragic

In the state of Georgia, vehicular homicide is more properly known as homicide by vehicle. It is defined, by statute, as the unlawful killing of another person using a vehicle. To be guilty of the offense, the perpetrator does not have to have an intent to kill, malice aforethought, or premeditation.[6]There are two degrees of vehicular homicide:First degree homicide by vehicleThis is a felony, that upon conviction will result in a sentence of between 3 and 15 years of imprisonment (or between 5 and 20 years for habitual violators), with no parole for at least 1 year. A homicide is first degree homicide by vehicle if the driver “unlawfully met or overtook a school bus; unlawfully failed to stop after a collision; was driving recklessly; was driving while under the influence of alcohol or drugs; failed to stop for, or otherwise was attempting to flee from a law enforcement officer; or had previously been declared a habitual violator”.[6]Second degree homicide by vehicleThis is a misdemeanor, that upon conviction will result in a sentence of up to 1 year (which may be suspended) or a fine of up to US$1,000 (or both). Second degree homicide by vehicle encompasses all other homicides by vehicle, involving any other violation of the laws governing motor vehicles, that are not classed as first degree homicides.[

And sent to jail for six months. It was not his first impaired driving offense.

Those in sympathy with this woman might consider signing the petition to the GA governor:
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/669/545/347/

She chose not to cross at a crosswalk, she chose to jaywalk rather than walk to the nearest crosswalk.  Because of those choices her kid died. She is just as culpable as the driver.  
That being said, a crosswalk doesn’t guarantee physical protection from a car, I can attest to that, however it does put you in the right in the eyes of the law.  10 minutes worth of walking and she could have avoided the mess she is in.  

 yeah, you would walk an extra HALF mile with 3 kids.  Please.  This mother was tired, hot, beat down and screwed.  She could be in jail longer than the killer. 

if it takes your child 33 minutes to walk 3/10 of a mile with you there is a health issue

0.3 miles is too far to walk? I find it amazing that you are complaining about that short distance. It is a high speed highway, which is not legal or possible if you put a stoplight every tenth of a mile. The school districts here only run buses if you live more than a mile from the school, which applies for elementary school. And you think the 0.6 miles round trip is too far to walk? That she chose to bet lives to save that few minutes of walking is disgusting and ridiculous, and if you think 0.3 miles to the crosswalk is too far, maybe you should get out of your chair and go do some walking yourself.

For all the people who believe the mother was reckless and endangered her children… I challenge you to the following:

Only use active and/or public transport for at least one month and do so in all weather conditions and different times of day/night e.g. work, shopping, leisure, medical;

Travel to or research other countries – there are different ways of doing things.

It is worth examining Denmark, Germany, Sweden where there is an assumption that people rather than cars on roads come first.  It is expected thatpedestrians, cyclists and motorvehicle drivers make mistakes.  It is also assumed that children will run out into roads at times.  These countries plan for unpredictability so if a bad decision is made, there is greater scope for everyone in the situation to respond without the type of calamity experienced by this family e.g. drivers being aware of pedestrians and the possibility someone might run out, driving slower…
 
Do you believe that roads and the ability to drive places fast is more
important than being able to use the streets comfortably as a
pedestrian?

Do you drive places because you are time poor and want to get places fast? Have you ever done anything wrong as a driver by accident or to save time? If so, why would pedestrians be different?

Reflect on decisions you made that you think were poor judgements on your part.  Will you ever make a bad decision again in any aspect of your life? Is there always one right answer?

Question your assumptions: Do ‘good’ parents/guardians walk an unreasonable distance out of their way to cross the road when it is likely their children will not do the same thing when they are older and go places on their own? 

Or do ‘good’ parents/guardians expose their children to a variety of traffic situations to build knowledge and skills so children have a library of experiences to rely upon when assessing safe areas and times to cross?

My mum would have been labeled a bad mom, but I can cross all types of roads and cycle on roads in all sorts of environments (rural, suburban, urban) in many different poor and rich countries.

I live about a mile from the scene of the accident and have driven on this road thousands of times. There’s no place for pedestrians to cross safely even at the nearest traffic lights. I thought at the time that she was crazy to even try, but what other option did she have? Not much. I’m appalled that she’s being punished for it– losing the child was punishment enough. That being said, it’s also true that Cobb Co Transit is almost useless. It’s an ordeal to get anywhere without a car. The few times my car was in the shop and I checked out riding the bus, I found that it would take over 2 hrs to go 6 miles. I’ve often driven coworkers home so they didn’t have to take the bus.And there are people crossing Austell Rd and nearby S.Cobb Dr between the lights–sometimes as close as yards from the crosswalks– day and night, mostly young Hispanic or Afro-American men but also women with strollers and children of all races and ethnicities. Austell Rd and this part of S.Cobb Dr were expanded from 2-lane country roads to 4-5-6 lanes about 20 years ago, but it was only 10 yrs ago (or so) that sidewalks were added! There are an astonishing number of taxies but the lack of a good mass-transit system is what’s criminal. On the other hand you have people who recklessly cross these major roads regardless of traffic. This poor woman was only doing what everybody does and was fatally unlucky. But this is not the rich part of the county. This is the we-nearly-got-taken-over- by-MS13 part of the county, right next to Lockheed and Dobbins Air Force Base, which is too noisy for the rich folks.

Same way they can “allow” anyone else who broke the law to get locked up.

Is the law different for parents?

Is the law different for bus users?

The jury’s job is not to understand how the defendant feels; the jury’s job is to determine whether the defendant’s actions were in violation of the law or not. It doesn’t matter whether they ride buses or chauffeured limousines; it matters that the law says “XYZ” is illegal, and whether or not the defendant did XYZ.

So people whose children die because of their actions should be exempt from punishment? Where do we draw the line? “Well, sure, I drowned my kid, but that should be punishment enough….”

I have 3 kids, 7, 8 and 2.  My husband is a weldor and often works out of state.  Fortunately, we live in the country and I have the ability and the good fortune to have a car.  I have walked with 3 children, the two oldest holding hands with each other and me holding one of them and one of the 2 y/o.  they are kids, they can break free, they can do stupid things, but the fact that you think you know better is BS.  I feel so badly for this poor mother, lack of judgement is one thing, but that is a moral issue, not a legal one.  In most states vehicular manslaughter requires that one be driving a vehicle.

Except the article isn’t about the underlying problem. The article is about what a horrible travesty of justice it is that the person who chose to risk her children’s lives should be prosecuted when she lost her bet and a child died. I agree, mass transit planning in Georgia sucks. But this is not the way to prove it.

So you’re saying that ‘good’ parents deliberately do unsafe things, such as running across five lanes of fast-moving traffic with a 4-year-old, so that the kids will grow up knowing how to jaywalk? Seriously?

Atlanta Pedestrian-Vehicle right-of-way rules/regs:

 http://peds.org/resources/pedestrian_right_of_way/

All your comments about this sad case are reasonable, but she is still guilty of vehicular homicide. In that situation that actually existed, anybody with an ounce of sense would have known that it was very dangerous to cross there with three children. (Of course the perp being black has nothing whatever to do with the rights and wrongs of the matter.)

What other option did she have? How about, shopping somewhere else? How about, getting a neighbor to take care of her children while she went shopping?

What other option did she have? How about, shopping somewhere else? How about, getting a neighbor to take care of her children while she went shopping?

Actually I think the prosecutor and the jury  was right on this one. As the adult she should have been responsible and reasonably forseen that there would be an accident. The fact that she was working class does not exonerate her.

I find the whole ‘illegal’ part to be strange too. In Australia you are only jay walking if you cross a street on an angle (ie. don’t walk straight across) or if you cross within 100 metres of a pedestrian crossing/lights – there is certainly no crime involved in crossing a street (unless its a no pedestrian freeway).  Also our laws are clear Pedestrians have Right of Way!  Even if they are jay walking a car still must slow down or stop for them.

I would have done the exact same thing she did: tried to cross right there. It’s probably something she’s done a couple hundred times before, safely. Everyone I know would have tried to cross there. I don’t know *anyone* who would walk to the crosswalk.  

How can she be convicted of vehicular homicide? Unless she paid/talked with the drunk to come hit her kid with a car? That doesn’t make any sense. She made a mistake in trying to cross illegally and should pay a fine for jay walking however the hit and run driver is the one who killed a child. At the *least* he should *also* be charged for vehicular homicide.

This is the very definition of “injustice”! What happened to the drunken, drugged a$$hat that actually killed the child? Did they get charged and convicted of vehicular homicide among other offenses? How is it legal for that person to even own a car after multiple hit and run offenses?

This site is about how dangerous the poor planning of traffic and public transportation is and the body count that results from that. Look at the right side of the page.

This site is about how dangerous the poor planning of traffic and public transportation is and the body count that results from that. Look at the right side of the page.

The jury system was put into place so that the citizens would be judged by others like themselves. It has a lot to do with the law, of course, but more to do with how a reasonable person that is similar to the defendant would interpret that law and act or behave in response to that law. The question is, “would a reasonable and prudent person, who is like the defendant, understand the law in this particular way or behave in that particular way under the same circumstances’. Though ignorance of the law is no excuse for breaking it, there are a lot of gray areas that have to be judged in context. It can not be considered in context unless the individuals involved in judging have the same point of view and experiences.
 Don’t be so quick to judge someone else living a life you have no understanding of.

The jury system was put into place so that the citizens would be judged by others like themselves. It has a lot to do with the law, of course, but more to do with how a reasonable person that is similar to the defendant would interpret that law and act or behave in response to that law. The question is, “would a reasonable and prudent person, who is like the defendant, understand the law in this particular way or behave in that particular way under the same circumstances’. Though ignorance of the law is no excuse for breaking it, there are a lot of gray areas that have to be judged in context. It can not be considered in context unless the individuals involved in judging have the same point of view and experiences.
 Don’t be so quick to judge someone else living a life you have no understanding of.

Mr. Goldberg,  I understand that you advocate that middle class whites should not serve as jurors for African-Americans.  So I gather that you also advocate that African-American’s should not serve as jurors for middle class whites?  Really?

I’m not completely familiar with Georgia law (I’m across the river) but I would assume that she was convicted of vehicular homicide because a) her actions caused a death (the child’s0, and b) a vehicle was involved in the death (even though it was someone else’s). There are certainly other situations which would clearly be vehicular homicide even though the person was not driving — for instance, if a passenger grabs a driver’s arm and he hits someone as a result. The bottom line is that if that’s the law as written, that’s the law as written, and whatever it’s called, it’s the law she broke.

If I was responsible for a 4-year-old child, I have been known to cross streets unsafely, but only when I’m not putting an innocent person at risk.

For some reason, this thing is eating occasional bits of my comments. This is the third post it’s happened in. That should have been “If I was responsible for a 4-year-old child,I would.”

http://www.change.org/petitions/cobb-county-ga-release-grieving-mother-of-hit-and-run-install-a-crosswalk

I’m not getting that from the article. It seems to be saying the question of whether or not she was committing a crime was an open one, based on whether or not the “street” (from the map it looks more like a parking lot entrance) legally counts as a street or not. One would hope that her lawyer would have brought that up at her trial — if he didn’t, she’s got grounds for appeal right there on the basis of the fact that her attorney was as dumb as a box of rocks. But assuming that the jurors were told at least as much as we Internet commenters know, they were given the facts and they determined that those facts amounted to a death caused while violating a law.

And I, at least, have not said whether she’s morally at fault because she led three young children into five lanes of traffic and one of them died. Yeah, I think she is, but I also think there are people “morally at fault” who are acquitted (see: Casey Anthony) and people not at fault, morally or otherwise, who are convicted (see: the Innocence Project, collectively). That’s not the issue here. The issue is whether she’s LEGALLY at fault. And by my reading of the facts as presented, she seems to be; the people who got all the facts, including those not provided to us anonymous cowards (and we all are, whatever names we pick for ourselves) determined that she was.

It has nothing to do with racism or bigotry. There is one law for all people. The real bigotry is in saying that some people aren’t able to obey the laws because they’re a certain color, or of a certain income level, or in a certain family situation — that those people are not as good as everyone else, and can’t do the same things everyone else can.

I don’t talk about my age, my color, my sex, my income level, or my history — and at least one of those is probably not what you’d think. But none of those makes me exempt from the law.

Different jurisdictions, different laws.

In the town where I live, it’s legal for a driver to go through certain red lights after stopping. That doesn’t mean I should do the same thing in Australia, agreed?

The fact that the driver was impaired & shouldn’t of been behind the wheel qualiifies him to be guilty of this crime. And for all of “u” inconsidered people that has no compassion for the mother, itz only sad to you or should I say you only feel or have concern when itz ur fam or close 2 home that the these traggic events take place non-the-less if we to charge this mother the only charge that she is due is the fact she is human & trying to take care of her family with problly little or no help. I pray that God will render what is right or just cause he has final say.

Barry.Morgan@cobbcounty.org

Is it unfortunate what happened to that child? Yes, very unfortunate. However the fault lies on both the parent and the driver. Also if the current law does place guilt on the mother and a jury found her guilty I see no issue here.

3/10 miles? Thats not very far in my books. Where I come from they give you a ticket for jaywalking even if no one hits you.

The issue here is not the jury. It’s that it was ever prosecuted in the first place. 

By “our legal system” you mean the white legal system that traditionally has no respect, sympathy or empathy for black people or poor people whatsoever.

Yeah, that legal system.

Even if she wasn’t black, she was still a bus rider, which, in this country, makes you “lower class”. Hell, I live in Ohio. Two white women left their kids in hot cars for hours to bake to death. They were never even charged with ANYTHING. Never arrested, it was all decided they had been “punished enough”.

But black people and poor people can never be “punished enough” to suit rich white people. She lost her child – and the best you can say is “she should have known better.”

What a holier than thou asshole you and others of your ilk are.

While Jay walking may not be illegal in Georgia, that has no baring on the has. She was charged and convicted of homicide not because the color of her skin or her income level. But because she put her children in danger. Homicide is defined as “The killing of another by an act of irresponsibility or lack of attention to duty, rather than by intentional act.” Her responsibility as a mother to those kids is to protect those kids, and there is no way you can argue that, she was irresponsible when she crossed that street, which lead to the death of her child. Your right if she was richer she would have not been on the bus and would not have crossed the street. But she was on the bus she did cross the street and her kid got killed for her negligence. By definition that is homicide.  

You need to look at the case of Brenda Nesselroad Slaby and also Jodie Edwards and then you tell me if this woman got a fair deal.

Anybody with an “ounce” of compassion might think differently.

the law is wrong. its that simple. that is the reason for a jury and that is why the jury is SUPPOSED to be of her PEERS.

the law is wrong. its that simple. that is the reason for a jury and that is why the jury is SUPPOSED to be of her PEERS.

Well, then let me tell you what the Georgia law regarding vehicular homicide is. First off, there are provisions for killing someone while engaging in reckless driving, drunken driving, fleeing from a police officer, and when failing to properly yield to a school bus. None of these provisions of § 40-6-393(a) apply. § 40-6-393(b) defines a hit-and-run, which applies to the driver, but not the woman. § 40-6-393(d) requires the “operation of a motor vehicle” and is thus inapplicable.

So maybe § 40-6-393(c) will give us something to work with:
“Any person who causes the death of another person, without an intention
to do so, by violating any provision of this title other than
subsection (a) of Code Section 40-6-163, subsection (b) of Code Section
40-6-270, Code Section 40-6-390 or 40-6-391, or subsection (a) of Code
Section 40-6-395 commits the offense of homicide by vehicle in the
second degree when such violation is the cause of said death and, upon
conviction thereof, shall be punished as provided in Code Section
17-10-3.”

That’s more promising. But wait! What title was she supposedly violating, in this case? Jaywalking? Well, strictly speaking, crossing without a crosswalk is not illegal, as long as it is done safely. I refer you to § 40-6-92(a):

“Every pedestrian crossing a roadway at any point other than within a
marked crosswalk or within an unmarked crosswalk at an intersection
shall yield the right of way to all vehicles upon the roadway unless he
has already, and under safe conditions, entered the roadway.”

So then this woman must have failed to “yield the right of way”, correct?

But there’s a problem there too. “‘Right of way’ means the right of one vehicle or pedestrian to proceed IN A LAWFUL MANNER in preference to another vehicle or pedestrian
approaching under such circumstances of direction, speed, and proximity
as to give rise to danger of collision unless one grants precedence to
the other” (§ 40-1-1(52)) [Emphasis added].

Since the drunken dumbass lost his right to lawfully operate his motor vehicle the moment he sucked down four beers and two painkillers, it is plausible to argue that he cannot have the “right of way” to drive illegally. In which case, it was impossible for the mother to fail to yield the right of way, and this charge is entirely baseless.

I known better than to have more children than I can control. I know I wouldn’t try to cross a busy highway illegally.  I wouldn’t try to do it without my wife. She should have waited until her husband was home.

It’s not that simple. One could make an argument that the city was the irresponsible party for not providing a crosswalk. The driver also acted irresponsibly by driving under the influence. Hell, you could even argue that the mother choice of taking the quickest route was responsible because she was trying to shorten the amount of time her children would be exposed to the dangers of the road.

What happened here was a  terrible accident that could have been avoided in many different ways. But the fact of the matter is that the charge of vehicular homicide is ridiculous and a sentencing of 3 years in jail is absurd.

You are absolutely wrong if you believe that jurors are some kind of robots that disregard their life experiences and biases and make perfect, rational formulations of facts to law.

You are just making excuses for injustice.

The injustice is that the jury was ever given this to decide. The prosecutor looked at what occurred and decided to punish the mother, even though it was obviously not her fault since the driver was intoxicated, half-blind, etc. He abused his power by bringing this type of case. Surely there was no public outcry that forced his hand to charge her in the death of her son. Hopefully his constituents will vote him out of office.

Ha ha, I guess you don’t know a lot about jury selection and jury law in America. Shorter: the goal is to get a jury who are entirely non-peers and know nothing pertaining to any material fact in the case, thus sparing socially climbing prosecutors from any embarrassment.

You are a disgusting excuse for a human being Tommy; a vile and despicable sociopath who should not be allowed to roam free in society. May YOU suffer as much heartbreak as this poor woman has ten thousand times over! It will certainly take as much to make you develop a sliver of compassion and common sense.

Gary, your lack of empathy and continued veiled racism/sexism is pretty telling. Shhhh.

And arguably a civic duty.

terribly sad, and terrible planning to not have safe pedestrian access.

Unlike all the women over at Feministing, I learned to use a crosswalk when I was a child.

How can someone be convicted of “homicide by vehicle” if they did not operate the vehicle? Doesn’t the law have as one of the elements of the crime, that the accused be the operator of the vehicle?  Why wasn’t the operator of the vehicle also charged with homicide by vehicle?  Crossing the street and possibly breaking a traffic law while a pedestrian can not be the nexus to the charge of homicide by vehicle, can it?  While I agree that it is also a  transportation planning issue as to why she chose to cross the street, the conviction seems to be something that can be overturned on appeal.   Wasn’t the proximate cause of the “accident” the operator of the vehicle and wasn’t the family crossing the street like the proverbial bouncing ball every driver must be aware of?

She wasn’t a single mother popping babies out. She is a divorcee living in another state with no support or help from her ex husband. 

No, the fault here is the stupid mother who crossed 5 lanes of traffic without a crosswalk. Pretty sure she made the decision to not properly ensure the safety of both her and her child. So the other patrons crossed at the same spot – did they have kids? She has nobody to blame but herself.

Sounds about right.  This idiot crossed the street without using a cross-walk.  Boo-hoo that it’s 1/3 mile away.  Add on child-abuse, child-endangerment, laziness, stupidity.  What a complete loser!

Yep.

Hooray!  A smart response.

This is really sad. I pray for the family.

Maybe a FATHER would.

Maybe a single MOTHER (i.e., a WOMAN) would understandably want to get inside with her kids as soon as possible (as she stated) when she finds herself out after dark in an urban area, after missing her earlier bus.

But hey, that’s just me being a silly responsible woman who’s had it drilled into me all my life that’s unsafe for me to be on the streets at night…

Sorry, but this type of response seems to me to come from men or women who have never had to wrangle 2-3 little ones late in the day.  They missed a bus and were an hour later than they expected, imagine 3 kids, tired, cranky, whiney…  I know plenty of mother’s who have made similar decisions in that situation.  What happened was tragic and I imagine she will feel the guilt and responsibility for it forever, prosecuting her for it however is ridiculous.

This area is not “urban” by any stretch of the term. It is not exactly rural either. The houses and apartment complexes are too old and haphazard to qualify for suburban. There used to be horse or cattle pastures scattered along the side roads. In fact the area, between the towns of Marietta and Smyrna, is in “unincorporated Cobb Co.” It’s dark there at night. And none of the crosswalks are safe. Besides, the woman didn’t have much choice to hike to the crosswalk because the child darted into the road in front of a drunk driver who then chose to keep on going.

I’m curious about a few things in the article. In one spot it indicates over half a mile to the nearest traffic signal, in another, three tenths. It also indicates the jurors weren’t her peers because they’re white, but doesn’t indicate if any had children.

I’m not saying I agree with her conviction, but the article is a little confusing.

How much money was spent on this ludicrous case? Do they require the prosecutors to have high school diplomas or even a GED in Georgia? This case makes me sick.

Read judge Edith Jones comments to the law students in Harvard about NIHILISM in 2003. It’s got worse not better.   I think you can google it.  You will see that the underpinnings of law have disappeared. 

Judges and attorneys have become lie factories.  One attorney told me “it’s not about truth and justice any more, it’s about who can get away with the biggest lie”.  Then he told me about competition in the county bar for the honor, that includes judges. 

Imagine…open competition in a county bar to “see who can get away with the biggest lie(s)’. 

That’s our US judicial system today…selling rulings to the high bidder. 

Disciplinary Commission’s…what disciplinary commissions !!! 

No Ceneric, theres no proof that he did anything wrong.  The article says he had a couple of drinks and perhaps some medication, but that did not necessarily put him at fault,  He would surely have been cited if he was drunk. 

The article says it was dark.  A person not expecting people on a divided highway can come upon them so fast that there is no time to react. A black person (or any race) in dark clothes can blend into the darkness.    

I’ll bet he felt terrible about the accident, but he was not liable unless he saw the child and ran over him intentionally. 

This mother will live with this for the rest of her life and so will the person who hit the child.   
 

Please see my reply to Jennifer above.  When you show me a list of persons cited and convicted for jaywalking there, at the spot many persons cross all the time, then I will believe she had (or should have had) knowledge that it is illegal.  

Show me thirty citations and convictions for jaywalking at this spot, then I will think she had some knowledge that it is illegal (or should have).  Intent is not there.  People apparently cross there all the time.  The jury’s job is to determine if she had knowledge (or by demonstration should have) that the act was illegal and did it any way.  Did even one of the persons who crossed at the same spot even get a jaywalking ticket?  

That part is missing and the judge clearly didn’t care to instruct the jury about necessity of ”intent” and “knowledge”… to make it a crime.   

You make an assumption that the intersection, where traffic can come from multiple directions, is truly “safer”.  It may not be, especially at night.  I’d rather be at a place away from the traffic light where I can judge speed and no cars can come from behind, in front or while turning. 

Clearly crossing at an intersection on a divided highway has it’s own dangers.  Traffic can come from both sides, front and back and turning in every direction.  This tragedy could easily have happened there.  

I make the argument that an intersection on a busy divided highway is even MORE dangerous than where one has clear visibility and only two directions of traffic travel.   

She (attempted to) cross with outher people.  Nobody reached out to help her apparently.  What responsibility do they have?

You seem to know the area Paladin. 

Please tell me.. are there sidewalks to get to the intersection or must they walk along a busy highway at night?  If they got to the intersection, is there defined crosswalks that stop all traffic, including turning cars? 

And most important, how many people have been cited for crossing where she did in the last 6 months? 

And the intersection may be way more hazardous at night than a position with traffic flow in one direction and visibility for a 1/4 mile. 

I think there should be a lawsuit against Cobb County for poor pedestrian handling. If you’re a lawyer, please pick up the case pro-bono and teach people a lesson for this injustice.

Only individuals can be held guilty of a crime and only if the prosecutor goes after them. Otherwise it is considered a “civil” issue. 

Here the Prosecutor has chosen to absolve his community leaders of criminal negligence, providing a cross walk between two bus stops (note this is an intersection), where they know people are crossing anyway… by charging this woman with a crime.  This is a common legal diversionary tactic to avoid liability themselves, I believe. 

If I were a lawyer, and I’m not, I would offer to sue the county and individuals for neglegence in a wrongful death lawsuit under civil law and ask for punitive damages.  The lawyer usually gets one third or so.     

A lot of you people obviously: Don’t have kids, have never used public transport, and have never tried to cross a divided highway.
Regardless of what you think about the number of kids she has, she had them out taking care of them like a parent should. They had been out all day, walking, had eaten dinner and it was late at night. The kids were going to be behaving like wild heathens. What’s to say that the kid wouldn’t have ran off of the sidewalk or into the intersection before time to cross?
As for the “safer” intersection…. I am a FREQUENT bus rider. it is effin’ dangerous no matter where you live. i also have to cross divided highways on a few of the routes I take.
1.Divided highway intersections do not have Pedestrian signals or crosswalks. 
2. The traffic lights at those things run the gamut of extremely long, to blink and you miss it. Most of them run closer to blink and you miss it at night because pedestrians OBVIOUSLY don’t need to cross at night.
3. It is a far more horrible crime to be driving under the influence. The guy that killed the kid was a REPEAT offender. Even if he wasn’t a repeat offender, there is absolutely no question that driving under the influence is completely illegal in the WHOLE United States. I don’t give a *insert explitive of choice here* what the circumstance. if you are driving a motor vehicle while drunk or otherwise intoxicated, you should be prosecuted. If you do it and KILL someone, it should be MURDER. You knew better than to drink or get high and go drive.
4. Every parent has had their child get away from them at least once. I don’t care how perfect of a parent that you think that you are, it is a statistical CERTAINTY that Junior is going to get away from you at some point during their childhood. Every parent that I know has a My child ran into the busy parking lot or out into the street after their ball story. Even when you are right next to them, sometimes kids just don’t listen.
People on the internet want to hold other people to a standard that they would likely never keep themselves. I think the woman has been through enough and the driver, not enough.

While I totally agree with the incredible risk of crossing on a dark highway with three little ones, I would like to see this mother spared.  She has suffered enough.

Although, apparently this was not the first hit and run from the driver:

From the AJC article: 
Guy confessed to having consumed “a little” alcohol earlier in the
day, being prescribed pain medication and being partially blind in his
left eye, said David Simpson, his attorney.

“This still effects [Jerry] to this day,” Simpson said. “It is tragic all around.”

Guy was originally charged with hit and run, first degree homicide by
vehicle and cruelty to children. Charges were later dropped to just the
hit and run charge.

Court records show that Guy was previously convicted of two-hit-and-runs on the same day, Feb. 17, 1997.

The first hit-and-run also happened on Austell Road, but when Guy
fled from that scene he hit another car, seriously injuring that driver
and passenger, records show.

Guy pleaded guilty and received a two-year prison sentence, but was
out in less than a year, according to the Department of Corrections
website.

More here:  http://www.ajc.com/news/cobb/pedestrian-convicted-of-vehicular-1014879.html

No way I am sticking up for this man as I don’t know his real condition.  You certainly have more information that makes one believe he could have been impared and have more responsibility. 

But don’t focus entirely on his condition because it is understandable that a child, darting in front of someone at night, might not be avoidable to anybody, impared or not.    

I am so sorry about her tragedy, but there is a fast traffic road and someone crosses in front of you abruptly, there is little way to avoid the accident under the circumstances. The driver may well have had a beer – this does not mean he was impaired – and he served jail time even though it is unfair. None of us would have been able to avoid the impact. The boy was 4? if you don’t trust your 4-yr old in such a road (and I agree it’s not something the average 4yr old can handle, especially if he does not listens to what he’s told), don’t attempt jaywalking where it is very dangerous. Personally I think nobody should have served jail time as there was no intention to kill and no gross negligence (who will return the driver the 6 months of his life, and the damage to his reputation, and the heartache?) but that the lady tries to pass as a victim? May these people never cross in front of our cars. If she receives an examplary sentence and some other child’s life is saved because of its deterrence, that’s what justice is for. 

Hopefully some combination of the following: Attention, reflexes, conscience

Nelson had 3 children, and her four-year-old darted out when he saw another bus rider dart out. She was holding his hand, but the child loosened the grip. This could have happened at a crosswalk as well. The circumstance she was in – having to cross a four lane highway from the bus stop to the apartment complex – were undesirable, but not irresponsible on Nelson’s part.

I’m not sure what the jaywalking laws are in Georgia, but generally jaywalking – when not at a crosswalk or intersection with traffic lights – is defined as failing to yield the right-of-way to vehicles. In this case the young innocent child did what was defined as jaywalking, and lost his life. The mother should be treated with compassion and understanding, instead of facing a selfish prosecutor and unaware jury.

Where is the unlike button?  I meant to reply, not like.  I’m not seeking to absolve her of her actions but you presume the crosswalk was actually safer.  Particularly considering her son darted out unexpectedly, he would have very likely been hit at the crosswalk for the same behavior and that too is assuming the crosswalk with more than one direction of traffic to watch was actually safer.  Not to mention that the walk don’t walk signs often only blink walk for about two-four steps, I’ve almost never had one blink walk the entire way across 2 lanes and jogging (without kids).

This just seems another case where people keep presuming they know better and yacking about maternal blame presuming they would have done differently.

I almost had my kid taken away from me because he kept leaving the house through ingenius methods and no one would believe me, I had to tie and jerry rig the cat’s leash to him in order to use the bathroom without making him stand in there with me.  He wasn’t running away from home, just running off to be king of the dinosaur jungle for awhile without realizing the danger.  Everyone but my husband whispered blaming me for being lazy etc, had he gotten hit, I probably would have been convicted.  No one realized I was actually being honest about how darned sneaky he was until even after telling his school and asking key questions about their windows and everything, he managed to sneak passed the “six adults near the exits at all times” defense and still escape the school one day.  And they didn’t even realize he was gone!  He was found and brought to the nearest school by the sheriff’s deputy who saw him wandering an apartment complex 3 blocks away (in the opposite direction of home) looking for his mommy to kiss his booboo.  Which never would have happened if people weren’t so busy judging me as a neglectful mother and actually helped me rather than rolling their eyes when I requested more locks on the door from the landlord, or giving him juice and cookies in the cop car while lecturing me about my horrible parenting skills.

That’s the danger of laying blame with the mother when you don’t KNOW anything but the fact she was convicted.  When you presume your decisions would have been safer or when you believe you’d be more vigiliant in the same situation, you get a kid and bam, even forewarned with six experienced school officials at all exits, he still got out.  The kid darted out for pete’s sake, he still probably would have gotten hit darting out at a crosswalk.  Therefore, the only thing she should be found guilty of is jaywalking.

I have a a car. I have also has the experience of being completely reliant on public transportation and have had the privileged of being completely reliant on public trabspoirtation in Paris, Italy, England, Germany and San Francisco. I have made half mile treks from my bus stop to my house carrying groceries and yes, towing an exhausted sqeemish 5 year old along with me. I have not noticed a cultural difference as you seem to be suggesting. My experience has been that there will be people who respect pedestrians and drive defensively (in the CA DMV sense of the word) because they expect people will make mistakes and there are people who for whatever reason kind of don’t give a hoot. And both those types of drivers have been present in each of the environments I have lived.

1) I drive a car currently because I work at San Francisco General where I pretty consistently have shifts that don’t finish until 2 sometimes 3 in the morning- long after public transport has basically shut down for the night. I am not particularly keen on waiting one hour for a night bus in one of the shadier parts of San Francisco at 3 am and then doing the 1.3 mile trek to my house. Doubly so if I’ve just spent 13 hours in the mental ward restraining someone and getting bitten and punched- my defenses are down I don’t trust myself to be able to be alert enough to maintain my safety. Driving is much more of a necessity and a way to keep myself safe given those circumstances than just a convenience  because I am lazy and exhausted. When my car was hit and in the shop for 3 weeks and I was public transport dependent, it sucked and it was exhausting, and I planned around it. I didn’t go and do all of the Costco shopping I wanted to  because I knew I wouldn’t be able to manage getting the bags home. I carpooled home with co workers if it got too late at work etc. Surprisingly this is also what all the non car owners I know in SF do as well. They expect public transport is going to be difficult and they accommodate for that fact.

2) I pretty much pride myself on learning from the bad decisions I have made.Will there be times that when completely unforseen accidents happen? Yes, absolutely. However, this is a chaotic world and it is silly and naive to not expect that accidents will happen and to therefor do what you can to prevent them. I drive a car with a huge amount of safety features and I wear my seat belt. I don’t do that because it’s illegal not to and I see people getting pulled over for not wearing a seat belt. I do that because I know there is always a chance that I might slip up or someone else might slip up and in that scenario I want to be as safe as I can be. 

The parents that I know, that I look up to myself as a parent, are the ones that understand the world is a scary dangerous place and equip their child to to deal with that world in the safest way possible. I look at that road they crossed and I think,if  it’s dark and there’s a 55 MPH speed limit then even unburdened by my kid or groceries I would view it as a safety risk and not attempt to cross…so no way I would then cross it with groceries and my 5 year old in hand. Just won’t happen. 

And Sam sees other people  J-walking all the time, and we have the conversation about when that is an appropriate option and when that is not. And we’ve talked about that enough that I have faith he’s not going to dart out into a freeway with cars going too fast to stop. Is that denying him the experience to learn about all different types of traffic situations and how best to approach them? I don’t think so. I think it’s teaching him that maybe darting across five lanes of traffic going 55 MPH isn’t safe. It’s teaching him, suck it up honey bun, it’s only three blocks to a cross walk in that situation and the slightly higher probability of that being a safer option is  worth that. It’s teaching him that this is the realty of not having a car and you better find a way to accommodate for that or ditch your plans if you don’t like that reality.

Do I feel horrible for this mother. Yes, I just cannot, do not, even want to think about what it must be like to lose a child. Do I think vehicular manslaughter is kind of a trumped up B.S charge? Yeah, I do. Have I J-walked into traffic before? Yeah, I won’t lie, the bus was coming, I was across the street, I didn’t want to miss it. Then again it was broad day light, I was highly visible, and traffic was congested and not really going that fast. Is anyone here really going to argue that it sounds safe to cross five lanes of traffic going 55 MPH with your hands full and three kids just because everyone else is doing it? Doubtful. Part of parenting a toddler is having a small amount of paranoia  when faced with things that could harm your kid (like fast moving vehicles) and that seems to have been missing here. 

Re-plan cities as much as you like so that cross walks are closer to bus stops but until we get better at educating our kids about how to be safe in traffic (Rule #1 Don’t run into traffic) and until we get better at recognizing what constitutes a legitimate safety risk and what doesn’t nothing is really going to change- there will still be parents who don’t flinch at having to cross a freeway with a toddler and there will still be 4 year olds who subsequently learn that darting into traffic is ok and do so.

Yeah, like YOU would walk your happy ass 20 minutes out of your way with groceries in your arms and 3 kids in tow to use crosswalks and a traffic light if your home is just a one minute trot across the street. It’s easy to make such righteous “I’m a responsible parent and she’s not” comments when you’re not in the same shoes. But I bet if you were in this woman’s shoes, you wouldn’t be sitting on your high horse looking down at her in judgement. Jerk.

What Jennifer is saying is that a hit and run can happen anywhere, even at a safe crossing. I have almost been hit several times using the crosswalks from the parking lot at my college to the campus. Some of the idiots who nearly mowed me down were talking on their cell phones, texting, and some looked right at me and didn’t bother to stop when they saw me in the middle of the street. They expected ME to jump out of their way. So it doesn’t matter whether someone has had however many beers or is sober and can see perfectly well. It can happen ANYWHERE at ANY time.

Really? You’ve never jaywalked before? I assume you’ve never felt like walking out of your way to use a crosswalk was inconvenient. I bet you’re a real law-abiding citizen, which is why you think it’s so irresponsible that she didn’t use a crosswalk. Btw, you might want to adjust your halo. It looks a little crooked.

Jerry L. Guy, the driver who admitted hitting the child when pleading guilty to hit-and-run, served a 6-month sentence. He was released Oct. 29, 2010, and will serve the remainder of a 5-year sentence on probation, according to Cobb court records.Nelson was attempting to cross at the intersection of Austell Road and Austell Circle with her three children when her son was struck by a car, said Savoy. The child later died from his injuries. Nelson and her younger daughter suffered minor injuries and her older daughter was not injured.Guy confessed to having consumed “a little” alcohol earlier in the day, being prescribed pain medication and being partially blind in his left eye, said David Simpson, his attorney.”This still effects [Jerry] to this day,” Simpson said. “It is tragic all around.”Guy was originally charged with hit and run, first degree homicide by vehicle and cruelty to children. Charges were later dropped to just the hit and run charge.Court records show that Guy was previously convicted of two-hit-and-runs on the same day, Feb. 17, 1997.The first hit-and-run also happened on Austell Road, but when Guy fled from that scene he hit another car, seriously injuring that driver and passenger, records show.Guy pleaded guilty and received a two-year prison sentence, but was out in less than a year, according to the Department of Corrections website. 1997 he was drunk and stoned on pain medication she didn’t receive a fair trial at all her civil rights to a fair and speedy trial where violated she didn’t have a jury of her peers at all no african americans where on the  jury at all for her trial there is no justice for her or her son at all 

april this is what that piece of garbage got when he went to court Jerry L. Guy, the driver who admitted hitting the child when pleading guilty to hit-and-run, served a 6-month sentence. He was released Oct. 29, 2010, and will serve the remainder of a 5-year sentence on probation, according to Cobb court records.Nelson was attempting to cross at the intersection of Austell Road and Austell Circle with her three children when her son was struck by a car, said Savoy. The child later died from his injuries. Nelson and her younger daughter suffered minor injuries and her older daughter was not injured.
Guy confessed to having consumed “a little” alcohol earlier in the day, being prescribed pain medication and being partially blind in his left eye, said David Simpson, his attorney.
“This still effects [Jerry] to this day,” Simpson said. “It is tragic all around.”
Guy was originally charged with hit and run, first degree homicide by vehicle and cruelty to children. Charges were later dropped to just the hit and run charge.
Court records show that Guy was previously convicted of two-hit-and-runs on the same day, Feb. 17, 1997.
The first hit-and-run also happened on Austell Road, but when Guy fled from that scene he hit another car, seriously injuring that driver and passenger, records show.
Guy pleaded guilty and received a two-year prison sentence, but was out in less than a year, according to the Department of Corrections website.

My advice to Gary: Read the article. No husband is mentioned. Hands contain groceries. Here’s a hint- if you wish to blame the mother, use some facts and logic,not sexist twaddle. I’ve been with one child, hands free, walking on a sidewalk and had my kid dash into the street for some reason or another. You can’t always catch them before they are at risk. I’ve been crowded on a sidewalk waiting for a signal and had a kid run out into the street, thinking it safe- I couldn’t get to him because I was jammed in with the adults,he dodged between legs. She and her fellow bus riders were crammed on a 3 foot median. If she’s watching traffic, her son easily was out in the street before she could even say anything. 

How about if you are driving on a busy street that has bus routes and you note a crowd on the median you slow down and pay attention? I know I do. I also don’t drink beer wile taking pain meds and then drive at night. 

I dunno how ruined the driver’s life can be…this was his third hit and run, the second one where he severely injured folks, and he got 6 months. He admitted to having had a couple beers and was on pain meds, meaning he shouldn’t have been driving. Having crossed  many streets after exiting a bus, usually it is safest to cross with everyone else, so there is more visibility to oncoming traffic. I think you need a new handle.

Bullpoop daniela.  My child at 2 1/2 followed a puppy away.  It only took a second for her to make it out of my sight.  Children do these things all the time. 

And I myself have seen a crowd move across a street where a child (or adult) could think it’s OK

So you think making an example of her is “what justice is for”. 

I have a brother and sister in law who would say the same thing.  They have no children and have become some of the most condescending, self centered, people I know.  They would want to “make an example”.  When they die they will be burried and forgotten…   

This is a crying shame for this woman – after reading up and looking at the map – all I could think of how absurd to do this to this grieving mother.  Maybe it should be turned around, and she should sue the city for not accommodating a cross walk – being there has been so many deaths there.  I understand why she is being charged, she broke the law plain and simple.  But so many have broken that law without incident.  So sad it had to come to this but could of been preventable by the city.  My condolences to this mother.

Ooops just flagged myself, that was a mistake.

This unfortunatley does not surprise me at all.  My nephew was murdered almost 4 years ago in Cobb county by a man robbing the Game Stop store where my nephew worked.  FOUR years ago, and still no trial!!!!!  How long does it take to convict someone in the county????  This poor mom lost her son and SHE needs to go to jail for something that wasn’t her fault????  Come On……….where is common sense???  She should not go to jail, but others need to have their trials!!!!!!!

I had a near close call with my Son when  he was just about the same age.Thank God the dricer had time to stop. Please do not let this mother suffer anymore than she has. if Casey Anthony could get away with such outlandish behavior when her daughter was so called missing than this is not justice for this grieving Mother..

The punishment is not fitting the crime, this is overcharge – she should of got a ticket.  She was not the driver nor was under the influence.  What needs to be addressed is getting a crosswalk there, and questioning the DA’s reasons for overcharge.  They find themselves in a pickle with the City not addressing the issue and cover it up by over charging.  Now that’s a joke and very obvious.

his sentence was also much less than hers despite the fact that he admitted to drinking

Another typical case where lower-income people get completely fucked over. 

In the safety world there are root causes and contributing factors.  Root cause is the location of the bus stop – put the city engineer in jail!  Contributing factor(s), human nature will dictate that people will take the risk of jaywalking instead of walking that far to a cross walk- especially when the late night risk out weighs the perceived jaywalking risk.  And the drunk driving drug using worthless piece of crap operating a vehicle (more than once) … no words necessary, it should be a no brainer.

So are we going to start prosecuting parents for homicide every time a child dies from a preventable injury? A lot of kids die from riding on ATVs. In many cases they are in violation of the law, or definitely common sense, and there are few reasons to “need” to ride an ATV–the mother in this case had a much more compelling reason to do what she did. I’ve never heard of those parents getting convicted of homicides.

omg!!  i just saw this on yahoo and read the story, this is just outrageous!!  how in gods name can you say this woman is responsible for a half blind drunken idiot doped up on pain meds hitting and killing her child??  if she was at a crosswalk he would have still come barrelling through and still hit the child, he already hit two other people in the same day!!  are you people for real??  part of the kkk or just plain racist??  how can the jury all have been upper middle class jerks??  where is the justice for this poor woman after losing her child and this man goes free and is still licensed to drive??  my heart goes out to you and i am so sorry for your loss, i am rooting for you to be set, i sure wish i had the authority to set you free because i certainly would

In fact: “Between 1995 and 2005, ATVs killed at least 1,218 children under
age 16.” State laws vary, but I’m very sure that some of those children were riding on or operating an ATV in violation of the law or the helmet law. I wonder if a single parent has been prosecuted.

SHE HAS NOT BEEN SENTENCED YET..at least get the *FACTS* straight before posting (that’s what this is all about–HER SENTENCE)…..which the Judge will rule on in a few days

Ah, here we are. Perfect. Compare this story to the one above. It’s even in GA.

http://www.firehouse.com/news/news/georgia-atv-accident-driver-faces-homicide-charge

” A woman whose car rammed into an all-terrain vehicle laden with
children was charged with vehicular homicide and drunk driving as the
community grieved for the five youngsters who died…Coranne Nelson, celebrating her 14th birthday, had been taking her
five friends for a ride on the family ATV when the accident occurred. Authorities say Amanda Michelle Troupe, 29, crossed the center line
about 9 p.m. Saturday before hitting the four-wheeler, designed to carry
one person. Killed, along with Nelson, were: Dustin Varnedore, 11, and his
13-year-old sister, Kayla; Lindsay Joiner, 13; and Courtney Arsenault,
10…None of the children was wearing a helmet.”

And then note:

“Georgia law states that any operator of a motorcycle, scooter or moped
must wear a helmet, regardless of age or experience. This law is largely
due to the number of motorcycle and ATV accidents and fatalities that
occur in the state. The law extends to public roads, where few ATVs are
legally allowed to be driven, as well as private property and courses.”

So where are the homicide charges for the parents who let their unhelmeted kids under age 14 out onto the road on an ATV designed to carry one driver only? Oh, wait, we charged the DRIVER with homicide? Huh.

The way the Jury system works here  and make decision for ones right and wrong.I would say better choice is to toss a coin and decide.I see no difference ,decisions is still unpredictable in both cases.
Take the case of casey anthony ,oj simpson and the case of this bereaved mother.

It’s very unfortunate to see this kind of thing.

Absolutly RIDICULOUS! She should get another trial just for the simple fact that it wasn’t a jury of here peers! Are they now throwing constitutional rights out the window!?

That’s a real idiotic remark considering the most she is guilty of is Jaywalking!

First thing,Why why why on earth would you subject Raquel Nelson to anymore pain hasn’t she been through enough at the hand of the City anybody can look at that crossing and see that there needs to be extra cross walks and caution light at any point where a street in some way leads into a area of living pedestrian.
I really don’t get this it’s not like she said i going to endanger my kids no no i say what other option did the city leave her.oh i got it walk another mile with three little children where there is a legal cross walk in which she still has to cross street with 3 children. I’m saying that all see is paint on the road that is to signal a safe zone…. yeah right… and as i said before why,why,why would you all choose to hurt Raquel Nelson any more you may as well stand on her head and spin on it if the courts let’sthis decision stand.

I suggest everyone check out the Fully Informed Jury Association at http://www.fija.org.

A juror’s right is to decide whether the case or the law is just and convict or not accordingly.  If they believe the law is unjust, they can refuse to convict, even with overwhelming evidence of the law being broken.  That’s how unjust and immoral laws are overturned.

It’s how prohibition was forced to be overturned in the 30′s.  The jury is the final check in the system of checks and balances. 

Long ago Mr. Badazztrukker.   

Indiana gave my stolen property to the thief then certified the case with known, fabricated defense evidence.  11 proper requests to stop defense attorney fraud could not get analysis of the issue. The burden of proof was shifted to over a month after the theft was reported and stolen property found. 

My issue, that the burden of proof is when the crime happened, not a month later when the defense attorney fabricated a defense… was ruled “is not cogent”… therefor the cover up scheme in August accounts for the theft in July.  I was divested of property worth $70k and I’m supposed to be civil about the open fraud by multiple judges.

Fact and law do not matter to a determined judge.  He knows “discipline” is a NON-ISSUE for him. 

Is there an ordinance (law) that makes her crossing the street there “jaywalking” or is that just an assumption being stated over and over with no proof?  Has anyone ever been ticked at the spot? 

It’s clear there are intersecting roads at the site, bus stopps in both directions and I’ve never seen it illegal to cross at an intersecting road. 

Before you comment about it being “illegal” and “jaywalking”, please confirm that it is in fact illegal.   

There is no report of Jerry Guy admitting to
drinking beers, or taking any drugs. those are accusations, and
assumptions made by bloggers.

What Kind of Fing idiot are you Rik Waldo Mannix.  You are dumb as f&^K.  Now, If the driver wouldn’t have been impaired that might be a different story. It’s just the GA justice system again racist as it is at work. Have you ever taken public transportation???  You sir are Stupid, you and fing dumb truck.

I don’t know where the judge, jury, her lawyer or you did research but it looks like crossing the street where she did is legal.  That’s right, there is only “jaywalking” only if you cross between two lights and there are no other intersections or if you cross diagonally.

http://peds.org/resources/pedestrian_right_of_way/

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Austell+Road,+Austell,+GA+Raquel+Nelson&hl=en&ll=33.909157,-84.560759&spn=0.004888,0.01545&sll=34.02967,-84.464372&sspn=1.249613,2.90863&t=h&z=17

Now, if they did not research this well enough charges should be
brought up against the judge, jury, and her lawyer due to negligence.  At least a dropping of charges and center of town stocks plus tar and feathering!!!

According to this documentation and where she lived, she didn’t break any laws at all if she paused like she said.

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Austell+Road,+Austell,+GA+Raquel+Nelson&hl=en&ll=33.909157,-84.560759&spn=0.004888,0.01545&sll=34.02967,-84.464372&sspn=1.249613,2.90863&t=h&z=17

http://peds.org/resources/pedestrian_right_of_way/

I am sorry but just because the jury was white doesn’t mean anything. Come on people. Not everyone is racist and just because they found her guilty as such doesn’t make them racist either. No one knows the jury, how they live their lives, if they have to take a bus or not. This writer seems very judgmental towards white people. This writer doesn’t know each and every juror personally so how can they assume as much?  People are really bringing back racism back faster than it was diminishing. White people and all other races live in low income areas not just black people. That being said If I was on the jury I for one would have voted NOT GUILTY. I don’t see how they came to that verdict but wow. This poor woman! No one should have to go through what she is going through. They need to make a cross walk there for everyone’s safety. I send my prayers to her and her family. To the drunk driver your a loser and he should have to have to go to prison for the rest of his life. We need to change how things work as having more than one conviction of dui is too much. It is not fair. 

In the state of Georgia, ALL traffic violations are misdemeanors. So having expired tags or going 5 over the speed limit could hypothetically land someone in 12 months in jail. There is no uniform sentencing or unified bail schedule like you might find in other states. That said, although the maximum penalty is 36 months (12 months for each count) I highly doubt she will serve any more than probation. Most likely, i would expect a suspended sentence from the judge. Anything above that would be cruel and unusual punishment and be appealable. Regardless, it should be appealed, as there is an unmarked crosswalk at Austell Circle and Austell Road. The next nearest bus stop is at Austell and Kay Road/Sandtown Road, 650 feet away, and that is a 4 corner intersection, with an inarguable marked crosswalk there.

The unintended consequence is that rather than putting a pedestrian crosswalk (with adequate warning), the bus stop might just be ripped out. This is what has happened in California after a court case, Bonanno vs. CCCTA, that says that transit agencies have some liability for bus stops at unsafe locations. Local transit agencies have been systematically ripping out bus stops on arterial streets where they are not at traffic signals, in order to avoid liability. This results in half mile or even one mile gaps in bus stops in suburban areas, even when there are dense housing developments between the signalized intersections. In this case, it would now be a 2/3 mile distance between stops, from Cunningham Road to the south and Cochran Road to the north. The apartment complex would now have no bus stops and be 1/3 a mile away from either intersection. While prosecuting someone for this tragedy is uncalled for, transit advocates need to be careful not to end up hurting transit in the longer run, as it becomes less convenient to riders.

he got a whopping 6 months .. for a THIRD DUI.  wanna bet he had the big bucks to buy his “justice”?

Ok, I have a LOT to say about this, especially to kujoe76 below.  First of all, I have LIVED in Cobb county, so I know of what I speak.  Let’s get that clear up front.  I am a white man and am the first to cry foul when someone plays the racist card.  Here, that may or may not be true.  What definitely is true, per the news stories, is that the jury was entirely middle class white people (which, in Cobb county, means upper middle class whites who live in areas where public transportation doesn’t run). If you’ve never been to Atlanta, you don’t know that it is a VERY segregated city.  I make no racial statement at all or an opinion about it, I’m just stating that north of the city (for 30 miles) is almost all middle to upper class white suburbs.  Downtown and south is lower class and minority.  That’s just the way it is.  Cobb county (the northwest suburbs) is segregated within that.  North and east Cobb are almost exclusively middle to upper class white neighborhoods with no public transportation (it’s not needed).  From Marietta (the county seat, where the courts are) south and west is almost exclusively lower middle and poor neighborhoods that rely a lot on public transportation.  So that’s what is meant when it is said that the jury could not walk in her shoes.
Now, to the “system” in Cobb county.  This case has gotten INTERNATIONAL attention (it’s in the UK Guardian this week), all of the Atlanta news channels are all over it.  The woman was on the Today show yesterday.  The Marietta Daily Journal (the newspaper of Cobb county), however, which regularly features stories about their heroic prosecutors and judges, has said NOTHING about it…..ever!  The good ol’ boys system is the way it works here.  The sheriff there is known as the #3 toughest sheriff in the US — see the sheriff’s website where they boast about it on the front page.  He’s two behind sheriff Arpaio of Maricopa County, AZ infamy.
Cobb has a higher % of people on death row than anywhere else in Georgia.  Many of the judges are corrupt and have been there so long that nobody dares try to unseat them.  The judges contribute to each other’s campaigns, and lawyers who appear before them contribute as well.  The prosecutors, many of them anyhow, are just an extension of the judges, and prosecute for anything and everything they can think of.  As someone else said, there is no normal bond schedule here, like a normal court system.  The judges do whatever they darn well please.
One of the judges threw and 87 year old woman in prison for 3 years recently for a genuine accident where she hit a child.  Thank God the GA Board of Pardons and Paroles saw the lunacy in that and let her out in just under 90 days.  This is the kind of stuff that happens here!  The county has a 98% conviction rate, and I can assure you it isn’t because 98% of people are guilty.  They’re scared to death to go to trial because of this exact type of case and plead just to get probation and try to pick up the pieces.
As far as the sentence for the guy driving the car, I’m not concerned about him.  I had a friend whose son was on probation in Cobb for something extremely minor.  She regularly told me what a HELL it is to be on probation in Cobb.  The officers are well-known for harassment and throwing you back in jail for reasons that would be laughable anywhere else.  So this guy will wish he had just done time…again, not concerned.
But this woman should not be going to jail….period.  I don’t know what happened today in the sentencing, but I just looked at the Cobb jail records, and this woman is not there.  So the judge must have gotten the clear message from all the attention and protesting around this case.
For those of you who ‘ASS’ume that if a jury convicts there must have been a good reason, or that if a grand jury indicts there must be a good reason, or if someone is charged there must be a good reason, or if someone is arrested there must be a good reason, you do yourself and society a disservice….and you DEFINITELY don’t understand Cobb County, Georgia.

I just became number 125,598 on that petition!  This is complete LUNACY!!!

And while you’re at it, somebody point this lady towards a good lawyer so she can sue The State of Georgia into putting a crosswalk, and signals at that bus stop!

yes what about the people who design these stops and roads. i have a lot of stops i have to go at least a half of a mile extra to cross a street. they need to get out and ride these buses and see what it takes everyday.

No reports? ABC News reported it. MSNBC reported it. The Daily Mail reported it. NY Daily News reported it and on and on. They reported it because Guy (through his lawyer) admitted it. Oh yeah, they also reported that Guy was partially blind and had two previous hit and run convictions.

There you go! The prosecutor should be tarred and feathered for daring to impose the same law upon everyone, African-Americans included! Thanks for saying it openly, so that everyone may read. By the way, my children never dreamed of running into the street – they would tell adults to go get their ball or whatnot and would wait there – they crossed attached to me or other adults until they were both skilled in crossing *and* tall enough (what does one see from the driver’s seat? I seated them and had them answer.) They never gave me a problem with the road, not at 2yrs, not at 4, not at 6…. Yet, I would never have told them to cross such a highway, much less after dark. And if we had been in the unfortunate driver’s position, the impact is unavoidable. I doubt that lady would have allowed a dog – which has excellent hearing and reflexes that no human child can dream of, and absolute obedience which no child will ever have – to cross like that. How many of you, who support the lady, would go to the intersection with Ms Nelson and have her accompany your dog, after dark, to the other side? Let alone if the dog was not on a leash? 

I could add to that – add those homes/apartments so close to use a busy
road like that.  What perplexes me, if they are going to build there and
the city knows it – then where are the stop signs or at least a yellow
light blinking sensing activity of people in the area, the speed limit
there looks to be 45-50 per the looks on the videos.  Why is the city
dropping the ball with this and not putting a cross walk with lights and
sensors.

To be it sounds like the prosecuting attorney’s were trying to cover up
the mess of guilt that the city should of done years ago.

Shame on the City of this town.  And more shameful how they all worked up a plan to hurt this woman even more.  It’s ludicrous.

A petition should be developed for this woman to refute the probation and second trial.

They should. 
There was a case I can attest to, in which a person (the race is irrelevant) brought her kid in ER for a very similar case to Ms Nelson’s. The boy survived his injuries, About a week after having been sent home, back he was in the same ER after same accident. He survived again, with neurological damage. 
That person (the race is irrelevant) did not have this child nor any of her other children removed. I guess only death does. 
Time we demand from parents the same guarantees that animal shelters demand when stray dogs are “adopted”. 

I just feel that the charges against her is plain outrageous and stupid. She cant ven greive over the lost of her son because of these charges. I feel that they have no compassion for her situation, and if she is convicted whos going to watch over her kids. Why take a mother away from home for no apparent reason. Its down right wrong and it needs to be addressed.

 Seeing that buses dont have stop-signs and Red flashing lights like school buses do which at this point of the intersection there was no physical barrier, all vechiles must make a complete stop and allow the pedestrians to cross. Maybe the city and bus commissions when planning a pick up and drop off site for the buses also plan a cross walk there along with pedestrian yellow lights. If the city cant afford such things…  paint a yellow crosswalk (yellow meaning proceed with cautain) and a P-XING sign prior to it. Dont bus companies have to submit plans on where their stops are? Doesnt the city have to approve them? do the think ” oh someone might need to cross from one to the other?
Jaywalking goes on all over the world and many laws to ban jaywalking, cities only seem to enforce jaywalking bans and charge people with this when fear of a suit against them. True the 3/10ths of a mile walk to the nearest corner would have been safer to do but even at the corner crosswalks no-one ever pushes the button and has the patiences to wait for the safest time to cross. Punishing this mother for the death of her child and to use the ban of jaywalking to do this bothers me. She now has to live with the fact her child is gone.

My advice to Momma Goose: Read the article. There is no mention of her being a widow.

You’re a sick pervert. Get some help.

How very white of you.

Good morning, Gary. My assumption is that you must have just awakened from a 50-year nap.

There are ways a woman can have children and not presently have a husband or be a widow. Have you heard of Google? Try these search terms: “Bristol Palin” or “Murphy Brown”.

 ”If you look at our pedestrian
fatalities map for metro Atlanta (or any other metro, for that
matter) and zoom in, you see that the dead bodies line up like soldiers
along certain corridors – your first clue that the design is not
matching up with the use of the street.”

I disagree….if you look at that map, you’ll see that (as expected) the majority of fatalities occur when pedestrians attempt to use major arterial roads. Take out the fatalities that occurred on arterial roads and interstates (wtf are people doing walking on the interstate anyway?!), and you’ll see the number drop dramatically. I interpret this map as showing data as an “of course!” moment.

Of course pedestrians are more likely to get hit when they are walking/crossing major roadways. I was taught as a child to stay on the sidewalk, cross at the cross walk, and stay off the highways!

Don’t get me wrong, in this case, I think the mother has suffered enough and I hope the driver serves a long time. But as pedestrians, we need to use common sense!

Who says there’s no class warfare? This is a prime example right here. A
young boy killed because there is no way for his family to go shopping
safely. Now the family is destroyed by a prosecutio­n determined to
scapegoat the mother, and a jury who has no idea how such a situation
could arise. The children that remain? They’ll be in foster homes, if
they are lucky. They’ll almost certainly be separated.

This family has been destroyed as certainly as if a bomb had landed in their apartment. This is class warfare, literally.

Dear Moderators,

Why did you delete my post, but then allow that sick, vile post by “G” to stay? Ms. Nelson is already suffering enough without people like “G” viciously slandering her.

Dear Moderators,

Why did you delete my post, but then allow that sick, vile post by “G” to stay? Ms. Nelson is already suffering enough without people like “G” viciously slandering her.

Sick. Prosecutor Morgan’s e-mail is Barry.Morgan@cobbcounty.org. His phone number is (770) 528-8500.

This comment has been deleted by the moderator. Please refrain from using profanity in the comments.

I’m pretty sure he couldn’t miss the fact that he hit 3 people at once

And when was the last time you saw a court case for jaywalking?

Nor is there a mention of a husband. Where are you from? Seriously.. Statistics show that 50% of all marriages will end in divorce, and that’s assuming she was ever married in the first place. Stop assuming everyone is just like you and every child has a happy home living with their mother and father. I have posted several times and from all those postings, you cannot begin to guess anything about who I have or do not have in my life. And since you want to argue the point of whether or not she has a husband, I think it is far more likely that she is NOT married if the article does not mention the father of the child.

If you would walk 30 minutes along the side of a busy highway at night with 3 young children instead, then you have put your children in danger and I would call you an irresponsible “mother”.

The applicable law appears to be 40-6-92 and specifically section (c), which says if there are adjoining intersections that are signal controlled, a person must not walk at anyplace but the crosswalk. 

But look at the arial photo.  There are clearly two intersecting streets that are not signal controlled.  She was not “jaywalking” because there are NOT two adjoining, traffic signal controlled intersections to make her act unlawful.   

Her and the others crossing there are not “jaywalking” and it is not illegal.  The applicable law appears to be 40-6-92.  It is state code, adopted by the City of Atlanta, titled: “Crossing roadway elsewhere than at crosswalk”.
Since there ARE NOT adjoining traffic controlled intersections, section (c) DOES NOT make crossing there a “violation”.  Look at the arial photo, she was within 50 feet of a non -controlled intersection, one on each direction of travel. 

Look up the definition of “adjoining”, before you say she was crossing in violation of the law. 

PROVE SHE VIOLATED LAW, NOT JUST ASSUME SHE DID.  That is what the judge choose NOT to do. 

WHY? 

A ticket for what?  There is no law making her act unlawful.  Georgia Code 40-6-92 is the applicable law, but there are NOT “adjoining” traffic control signals. 

Give her a ticket for what since the law (section (c)) only makes crossing illegal between “adjoining” traffic controlled intersections.  She was clearly near a NON controlled intersection, proving that two siganl controlled intersections are not “adjacent”.   

I would.  Tragic accidents happen and that makes her no less of a responsible person. 

Only a person with no children think that one should, could or does have total control of a child. It’s clear she was overburdened and tired…why didn’t someone offer her a helping hand?   

 What’s up with charging a person who was not in control of a vehicle with vehicular homicide? I’m white, considered middle class; I would have acquitted her of trumped up charges. How can you convict someone of vehicular homicide if they weren’t driving a car, when a death occurred? BS…

Jaywalking is the general term for crossing where it is not lawful.  I certainly didn’t make it up (I never said she was jaywalking) and my purpose is not to debate what jaywalking is. My purpose is to analyse the existing (verifiable) law in Atlanta as a reasonable person 

The applicable law “Crossing roadway elseware than at a crosswalk” was adopted by Atlanta.  It is Ga Code 40-6-92, specifically section (c) looks at first glance to apply.  However to make her act unlawful, it requires two “adjacent traffic controlled” intersections.  It matters not that the apartment uses the one, it is still an intersection and there is a turn lane for the other direction.  The two traffic controlled intersections are not “adjacent”, thus her act is not prohibited by that law. 

6 months for a hit and run in which a victim dies? The fact that he never stopped after hitting them is horrible. He also had a history of impaired driving. If he got 6 months then she should get less. To hit someone with your vehicle and not stop is worth 5 years alone. This is an area that was poorly designed and a lot of people cross their. especially in bad weather. In a city that has traffic problems and wants more people to commute, they should have improved their high pedestrian fatalities by now. Two guys in Maryland were racing and hit as well as killed a couple of people. They got ten years and were not under the influence. they even stopped after the accident. What kind of backward A#$ laws are in the state of Georgia? But looking at the rebel flags on the state trooper vehicles I see why this happened.  

I fervently pray that this conviction will be reversed. This is so outlandish as to be cruel and unusual punishment.

If you have suffered harm or losses due to an act of violence, negligence or someone else mistake. Solicitors can help you claim for personal injury compensation. They work hard to ensure you receive the best possible service and the highest award possible. We also offer a confidential and sympathetic approach throughout claim.

Way to go!  Rulebook – 1, Grieving Mother – 0

Way to go Cobb County, why not just kick her in the teeth now that she’s down and out!

Way to go Cobb County!!!  Your first instinct is to throw a rulebook at Ms. Nelson and knowingly destroy what hasn’t already been done by a recidivist harmful criminal!  

Congrats to Cobb County’s very own prosecutor (I would better call him a “persecuter) Barry Morgan for not doing the right thing – in causing undue hardship and unnecessary pain and suffering instead of fixing the problem – send the killer to prison for life and PUT A CROSSWALK…  for the love of sweet Jesus, people are getting dumber the more their phones get smarter =(

If the court were to convict the lady, the most she should be found guilty of is jaywalking, which is the only criminal activity I can see that she actually dedicated.

The applicable law appears to be 40-6-92. It is state code, adopted by the City of Atlanta, titled: “Crossing roadway elsewhere than at crosswalk”.

Read it and look at the intersection before you conclude she is “jaywalking”. 

I known better than to have more kids than I can management. I know I wouldn’t try to combination a fast paced freeway against the law.

If the mother was holding the young boys hand he could not of darted off.If the mother had caught her bus on time this would not of happened.If she had walked to the crosswalk holding her childrens hands this would not of happened.At no time in my life would I cross the street with a chid and not have a tight grip on their hand. It’s a parents job to make sure the child is safe at all times. You too often see that this is not the case always. Many times I have seen children walking further away from their parents and each time it was wrong.Sometimes they make it to safety and sometimes not. So very sad.It could have all been avoided and this little boy who had his life ahead of him lost his live to carelessness. Prayers for his family.