N.J. Trooper Critically Injured Following Accident

[Sharon]

75 or 72 mph, he was still flying.

Braveheart wrote:

The last we heard was that there was some issue of expert witness on the black box in Hoigbee's car to determine whether he was going 75 mph or whether he was going 72 mph at time of impact. In other words, did he try to put on the brakes too late, or did he brake only the moment before impact?????

[20 months and counting]

Still no justice.....

[Still no justice]

20 months and counting

[Country Joe]

...and counting....

[peas]

What a horrible, sad story!! God Bless this family who lost their two girls. I have NO idea how they will cope through this.
I think everyone, includeing the Officer involved are grieving, what a very sad story.

[yugocif]

Keeping the story alive - 21 months and still no closure, no trial, no nuthin.....

[Braveheart]

Thanks for keeping it real.....

[dsntslp]

More prayers.

[yugocif]

21 months and counting

[Deb]

So what is going on? Surely there is a hold up somewhere??? Courts, lawyers, police, state troopers, what? Do they think people with just forget about what happened? Even Nick Hogan is in jail already!

[yugocif]

The wheels of justice do not turn as swiftly as the tires on a state trooper's car. Since Judge Alvarez moved on, a new judge has to familiarize himself with the case. He is actually looking for a way to dismiss it. Three months till the sad anniversary - no justice.

[none]

The last I heard, all individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty--in this country at least.

Two items worth noting:

A. Officer Ippolito Gonzalez, Washington Twp.(Gloucester Co.), who some years back was shot in the face and killed by that sophisticate, Robert "Mudman" Simon. Simon was determined to be guilty, and while on death row at Trenton State
Prison was stomped to death by that other notable citizen, Ambrose Harris, who had killed a helpless
aspiring artist, Christine Huggins.

B. Trooper Lamonica (sp?), who was shot and killed
in Warren County by some dopey "revolutionary" named Tommy Manning. If memory serves, Manning remained at-large for the better part of ten years
until he was finally apprehended in Virginia by the FBI and a New Jersey State Police Task Force.

While I would never compare the two innocent girls
who were killed in Upper Twp. with these two nuts,
the point is that cops never know if a speeding car is transporting a couple of desperados who recently left the scene of an armed robbery or a murder--and the Trooper's life is constantly at-risk. Cops have jobs to do as do prosecutors and judges.

Now, I don't pretend to know if there was a speeding car or not, as I've not read the file. But I doubt any of you have either. Why doesn't everybody take a deep breath and await the outcome
instead of jumping to conclusions before one word of testimony has been taken.

As I say, "innocent until proven guilty" is a pretty health concept as far as I'm concerned

p

[yugocif]

There was no speeding car. have the State Police release the transcripts of the radio transmissions. The trooper should have radioed it in, as per standard S.O.P. Due process would dictate that the fatal vehicle should have been preserved - it was towed to a State Police impound lot, where it was left exposed for 33 days. Troopers were in and out of that lot, so evidencx could have been tampered with. Attorneys for the victims were not allowed acces during that time.

[none]

clarence darrow speaks. as i mentioned, all these things are the appropiate subject matter of examination and cross-examination. and in the end that's why we have juries; and it's why we conduct trials. at least that's what i've always thought.

it may be that the "speeding car", if indeed there was one, was first noticed by higbee moments before impact and there was simply no time to radio the observation.

i believe in trials--the importance of which is enshrined in the very declaration of our independance from the british crown. that you don't is sad for you; and i hope you're never convicted without a hearing of any kind.

[yugocif]

Release the transcripts, then.
Release the identity of the Phantom Speeder.
Release the readings of the black box.
Justice is good as long as it does not punish the innocent ans protect the guilty.
There were many circumstances that made this a fatality, the least of which was negligence on the Becker girls, as som posters here want to claim.

[none]

Amazing.

If there was no time to call in a report, if impact was BEFORE good visual identification, there would be no transcript to release. If the car's radio was not working for whatever reason, there would be no transcript to release. If the identity of the "phanton speeder" was known, he would not be characterized as a "phanton", other than in your deranged world.

All these aspects will no doubt be fully explored and tested at trial--as they should be.

Now I don't know if Higbee will testify, and if he does what his testimony will be. Presumably, if early press reports are to be believed, the defense will advance a theory of some unknown speeder. It will be the prosecutor's job to discredit this and paint it as false. It will be the jury's job to determine what's credible and what's not--as has been the case since Magna Carta.

As I say, that's why we have trials and that's why
the Declaration of Independance complained of King George's disregard of this basic priniple and it is why our Bill of Rights demands it.

Why is this so confusing to you?

[none]

p.s.--in fact there may be transcripts, but both sides might be disinclined to release the contents because the attorneys are preparing for a Manslaughter trial, not an appearance on some Variety Show. Plus which, there are ethical contraints on lawyers not to try their cases in the press--and each side might be under a "gag order" issued in Chambers not to do so.

See you real soon.

[yugocif]

Ahhh, but if it were the other way around, and you hit a trooper's car and he was fatally injured, you would be clapped in irons and stowed in solitary within 8 months. So, why is justice work in a more ponderous and tedious manner when it's the fuzz involved? The NJSP said they would release facts, and they never did - so, are they liars?

[none]

wrong again.

in 2002, a trooper named Chis Scales was struk and killed after being hit by the rear end of an 18 wheeler at a garden state parkway toll plaza during the course of a routine seatbelt project.

the driver, a guy named Donahue if memory serves, was not issued a summons and was not charged. The
investigation revealed that it was simply a tragic accident.

no irons; no solitary confinement; no charges; no indictment; no trial. an investigation and an outcome--nothing more and nothing less.

do you ever grow weary of being wrong? you're starting to sound like you have some kind of ax to grind.

[Tina]

And you sound like a cop or state trooper or friend of the Trooper.

none wrote:

wrong again.
in 2002, a trooper named Chis Scales was struk and killed after being hit by the rear end of an 18 wheeler at a garden state parkway toll plaza during the course of a routine seatbelt project.
the driver, a guy named Donahue if memory serves, was not issued a summons and was not charged. The
investigation revealed that it was simply a tragic accident.
no irons; no solitary confinement; no charges; no indictment; no trial. an investigation and an outcome--nothing more and nothing less.
do you ever grow weary of being wrong? you're starting to sound like you have some kind of ax to grind.