Supreme Court allows buttrape for speeding tickets

Yet another reason to NEVER "pay a speeding ticket" -- which is (usually) PLEADING GUILTY TO A CRIME...

High court upholds jailhouse strip searches

USA Today

WASHINGTON (AP) – Jailers may perform invasive strip searches on people arrested even for minor offenses, an ideologically divided Supreme Court ruled Monday, the conservative majority declaring that security trumps privacy in an often dangerous environment.

In a 5-4 decision, the court ruled against a New Jersey man who was strip searched in two county jails following his arrest on a warrant for an unpaid fine that he had, in reality, paid.

The decision resolved a conflict among lower courts about how to balance security and privacy. Prior to the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, lower courts generally prohibited routine strip searches for minor offenses. In recent years, however, courts have allowed jailers more discretion to maintain security, and the high court ruling ratified those decisions.

In this case, Albert Florence's nightmare began when the sport utility vehicle driven by his pregnant wife was pulled over for speeding. He was a passenger; his 4-year-old son was in the backseat.

Justice Anthony Kennedy said the circumstances of the arrest were of little importance. Instead, Kennedy said, Florence's entry into the general jail population gave guards the authorization to force him to strip naked and expose his mouth, nose, ears and genitals to a visual search in case he was hiding anything.

"Courts must defer to the judgment of correctional officials unless the record contains substantial evidence showing their policies are an unnecessary or unjustified response to problems of jail security," Kennedy said.

In a dissenting opinion joined by the court's liberals, Justice Stephen Breyer said strip searches improperly "subject those arrested for minor offenses to serious invasions of their personal privacy." Breyer said jailers ought to have a reasonable suspicion someone may be hiding something before conducting a strip search.

Breyer said people like Florence "are often stopped and arrested unexpectedly. And they consequently will have had little opportunity to hide things in their body cavities."

Florence made the same point in his arguments: He said he was headed to dinner at his mother-in-law's house when he was stopped in March 2005. He also said that even if the warrant had been valid, failure to pay a fine is not a crime in New Jersey.

But Kennedy focused on the fact that Florence was held with other inmates in the general population. In concurring opinions, Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito said the decision left open the possibility of an exception to the rule and might not apply to someone held apart from other inmates.

Kennedy gave three reasons to justify routine searches — detecting lice and contagious infections, looking for tattoos and other evidence of gang membership and preventing smuggling of drugs and weapons.

Kennedy also said people arrested for minor offenses can turn out to be "the most devious and dangerous criminals." Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh initially was stopped by a state trooper who noticed McVeigh was driving without a license plate, Kennedy said.

In his dissent, Breyer said inmates in the two New Jersey jails already have to submit to pat-down searches, pass through metal detectors, shower with delousing agents and have their clothing searched.

Many jails, several states and associations of corrections officials say strip searches should be done only when there is reasonable suspicion, which could include arrest on drug charges or for violent crimes, Breyer said.

Susan Chana Lask, Florence's lawyer, said, "The 5-4 decision was as close as we could get … in this political climate with recent law for indefinite detention of citizens without trial that shaves away our constitutional rights every day."

The first strip search of Florence took place in the Burlington County Jail in southern New Jersey. Six days later, Florence had not received a hearing and remained in custody. Transferred to another county jail in Newark, he was strip-searched again.

The next day, a judge dismissed all charges. Florence's lawsuit soon followed.

He still may pursue other claims, including that he never should have been arrested.

Florence, who is African-American, had been stopped several times before, and he carried a letter to the effect that the fine, for fleeing a traffic stop several years earlier, had been paid.

His protest was in vain, however, and the trooper handcuffed him and took him to jail. At the time, the State Police were operating under a court order, because of allegations of past racial discrimination, that provided federal monitors to assess stops of minority drivers. But the propriety of the stop is not at issue, and Florence is not alleging racial discrimination.

In 1979, the Supreme Court upheld a blanket policy of conducting body cavity searches of prisoners who had had contact with visitors on the basis that the interaction with outsiders created the possibility that some prisoners had obtained something they shouldn't have.

For the next 30 or so years, appeals courts applying the high court ruling held uniformly that strip searches without suspicion violated the Constitution.

But since 2008 — in the first appellate rulings on the issue since the Sept. 11 attacks — appeals courts in Atlanta, Philadelphia and San Francisco have decided that a need by authorities to maintain security justified a wide-ranging search policy, no matter the reason for someone's detention.

The high court upheld the ruling from the Philadelphia court, the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

The case is Florence v. Board of Chosen Freeholders of County of Burlington, 10-945.

Listen to oral arguments in Florence v. Board of Chosen Freeholders of County of Burlington

Governor signs law allowing citizens to shoot cops, cops get 65 years prison for shooting citizens

"Now if the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms comes to disarm you and they are bearing arms, resist them with arms. Go for a head shot; they're going to be wearing bulletproof vests. They've got a big target on there, ATF. Don't shoot at that, because they've got a vest on underneath that. Head shots, head shots.... Kill the sons of bitches. If the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms insists upon a firefight, give them a firefight. Just remember, they're wearing flak jackets and you're better off shooting for the head. I was talking about a situation in which law enforcement agents come smashing into a house, don't say who they are and their guns are out, they're shooting and they're in the wrong place. This has happened time and time again. The ATF has gone in and gotten the wrong person in the wrong place. The law is that if somebody is shooting at you, using deadly force, the mere fact that they are a law enforcement officer, if they are in the wrong, does not mean you are obliged to allow yourself to be killed so your kinfolk can have a wrongful death action. You are legally entitled to defend yourself and I was speaking of exactly those kind of situations. If you're going to do that, you should know that they're wearing body armor so you should use a head shot. Now all I'm doing is stating the law."
-FBI agent G Gordon Liddy, attorney at law and convicted felon Watergate burgler on his radio show

Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels signs police-entry bill into law


By Eric Bradner
Evansville Courier & Press
March 21, 2012

INDIANAPOLIS — Although he said it was a "close call" that took days of consideration, Gov. Mitch Daniels signed into law a measure that gives Hoosiers the right to use force to resist police officers who illegally enter their homes.

The new law is a reversal from last year's controversial Indiana Supreme Court decision. Advocates called it an effort to protect against rogue police – although Daniels acknowledged that the law might create perception problems.

"In the real world, there will almost never be a situation in which these extremely narrow conditions are met. So as a matter of law, law enforcement officers will be better protected than before, not less so," Daniels said.

"What is troubling to law enforcement officers, and to me, is the chance that citizens hearing reports of change will misunderstand what the law says."

It was the only bill the Indiana General Assembly passed during the 2012 legislative session that the Republican governor was seriously considering sending back with a veto. His signature means he rejected nothing lawmakers sent him this year.

The issue was sparked by the state high court's decision in the case of Richard Barnes, an Evansville man who fought a police officer who entered his house while responding to a call reporting a domestic dispute.

The court found that officers sometimes enter homes without warrants for reasons protected by the law, such as pursuing suspects or preventing the destruction of evidence.

"In these situations, we find it unwise to allow a homeowner to adjudge the legality of police conduct in the heat of the moment," the court said. "As we decline to recognize a right to resist unlawful police entry into a home, we decline to recognize a right to batter a police officer as a part of that resistance."

The new law only gives Hoosiers the right to resist officers who they believe are acting unlawfully. Using deadly force against an officer is only protected to prevent serious bodily injury.

Groups such as the Fraternal Order of Police and other law enforcement organizations had lobbied against the measure. Rep. Linda Lawson, the No. 2-ranking House Democrat and a former police officer, said it will create "open season on law enforcement."

In a statement announcing his decision to sign Senate Enrolled Act 1, Daniels sought to underscore that the law does not create what some opponents said would be an open season on law enforcement officers.

"Today is an important day to say: Indiana's outstanding law enforcement officers put their lives on the line every day to protect all Hoosiers. The right thing to do is cooperate with them in every way possible. This law is not an invitation to use violence or force against law enforcement officers," he said.

"In fact, it restricts when an individual can use force, specifically deadly force, on an officer, so don't try anything. Chances are overwhelming you will be breaking the law and wind up in far worse trouble as a result."

In the waning days of this year's session, lawmakers complained that the measure had become dramatized. House Speaker Brian Bosma, R-Indianapolis, said what lawmakers did was write a jury instruction.

Still, Daniels took meetings this week with advocates and opponents, and said the law's message is something to consider. "It's a close call," he said.

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NOPD Officers Get Decades in Prison for Killings

Bloomberg Business
April 04, 2012

NEW ORLEANS -- Four New Orleans police officers were sentenced to 38 to 65 years in prison for convictions including violating the civil rights of two people killed a week after Hurricane Katrina devastated the city in 2005.

U.S. District Judge Kurt D. Engelhardt in New Orleans sentenced a fifth officer today to six years in prison for covering up the crimes.

A federal jury in August convicted officers Kenneth Bowen, Robert Gisevius, Robert Faulcon and Anthony Villavaso of opening fire on unarmed black civilians on the city’s Danziger Bridge and conspiring with others to cover up their actions. The fifth, homicide detective Arthur “Archie” Kaufman, was convicted of conspiring to make the shootings appear justified.

“We hope that today’s sentences give a measure of peace and closure to the victims of this terrible shooting, who have suffered unspeakable pain and who have waited so patiently for justice to be done,” Thomas E. Perez, assistant attorney general for the Justice Department’s civil rights division, said in an e-mailed statement. “The officers who shot innocent people on the bridge and then went to great lengths to cover up their own crimes have finally been held accountable for their actions.”

The civil rights violations caused the deaths of James Brissette and Ronald Madison, the jury found, which meant that the four officers directly involved faced a maximum punishment of life in prison. Bowen was sentenced to 40 years, Faulcon to 65, Gisevius to 40, Villavaso to 38, and Kaufman to six.

After Katrina

The shootings took place on Sept. 4, 2005, one week after Katrina flooded most of New Orleans and one day after stranded evacuees were airlifted and bused to safety.

A July 2010 indictment accused Bowen, Gisevius, Faulcon and Villavaso of firing on a family on the east side of the Danziger Bridge, killing James Brissette, 17, and wounding four other people. The defendants said they were responding to a policewoman’s radio call of officers and rescue workers in danger.

The U.S. accused Faulcon of shooting Ronald Madison, a 40- year-old man with mental disabilities, on the other side of the bridge. The jury said Faulcon’s actions didn’t amount to murder.

Kaufman, the homicide detective, was charged with joining the officers in a conspiracy to conceal what happened at the bridge. Kaufman was convicted on 10 counts including obstruction of justice and fabrication of evidence.

‘See His Father’

Engelhardt said at the sentencing hearing today that he was restricted by federal guidelines or would have imposed shorter prison terms. He noted that Faulcon’s son was born after Katrina.

“He will never see his father outside a prison wall under this sentencing scheme,” Engelhardt said.

The judge said that five other police officers who pleaded guilty received much lower sentences. “One can only be astonished and deeply troubled by the plea bargains allowed in the Danziger Bridge matter,” he said.

“Using liars to convict liars is no way to pursue justice,” Engelhardt said, referring to cooperating officers who testified against the defendants.

Federal prosecutors wouldn’t have had a case without enlisting the help of cooperating witnesses, Perez, the assistant attorney general, said in a conference call with reporters today.

‘Prosecution Fell Apart’

“It’s important to understand where we were in the year 2008, which was three-plus years after the shooting and the state prosecution fell apart, frankly, and we had nothing,” Perez said. “We had to build a case from scratch and you don’t go to the witness store and pick out witnesses to build a case. You have to do your leg work and see where you can go.”

Attorneys for the four accused shooters depicted their clients at trial as dedicated officers who refused to abandon their posts, rescuing residents from Katrina’s floodwaters both before and after the shootings.

The defendants claimed they were responding to gunfire and that they believed the shooting victims were a danger to themselves and others. They also denied involvement in a cover- up.

The U.S. said at trial there was no evidence that any of the civilians had guns.

The judge said the “context of Katrina cannot be ignored” in the case. This included widespread looting and escalating fear of gunfire, Engelhardt said.

TN trooper crash chasing sportbike wheelie artist

"If I wanted to kill YOU, all I'd have to do is don't let anybody see me do it, don't tell any body I did it, and hide the murder weapon!"
-Mike Nassios, Knox County homicide prosecutor, poking his finger at The Dragonater before his wife's client's team of assassins but a bullet hole in The Dragonater's car

Many upset after high-speed THP chase injures 5


MCEWEN, TN (WSMV) - Call it too close for comfort. A 10-year-old boy was nearly hit by a speeding police car, and now his mother and others are asking if the high-speed chase through a school zone was necessary.

A young man was seen speeding on a motorcycle Monday through downtown McEwen, so a Tennessee Highway Patrol trooper wanted to issue a traffic ticket. But soon, it became a high-speed chase through a school zone, and several bus stops right as school was dismissing.

Marcus Crews had just gotten off the bus around 3:10 p.m. and did what always does. He went to the curb to grab the mail for his mom.

But then Marcus was looking at a trooper flying down the road, coming toward him at high speed.

"It was a big smash,"he said.

His mother, Chrissy Crews, was inside the house in her living room.

"It was very terrifying. The next thing I heard was a big crash, and my son screaming," she said.

The THP confirms the chase started when Trooper Jason Clarke saw a young man speeding and doing wheelies on a motorcycle.

The chase continued downtown in front of McEwen High School just minutes after dismissal, then it traveled along a road where a school bus was letting children off.

The trooper rear-ended and sideswiped one car, and then narrowly missed a head-on collision with another before spinning into a roadside ditch.

Five people were hospitalized in the crashes.

The whole thing was unacceptable for Chrissy Crews, who says she can't believe the trooper put so many people at risk to chase the speeding rider.

"The other children that were in the car were just leaving school. It was pretty much ping pong between them," Crews said. "It was very dangerous that he was flying down here at the time," she said.

THP officials are investigating the crash and told Channel 4 they would not defend or criticize the high-speed chase until the investigation was completed.

The THP released a statement Wednesday, saying: "The safety and welfare of the motoring public is our top priority. It appears the investigating trooper followed the department's policy regarding vehicle pursuits. The investigation is ongoing, and the circumstances and facts of this case will be reviewed thoroughly."

The family of the five people who went to the hospital said they are very upset and have hired a lawyer, saying the safety of the public was obviously not the first consideration in the chase.

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State Trooper, Four Others Injured In Crash


MCEWEN, Tenn.- A Tennessee Highway Patrol officer was injured in a crash Monday afternoon, while attempting to pull over a dangerous motorcycle rider.

A spokesperson with THP said the crash happened just before 3 p.m. on Old Nashville Highway, north of McEwen.

A State Trooper attempted to make a traffic stop of a motorcycle rider who was popping wheelies while riding down Hwy 70. The rider refused to stop and upon topping a hill on Old Nashville Highway, went in between two cars. The following trooper came up the hill, and attempting to stop to miss the cars ending up sideswiping one of the vehicles.

Officials said the Trooper then lost control of his patrol car and hit another vehicle that was traveling southbound. The impact caused the patrol unit to spin into a ditch.

The Trooper suffered minor injuries and was treated at the scene. Four other people also suffered minor injuries as a result of the crash and were transported to the Horizon Medical Center in Dickson.

Police said the motorcyclist who caused the accident remains at large.

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State Trooper Causes Wreck Chasing Motorcyclist on Old Nashville Highway


It is rare that those employed by State Agencies, whose jobs focus on maintaining the safety of drivers, are the ones involved in the accidents that occur on Tennessee’s highways, but a recent collision in the Nashville area brings attention to this very real possibility.

On March 6th, a Tennessee State Trooper noticed a reckless motorcycle rider wreaking havoc by popping wheelies along Hwy 70 near McEwen. Once pursued by the Trooper, the reckless driver neglected to yield and was able to escape by dodging between two cars atop a hill on Old Nashville Highway.

The chase ended as the Trooper stopped abruptly to avoid colliding with the two cars that the motorcycle had slipped between. In doing so, the Trooper spun out of control and swiped the side of one of the vehicles, crashing into a second vehicle headed southbound.

While the State Trooper was treated for minor injuries at the scene of the car crash, four additional people involved in the wreck were taken to Horizon Medical Center in Dickson, Tennessee to be treated for minor injuries as well. The motorcycle rider’s fate remains undetermined, as he/she has not yet been identified.

While it seems that the Tennessee State Trooper didn’t exhibit any extreme negligence in this case, highways can be a dangerous place, where even those trying to maintain drivers’ safety can put others at risk for accident or injury.

Ask for a lawyer, get tasered by cop, win $40,000 the hard way

Bull dyke lesbian tasers defenseless motorists exercising Constitutional rights

How to earn $40,000 THE HARD WAY -- "Ma'am bull dyke lesbian, please don't shoot me with a Taser?!"



'Trooper of the year' admits violating DUI procedure and destroying evidence...and now hundreds of convictions could be overturned

A police officer who was named 'Trooper of the Year 2007' for making more than 200 DUI arrests could see her cases overturned after she admitted violating standard procedure.

Lisa Steed admitted in court this week that she had removed her microphone during a 2010 DUI stop so her superior wouldn't know what she was doing.
This is not the first time Steed's actions on DUI stops have got her into trouble.



In 2009, a shocking police car dashcam recording caught her tasering a terrified man after he refused to get out of his car asking to call his lawyer. The man was later found to have been sober.

A Facebook group has been set up calling on the police to fire Steed called; 'End Abusive Police: Fire UHP Officer Lisa Steed.' It has over 120 supporters

'The cumulative facts may well have a significant ripple effect across every case she's touched,' Salt Lake City attorney Joseph Jardine told ABCNews.com.



'This could become the basis for overturning multiple convictions in the past.'

Jardine is representing Theron Alexander, who said Steed violated procedure when she administered a breathalyzer test before a field sobriety test in March 2010.

'The credibility of an investigating officer is paramount. If you can't trust the cop at their word, there's very little left that you can trust with an investigation,' Jardine said.

Steed admitted that she had removed her microphone and left in in the patrol car during the incident so she could perform an unauthorized action, according to ABC News.



'She specifically stated [Tuesday] that she took the microphone off so her superior wouldn't know what she was doing,' Jardine said.

'We're concerned that she may have a tendency to stretch the truth when it suits her purposes. Our objective is to probe her credibility.'
Trooper Steed's statements came while she took the witness stand in the DUI court case.

Steed, pictured on Tuesday, was named 'Trooper of the Year 2007' for making more than 200 DUI arrests but now see her cases overturned
Steed's attorney Greg Skordas told ABC that the incident is not a reflection of his client's credibility.

'It doesn't affect her credibility. It affects the way she does things, her ability to follow instructions,' Skordas told ABC. 'It doesn't mean she's dishonest.'

Skordas claimed that Steed was simply trying to give the motorist that she had pulled over 'the benefit of the doubt' by skipping straight to the breathalyzer test and not having them get out of the car.

'It wasn't anyone she knew. I think she was just being overly sensitive,' Skordas said.

'There wasn't any bad intent. It was one of those, no good deed goes unpunished.'

A Facebook group has been set up calling on the police to fire Steed called; 'End Abusive Police: Fire UHP Officer Lisa Steed'.

Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill said his office has been investigating several dozen pending DUI cases involving Steed after complaints arose.

The 2009 taser recording showed the officer shouting at Ryan Jones to get out of his car, when he asked to call his lawyer first.

She quickly threatens him with a taser saying: 'If you don't get out now, you're getting tasered in two second.'

She then threatens to get a police dog to 'rip him out of the car'.
Jones can be heard calmly saying, "Ma'am, please don't shoot me with a Taser,'.

However, Steed ignores his plea and zaps him as he is sitting in his car. He can be heard screaming in agony in the recording and then begging her not to do it again before he is zapped a second time.

When Jones was eventually tested, his blood alcohol level was a 0.03, well below the legal limit.

The case was settled in November 2011 when the state paid Jones $40,000 without admitting wrongdoing.

Of the case, Skordas said, she was reprimanded and had moved on.

Metal cap seized on tire valve

Aluminum valve stem + steel valve cap = fun afternoon of not riding.

Tyre Valve Disaster!!!

Switching back to plastic valve caps, though in theory copper antiseize would work to prevent corrosion on steel/aluminum threads. Don't need steel caps with a 90-degree stem due to lack of centripetal force. Die grinder chewed up the threads a little while cutting off the cap. I'll replace the valve stem at the next tire change.






White chunks are barry corrosion that glued cap on like epoxy

Galvanic corrosion is an electrochemical process in which one metal corrodes preferentially to another when both metals are in electrical contact and immersed in an electrolyte. The same galvanic reaction is exploited in primary batteries to generate a voltage.

Death penalty for Failure to Countersteer

Maryville motorcyclist killed in head-on crash [not the Dragon]

MARYVILLE, TENN. — A Blount County woman was killed when the motorcycle she was riding collided head-on with a pickup truck in Maryville today, according to the Tennessee Highway Patrol.

Waynanne Suttles, 44, of Maryville was killed in the crash, according to a THP incident report.

She was riding a 1985 Honda CMX southbound along U.S. Highway 129 at approximately 11:45 a.m. when she crossed the double-yellow line on a curve near Old Railroad Bed Road and struck an oncoming 2005 Chevy SK1, the report states.

Suttles was wearing a helmet, the report notes. The driver of the pickup, Michael J. Anthony, 44, of Madisonville, was wearing a seat belt and was not injured.

There were no indications that either party was under the influence of drugs or alcohol, and no citations or criminal charges are expected, the report states.


GOOD TO SEE THE "NEWS" PAPERS AND THP CONTINUE THEIR EVIL CONSPIRACY TO CENSOR THE WORD COUNTERSTEERING

Dragon guardrail company banned and indicted for corruption

Beware defective "guardrails" at Deals Gap. Tennessee Guardrail chopped the leg off The Dragonater's co-driver at Knoxville's Group-10 Racing, after 70-feet of "guardrail" passed through his pickup truck and groin.




Tennessee courts uphold DoT ban on contractors that bribed, destroyed documents

by State Integrity Investigation
November 09, 2011

Corruption news for Tennessee, from The Tennesseean:

Two Nashville courts have refused to overturn the Tennessee Department of Transportation’s decisions to suspend two guardrail contractors from bidding on state contracts.

The two contractors had been implicated in corruption investigations.

The contractors — Kingston Springs-based Lu Inc. and Knoxville-based Tennessee Guardrail — argued in lawsuits that their suspensions were improper.

TENNESSEE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION EXCLUDED PARTIES LIST - Revised June 3, 2011

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Owner of TN guardrail company suing TDOT

Aug 3, 2011

The owner of a Tennessee Guardrail company is suing the Tennessee Department of Transportation for banning him and his companies from future projects.

Joey Cole's lawsuit agrees Lu Incorporated's suspension violates a 2006 agreement in a separate case. It also claims the suspension relies on protected testimony Cole gave to federal investigators about a former TDOT worker who pleaded guilty this year to soliciting and accepting $30,000 in bribes.

TDOT officials declined to comment. The suspension means Cole's companies can't work on state funded road projects for a least a year. The federal highway administration has also banned Lu Incorporated from federally funded projects.

In 2006, the state reached a settlement with Lu, after they were accused of installing shoddy guardrails on the Tennessee Roads. Lu agreed to pay more than $360,000 to TDOT to cover the inspection and replacement costs and to drop all suits against the state.

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Two Judges Back TDOT in Disputes With Contractors Tied to Corruption

Two Nashville courts have refused to overturn the Tennessee Department of Transportation's decisions to suspend two guardrail contractors from bidding on state contracts, according to The Tennessean.

The two contractors had been implicated in corruption investigations. The contractors -- Kingston Springs-based Lu Inc. and Knoxville-based Tennessee Guardrail -- argued in lawsuits that their suspensions were improper. Davidson County Chancellor Russell T. Perkins and U.S. District Court Judge Kevin H. Sharp have so far refused, preserving TDOT's wide latitude to suspend contractors as it sees fit to protect the public's confidence that taxpayer dollars are being spent appropriately.

Lu Inc. owner and President Novice Cole has admitted to giving $30,000 to a TDOT project supervisor who oversaw his work on a 2005 Interstate 65 widening project, but claimed in a Davidson County Chancery Court lawsuit that the state's decision to suspend him earlier this year violated the terms of a 2006 settlement agreement he reached with the agency.

The settlement agreement ended a previous TDOT suspension of Lu that was based on allegations by a former employee that guardrails it installed were not embedded deep enough and were unsafe.

Lu was suspended again this year after former TDOT employee James Douglas Hagar was indicted in federal court on bribery charges. Hagar has admitted to accepting eight personal checks from Cole totaling $30,000 and was sentenced to six months in prison.

....Tennessee Guardrail Vice President Kevin Eugene Peel and company founder Allen Roy DeFoe are accused of destroying records requested by a federal grand jury in 2006. The grand jury had requested records of "anything of value obtained for or transferred for the direct or indirect benefit of any employee or former employee of" TDOT or other government agencies. The indictment alleges that, after receiving the subpoena, Peel and DeFoe took numerous boxes of documents to a commercial document-shredding business and had them destroyed.

TDOT decided to suspend Tennessee Guardrail because Peel is still an officer with the company and declined the company's request for an administrative hearing to dispute the charges.

"We believe this suspension violates Tennessee Guardrail's constitutional rights because its employee was indicted; Tennessee Guardrail was not," Nashville attorney Courtney Smith argued for Tennessee Guardrail at an Oct. 26 hearing.

Rockwood pedestrian Robert Nelson hit by SUV dies from injuries

Crash rescue of pedestrian Robert Eugene "Chip" Nelson. Photos by The Dragonater

WARNING: STOP READING NOW IF YOU WANT TO AVOID SEEING BLOOD, OR TURN OFF IMAGES IN YOUR BROWSER AND RELOAD

WARNING: DO NOT CLICK THIS LINK IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO SEE NEWS PHOTOS OF A TYPICAL FATAL CRASH

UPDATE: Motorcycle Safety Foundation proves all drivers have Motion Induced Blindness - Bikers and pedestrians BEWARE!

UPDATE MAY 2012: ROCKWOOD AND/OR TDOT HAS NOW CHANGED TIMING ON ALL TRAFFIC LIGHTS IN ROCKWOOD, FROM 3.5 SECONDS TO 5 SECONDS, WITH BOTH RED LIGHTS ON AT ONCE TO ALLOW VEHICLES TO CLEAR THE INTERSECTION BEFORE GREEN LIGHT ON. TRAFFIC NOW BACKS UP AT LIGHTS, BUT HEALTHY PEDESTRIANS CAN NOW NEARLY CROSS ALL 5 LANES AT A WALKING PACE. IT IS DOUBTFUL THE MANDATORY TDOT TRAFFIC ENGINEERING SURVEY SPEED AUDIT HAS BEEN COMPLIED WITH, AND PAPERWORK MAY BE PENCIL-WHIPPED TO SUBVERT LITIGATION VS CITY OF ROCKWOOD.

Debrief by The Dragonater, ak/a/ John Lee

Last night I eyewitnessed a crash recovery in Rockwood on US27. Today the news reported the victim died in Knoxville at UT Medical Center (owned by a Canadian corporation, a common target for malpractice lawyers and pedophile prosecutors).


Impact point and directions of travel NOT confirmed by police report. Click to enlarge map

Click for Interactive Map

Ambulance response was so fast the victim was stabilized and driven away literally in the time it took to take these photos, less than 5 minutes. It takes Rural Metro over 4 hours to "rescue" a crash victim on the Dragon, not counting Lifestar flight.


Robert Nelson was reportedly still alive at this point, and died later at UT Hospital

US27 (North Gateway Avenue) in Rockwood is a 5-lane undivided highway peppered with an annoying number of frivolous traffic lights. Occasional pedestrians use the crosswalks, sometimes still crossing after lights turn green for vehicle traffic, due to the time it takes to walk across 5-lanes of traffic, and yellow lights that are timed too short. Pedestrians in crosswalks are often hidden behind vehicles stopped for a red light after the light turns green, while moving vehicles approaching a now-green light continue moving. It is always lawful for pedestrians using crosswalks to still be crossing after a light turns red for pedestrians, after the light turns green for vehicle traffic (which may be what happened in this case). Vehicles are always required to yield to pedestrians in crosswalks, under TN Code. Five lanes also allows drivers plenty of visibility, maneuvering room and braking room to dodge any pedestrian. Vehicles are not allowed to park along US27, thus there is no obstruction of visibility for drivers and pedestrians.


Robert Nelson was reportedly still alive at this point, and died later at UT Hospital

I spoke with the portly gentleman seen in these photos (gray or tan shirt), who I presumed was an off-duty cop. But this may have (also) been the driver of the SUV, Larry Thompson. I asked "Was it hit and run?" He replied partially, "No -- he ran out in front and there was no way to avoid it." He asked, "Who are you?" (Typical cop question for journalists at crash scenes.) I said I was a journalist "taking photos in case there was a lawsuit" (for insurance to help pay hospital bills to save the life of the victim, i.e. if relying upon TennCare/Medicaid or no insurance at all = death and cannibalization for $500,000 profit in free bodyparts, since greedy doctors and hospital corporations would lose money otherwise). I asked if he was a friend or family of the victim, but he said "No". He asked, "What news organization are you with?" I replied, "CTV in Knoxville and WBCR radio in Maryville." "So you're freelance", he skoffed. No, I host my own TV and radio news shows. I got a vibe the portly gentleman was considering ramming his fist into my face, except it might have been noticed by the cops standing around. After a solid 20 hours of non-stop journalism, I was not in the most tactical mood. My PRESS PASS ID card was with my other video equipment in another bag. (Note to self: BUY MORE PRESS PASS ID CARDS)


Robert Nelson was reportedly still alive at this point, and died later at UT Hospital

THE LAW

Rockwood is known as "The city with too many traffic lights". Rockwood has an illegal "speed limit" of 40 mph on US27 in violation of MUTCD, TDOT and TN Code, for lacking a mandatory Traffic Engineering Survey Speed Audit by TDOT. The reason THE LAW says the posted "speed limit" in Rockwood is ILLEGAL is because a speed limit set too low KILLS PEOPLE. Setting a posted speed limit too low for prevailing traffic also means the timing of yellow lights is probably too short for the actual speeds involved. To walk across 5 lanes of traffic on US27 means the timing of a yellow light should be lengthened to allow pedestrians time to cross before the light turns green for perpendicular vehicle traffic. The timing of yellow lights in Rockwood is clearly too short, and may be the proximate cause of this crash fatality.


Robert Nelson was reportedly still alive at this point, and died later at UT Hospital

MUTCD does not allow traffic lights nor stop signs be used for "traffic calming", nor forcing potential customers to stop and stare at local businesses. Since the so-called speed limit is illegal, it's presumed the traffic lights are illegal, and without an Engineering Survey to determine correct yellow light timing (based on the 85th-Percentile average speed of traffic), or to determine if a traffic light is allowed at all. At that time of night, a flashing yellow light would be the only lawful traffic light in Rockwood. Flashing yellow lights force drivers and pedestrians to PAY ATTENTION, rather than (sometimes literally) go to sleep and allow a robot to do their thinking for them, and gets their brains out of autopilot mode.


Robert Nelson was reportedly still alive at this point, and died later at UT Hospital

The illegal traffic light exposes the City of Rockwood Municipal Corporation to litigation for causing this fatality, under the TN Governmental Tort Liability Act and TN Code. See CURTIS ROBIN RUSSELL, ET AL. v. ANDERSON COUNTY, ET AL..


Robert Nelson was reportedly still alive at this point, and died later at UT Hospital

Tennessee follows the Modified Comparative Fault 50% Rule -- if a victim is more than 49% at fault, he cannot recover monetary damages for personal injury or wrongful death. A victim's financial damages are reduced by the percentage of his own comparative fault. The previous rule in TN was "contributory negligence", where a victim could not collect financial damages if he was more than 1% at fault.

Statute of limitations is one year to file a lawsuit for personal injury and wrongful death in Tennessee. Evidence MUST be preserved NOW or government agencies and private businesses will DESTROY it. Evidence in such a case would be E911 Radio Dispatch tapes and ambulance dispatch tapes for all channels involved, private security videotapes at local businesses, cellphone records, vehicle airbag "blackbox" computer data including vhicle speed at impact, and all medical records. Fatal crash reports from THP HQ are available only to immediate family, since recent change to TN Code makes public records Top Secret (to protect the guilty). Even when not filing a lawsuit nor hiring a lawyer, negotiation with a driver's insurance company or governmental Risk Management Dept will require possession of all evidence to ensure a fair settlement.


Robert Nelson was reportedly still alive at this point, and died later at UT Hospital

It is a criminal misdemeanor under TN Code to fail to yield to a pedestrian, especially in a crosswalk, with sentence of up to 11 months and 29 days jail (full TCA text below). The impact of this crash apparently occurred in a crosswalk at a traffic light. Reportedly, no criminal charges were filed regarding this crash. No police officer is ever allowed to make an arrest without a warrant when they did not eyewitness a misdemeanor crime in progress. Since no cop apparently eyewitnessed this crash, no cop is allowed to ticket the driver for "failure to yield to pedestrian".

A "ticket" is literally an arrest, since detention is involved while the cop has possession of the driver's "license" (national I.D. internal passport under the 6th Plank of the Communist Manifesto).

Cops almost never ticket nor arrest government employees who design or install defective or illegal traffic control devices that injure or kill people, and never investigate defective or illegal traffic control devices in their crash reports. The Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices by USDOT has been adopted in Tennessee by TDOT and TN Code.


Robert Nelson was reportedly still alive at this point, and died later at UT Hospital

Why were no criminal charges reportedly filed after this fatal crash? THP conducts an "investigation" only into an immediate arrest for DUI. If the driver of the vehicle does not slur words or have bloodshot eyes, nor admit to consuming alcohol or drugs in the past 24 hours, nor admit to talking on a cellphone, nor admit to being a little sleepy, then no arrest. All other witnesses are censored from the THP crash report.


Robert Nelson was reportedly still alive at this point, and died later at UT Hospital

City and county cops apparently never ticket a driver if THP is on the scene. THP may have arrived later to fill out a crash report. City and county cops routinely fail to ticket a driver who is family or an employee of local government. Is SUV driver Larry Thomspon related to Rockwood city councilman William Thompson?


Robert Nelson was reportedly still alive at this point, and died later at UT Hospital

When a so-called "drunk driver" is involved in a fatal crash, that driver (and/or passenger) is prosecuted for First Degree Murder, which carries a life sentence or death penalty in Tennessee. Thousands of US citizens have been sentenced to life in prison for DUI, without involvement in a fatal accident.


Robert Nelson was reportedly still alive at this point, and died later at UT Hospital

Note that the "legal limit" is 0.00% blood alcohol level in Tennessee, and every other state during the current Prohibition on consuming alcohol. What did you say...your local "news" corporation didn't tell you what's already published in THP's Driver License Handbook And Study Guide? Didn't you know the Drug War considers alcohol a mind-altering drug -- a Drug War with US Police State death squads shooting and bombing millions of people to death including women and children?


Robert Nelson was reportedly still alive at this point, and died later at UT Hospital

DRIVE TO SURVIVE

The correct method to avoid pedestrians and animals is maximum braking (in a straight line if possible), staying in your same lane, then take avoiding action by RELEASING THE BRAKES and changing lanes at the last second. Fast animals like deer, dogs, cats, rabbits and squirrels often have the situation under control and changing lanes only results in running them over, so max braking in a straight line is all that's required to avoid impact. I routinely practice avoiding action for insects like caterpillers walking across the road, to exercise my mind, body and vision. This proven avoidance procedure is based on my participation in a dozen racing schools, 150 practice days and 80 races (half of them televised).


Robert Nelson was reportedly still alive at this point, and died later at UT Hospital

Target fixation is a problem for drivers and riders, resulting in hitting the object rather than avoiding it, so keep your eyes pointed AWAY from the pedestrian or animal (or insect) and only look where you want to go.


Robert Nelson was reportedly still alive at this point, and died later at UT Hospital

Bike riders must also remember to countersteer in the OPPOSITE direction you want to go, or the bike won't lean and will feel like the handlebars are welded locked in the straight-ahead position, preventing all attempts to turn the handlebars, ensuring impact or riding straight off the road. I practice countersteering at the start of every ride, to reprogram my brain to NOT steer a bike like a car or trike. Countersteering is censored by THP in its Motorcycle Operator Manual and MC license test, both of which are written by the so-called Motorcycle Safety Foundation, to extort riders to pay $300 to attend one of 1,000s of MSF RiderCourse schools staffed by off-duty cops, and to increase the number of crashes and deaths to "justify" a Police State.

I've nearly hit at least 2 pedestrians, that I recall, in my 35 years of driving. One pedestrian ran out out of the bushes in front of my car on rural I75 (miles from any exit) after midnight, and stood on the centerline of the Interstate -- I was driving 120 mph at the time (a legal speed in many nations, and formerly legal in USA, because speed saves lives according to USDOT).

The second pedestrian ran out in front of my car halfway down the busy exit ramp of I40 at Cedar Bluff in Knoxville, at daytime rush hour.

In both cases, I did not panic nor freeze, took the required avoidiance action, and reacted tha same as I would for an animal in the road. So the pedestrians survived...and so did I. These pedestrians literally "ran out into the road" in front of my car, apparently hoping for "suicide by automobile". I did not aid and abet their criminal attempt. It's illegal for pedestrians to walk on an Interstate highway -- but that's won't do you any good if you're dead from a body crashing through your windshield with 24,000 pounds of force (12-tons) at 60 mph.


John Lee is the Hollywood-award-winning executive producer and host of Pirate News TV and Radio Show, and webmaster for PirateNews.org as seen on Charter Channel 6, Knology Channel 6, Comcast Channel 12 and ATT Uverse Channel 99 in Knox and Blount Counties, on History Channel and Asahi TV in Japan, heard on WBCR Truth Radio 1470 throughout East Tennessee and Western North Carolina, and worldwide live on the internets. John Lee was a paralegal and private investigator for the law firm of Lee, Lee & Lee, which won a trillion-dollar class action in federal court in 2011. Contact by email: dragonaters[at]yahoo.com

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Rockwood pedestrian hit by SUV dies from injuries

Knoxville News Sentinel
March 23, 2012

ROCKWOOD, TENN. — A 41-year-old man struck by an SUV Thursday night died of his injuries this morning at University of Tennessee Medical Center.

Robert Nelson of Rockwood was flown by medical helicopter to the Knoxville hospital shortly after the 8:30 p.m. incident.

Nelson was walking across North Gateway Avenue when he was hit by a Ford Expedition driven by Larry A. Thompson, 35, also of Rockwood, investigating Rockwood Police Officer Jared Hall said.

The officer said several witnesses described the accident as "unavoidable."

No charges were filed.

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2010 Tennessee Code

Title 55 - Motor and Other Vehicles

Chapter 8 - Operation of VehiclesRules of the Road

55-8-134 - Pedestrians' right-of-way in crosswalks.


(a) (1) Unless in a marked school zone when a warning flasher or flashers are in operation, when traffic-control signals are not in place or not in operation, the driver of a vehicle shall yield the right-of-way, slowing down or stopping if need be to so yield, to a pedestrian crossing the roadway within a crosswalk when the pedestrian is upon the half of the roadway upon which the vehicle is traveling, or when the pedestrian is approaching so closely from the opposite half of the roadway as to be in danger.

(2) When in a marked school zone when a warning flasher or flashers are in operation, the driver of a vehicle shall stop to yield the right-of-way to a pedestrian crossing the roadway within a marked crosswalk or at an intersection with no marked crosswalk. The driver shall remain stopped until the pedestrian has crossed the roadway on which the vehicle is stopped.

(b) No pedestrian shall suddenly leave a curb or other place of safety and walk or run into the path of a vehicle which is so close that it is impossible for the driver to yield.

(c) Subsection (a) does not apply under the conditions stated in § 55-8-135(b).

(d) Whenever any vehicle is stopped at a marked crosswalk or at any unmarked crosswalk at an intersection to permit a pedestrian to cross the roadway, the driver of any other vehicle approaching from the rear shall not overtake and pass the stopped vehicle.

[Acts 1955, ch. 329, § 33; T.C.A., § 59-834; Acts 2008, ch. 776, § 1.]

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TCA 55-8-197 Failure to Yield Right of Way - Rules of the Road


**Amended May 2011 Effective July 1, 2011**

Tenn. Code Ann. § 55-8-197

TENNESSEE CODE ANNOTATED
© 2011 by The State of Tennessee
All rights reserved

*** CURRENT THROUGH THE 2010 REGULAR SESSION ***

Title 55 Motor and Other Vehicles
Chapter 8 Operation of Vehicles--Rules of the Road
Part 1 Operation of Vehicles -- Rules of the Road

Tenn. Code Ann. § 55-8-197 (2011)

(a) Any person who violates subdivisions (a)(1)-(6) and the violation results in an accident resulting in serious bodily injury to or death of any person shall be guilty of a misdemeanor:

(1) Section 55-8-115 by failing to drive on the right half of the roadway as provided in the section, except for those motor vehicles in compliance with § 55-7-115 or § 55-7-202;

(2) Section 55-8-118 or § 55-8-119 by unlawfully overtaking and passing another vehicle as provided in those sections; or

(3) Section 55-8-128, § 55-8-129, § 55-8-130 or § 55-8-131 by failing to yield the right of way as provided in those sections.

Amended May 2011 Effective July 1, 2011

(4) Section 55-8-134, by failing to yield the right-of-way to pedestrians in crosswalks as provided in the section;

(5) Section 55-8-136, by failing to exercise due care as provided in this section; or

(6) Section 55-8-175(c), by failing to overtake and pass a bicycle safely as provided in the subsection; or

(b) For the purposes of this section, unless the context otherwise requires, "serious bodily injury" means:

(1) Substantial risk of death;

(2) Serious disfigurement; or

(3) Protracted loss or impairment of the function of any bodily member, organ or mental faculty.

(c) (1) A violation of subsection (a) is a Class B misdemeanor punishable by a fine of two hundred and fifty dollars ($250) if the accident results in serious bodily injury of another.

(2) A violation of subsection (a) is a Class A misdemeanor punishable by a fine of five hundred dollars ($500) if the accident results in the death of another.

(d) The court shall send the department a record of any of the convictions of any of the sections indicated in subsection (a). The court shall indicate on the record or abstract whether the violation resulted in serious bodily injury of another or death of another.

(e) Upon conviction, the court may revoke the license or permit to drive and any nonresident operating privilege of a person convicted under this section for a period of up to six (6) months, if the accident results in serious bodily injury of another, and up to one (1) year if the accident results in death of another.

HISTORY: Acts 2007, ch. 537, § 1; 2009, ch. 342, § 1. Public Chapter 192 SB 1171 Amended May 2011 Effective July 1, 2011

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Public Chapter No. 776 PUBLIC ACTS, 2008

PUBLIC CHAPTER NO. 776
HOUSE BILL NO. 2653

By Representatives Hackworth, Hardaway, Ferguson

Substituted for: Senate Bill No. 3077
By Senators McNally, Marrero

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 55, Chapter 8, Part 1,
relative to rights of way of pedestrians.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 55-8-134, is amended by
deleting subsection (a) in its entirety and by substituting instead the following:

(a)

(1) Unless in a marked school zone when a warning flasher or flashers are in operation, when traffic-control signals are not in place or not in operation, the driver of a vehicle shall yield the right-of-way, slowing down or stopping if need be to so yield, to a pedestrian crossing the roadway within a crosswalk when the pedestrian is upon the half of the
roadway upon which the vehicle is traveling, or when the pedestrian is
approaching so closely from the opposite half of the roadway as to be in
danger.

(2) When in a marked school zone when a warning flasher or flashers are in operation, the driver of a vehicle shall stop to yield the right-of-way to a pedestrian crossing the roadway within a marked crosswalk or at an intersection with no marked crosswalk. The driver shall remain stopped until the pedestrian has crossed the roadway on which the vehicle is stopped.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2008, the public welfare requiring it.

PASSED: April 10, 2008

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TN Bicyclists & Pedestrians - Crashes PDF Report

TDOT Road Safety Audit Reviews: In 2009 (latest available data), there were 1,175 reported traffic crashes involving pedestrians and 418 crashes involving bicyclists. In 2010, there were 90 pedestrian fatalities and 4 bicyclist fatalities.

2011 TN “Due Care” Law TCA 55-8-192

• Failure to Exercise Caution When:

– Failing to Yield to Pedestrians in
Crosswalk
– Fail to Pass Bicycle Safely (3 Feet
Law)
– Failing to exercise due care when
driving
– Class B (injury) Class A (death)
misdemeanors

Key Violations: Motorists:

• Failure to yield
– when entering roadway
– when turning
• Unsafe passing
• Driving too fast for conditions

Pedestrians - Crosswalks

• All motorists must yield for
pedestrians in crosswalks,
including:
– Unmarked crosswalks at intersections
– Marked crosswalks at mid-block

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Pedestrian Safety

by Vanderbilt University Police Department

Pedestrians -- TCA 55-8-134/ TCA 55-8-135:

“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.

“Between adjacent intersections at which traffic control signals are in operation, pedestrians shall not cross at any place except in a marked crosswalk.”

“No pedestrian shall suddenly leave a curb or other place of safety and walk or run into the path of a vehicle which is so close that it is impossible for the driver to yield.”

Drivers -- TCA 55-8-134:

When traffic controls are not in place or not in operations, the driver of a vehicle shall yield the right of way, slowing down or stopping if need be to yield, to a pedestrian crossing the roadway within a crosswalk when the pedestrian is upon the half of the roadway upon which the vehicle is traveling or when the pedestrian is approaching so closely from the opposite half of the roadway as to be in danger.

Whenever any vehicle is stopped at a marked crosswalk or at any unmarked
crosswalk at an intersection to permit a pedestrian to cross the roadway, the driver of any other vehicle approaching from the rear shall not overtake and pass such stopped vehicle.

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Tennessee Legislation Makes Emergency Rooms Accountability-Free


March 12, 2012

A bill introduced in the Tennessee legislature specifically allows hospitals and doctors to provide negligent medical care in Tennessee emergency rooms. Unless a patient could prove gross negligence, a standard just short of criminal behavior, there would be no accountability or protection. The legislation is sponsored by Rep. Glen Casada and Sen. Jack Johnson, both from College Grove.

“For example, if you go to the ER with chest pains and the doctor carelessly misdiagnoses you with bronchitis and you go home and have a massive heart attack and die, under the proposed legislation there is no recourse for this kind of sloppiness,” stated Keith Williams, President, Tennessee Association for Justice. “In effect, a doctor would have no responsibility for careless errors that could ultimately cost you your life.”

The current standard for medical negligence already affords protections to ER doctors. ER doctors are protected as long as they deliver care consistent with standards set by their peers—other ER doctors. Only if they fail to meet those standards and harm a patient will they rightfully be held accountable under the present law.

The immunity goes one step further and covers doctors in surgery and the OB unit if the patient is admitted through the ER. This means a patient who goes to the ER will have very little, if any protection from negligence during their entire hospital stay.

This legislation has an unfair impact on pregnant women, children and low-income families since they are more likely to use the ER. Kids in sports go to the ER for injuries, pregnant women often go to the ER whey they are in labor, and the elderly frequently rely on the ER for respiratory illnesses. These vulnerable citizens would be without any protection when seeking needed medical care.

HB 174/SB 360 also places a financial burden on the taxpayers. If recipients of TennCare, Medicare and the uninsured are harmed due to carelessness in the ER, Tennesseans will end up paying the bill for a person’s medical care and treatment resulting from the doctor’s careless error. Medical errors cost the Nation approximately $37.6 billion per year, and this legislation would only add to that cost.

“Should a law be passed allowing ER doctors to commit negligent acts on patients in Tennessee? That’s exactly what this bill does.” said Williams. “With 98,000 people dying each year from medical errors, clearly the answer is NO. The focus should be on improving the quality of care – not on lobbyists seeking to pass a license to harm patients.”

"The most stunning statistic, however, is that the total number of deaths caused by conventional medicine is an astounding 783,936 per year. It is now evident that the American medical system is the leading cause of death and injury in the US. Using Leape's 1997 medical and drug error rate would add another 216,000 deaths, for a total of 999,936 deaths annually. Our estimated 10-year total of 7.8 million iatrogenic* deaths is more than all the casualties from all the wars fought by the US throughout its entire history. Our considerably higher figure is equivalent to six jumbo jets are falling out of the sky each day."
—Gary Null, PhD; Carolyn Dean MD, ND; Martin Feldman, MD; Debora Rasio, MD; Dorothy Smith, PhD, Death by Medicine, March 2004 (plus 10-Million annual aborticides in USA)

"President Obama's newly confirmed regulatory czar defended the possibility of removing organs from terminally ill patients without their permission. Cass Sunstein also has strongly pushed for the removal of organs from deceased individuals who did not explicitly consent to becoming organ donors. In his 2008 book, 'Nudge: Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth and Happiness,' Sunstein and co-author Richard Thaler discussed multiple legal scenarios regarding organ donation. One possibility presented in the book, termed by Sunstein as "routine removal," posits that 'the state owns the rights to body parts of people who are dead or in certain hopeless conditions, and it can remove their organs without asking anyone's permission.'"
-Aaron Klein, World Net Daily, Sunstein: Take organs from 'helpless patients', October 12, 2009

Ethicists Debate Ambulance for Organs - Some Worry New York City Plan Could Give Living Patients the Short Shrift - Ethicists and emergency medicine experts are raising concerns over New York City's plan to dispatch the first ambulance service in the country equipped to preserve the organs of the newly deceased. They question whether the organ-preserving ambulances will create tension among EMTs who may be charged both to save lives and to preserve organs for reuse. The aim of the Rapid Organ Recovery Ambulance service, city officials say, is to buy precious time for families to decide whether they want their loved ones' organs to be donated to needy patients. New York City plans to start the service rolling within a month. And the plan, which has already received federal funding, is being eyed as a possibility by other emergency medical departments. The services provided by such ambulances -- namely, efforts to save the organs of the newly dead without direct consent -- have some concerns among some experts. "Will raising organ donation follow pronouncement of death, or will people come to know that the organ donation ambulance has been sent, making them wonder if their relative got a full press of rescue care?" said Arthur Caplan, director of the Center for Bioethics at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. "This is called violating the dead donor rule -- no organ donation [discussion] raised prior to pronouncement of death." Far more troubling is the idea that emergency medical personnel staffing the ambulances could be faced with a dilemma of either doing everything possible to save a patient, or acting with the chief interest of saving organs. [Dragonater Note: Fresh organs can only be harvested from LIVING people who are murdered during the cannibalism.]

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See also:

Car Accidents With Pedestrians - Here's what to do, and how to determine fault, if you hit a pedestrian.

How to Win Your Personal Injury Claim - Dealing with insurance companies and lawyers when filing a personal injury claim can feel like another accident is in the offing. But you can handle a claim yourself without a lawyer -- and save hundreds or thousands of dollars in the process. [Dragonater Note: Contingency fee lawyers routinely demand 50% up to 100% of any financial recovery]

Family of pedestrian killed by drunk driver receives $11M wrongful death award - The family of a young man who was struck and killed by a drunk driver has been awarded $11M from a Tennessee jury. The award included $5M in punitive damages. (Citation: Hudson v. Wilcox, No. 26601 (Tenn., Washington Co. Cir. Nov. 18, 2011).)

Rights and Duties of Pedestrians and Drivers on Tennessee Roads - If the family of Mario Reyes brought a wrongful death action in Tennessee, Mr. Stallworth would almost certainly bring up the fact that Mr. Reyes failed to stay in the crosswalk and proceeded into the road with knowledge of an oncoming vehicle. Thus, under Tennessee’s comparative fault defense, any judgment award resulting from a personal injury claim could be reduced by that percentage of fault attributed to Mr. Reyes. However, while pedestrians have a duty to stay within the crosswalk and yield to oncoming vehicles, operators of vehicles have a greater duty to exercise due care and keep a look out for pedestrians. Thus, if this case were prosecuted with an experienced Tennessee personal injury attorney, Mr. Stallworth would likely be on the hook for the death of Mr. Reyes even though Mr. Reyes apparently broke a rule regarding staying within the crosswalk when one is provided.

Driver Collides with Sixty-Four Year-Old Pedestrian in Fatal Accident
- Tennessee imposes many duties on drivers within the state in order to make sure that they are driving in a reasonably safe manner. One such duty is the duty to keep a proper lookout. This duty extends not only to keeping a proper lookout for vehicles and other obstacles in the roadway, but also extends to keeping a lookout for pedestrians as well. Unfortunately many drivers fail to drive in a safe manner in areas where they know or should expect pedestrians to be present. Such places include school zones, college campuses, heavily populated areas, and crosswalks. Failure to keep a proper lookout in these areas can lead to serious injury or even death and is also likely to lead to a personal injury lawsuit in East Tennessee should the driver’s negligent behavior result in injury to the victim. The unfortunate truth is that sometimes there is simply nothing a driver can do to avoid accidents, even if he or she is keeping a proper lookout.

CURTIS ROBIN RUSSELL, ET AL. v. ANDERSON COUNTY, ET AL. - The Russells averred that the City, as a result of its ownership and control of the intersection at issue, was negligent in failing to provide pedestrian signal head devices as mandated by the guidelines and standards provided in the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (“MUTCD”). Specifically, Section 4E.03(C) of the 4 MUTCD requires the use of pedestrian signal heads in conjunction with vehicular traffic control signals “[a]t an
established school crossing at any signalized location.” The Russells also claimed that the City was strictly liable for the intersection’s “defective, unsafe, and dangerous” nature, of which the City had actual or constructive notice. This matter proceeded to trial on November 1 and 2, 2007. The trial court, sitting without a jury, concluded that the City was negligent in its failure to provide pedestrian head signals at the subject intersection as required by Section 4E.03 of the MUTCD. 4The standards set forth in the MUTCD are published by the Federal Highway Administration under 23 CFR part 655, subpart F. The trial court found that the MUTCD has been adopted by this state and the City through enabling legislation in Tenn. Code Ann. § 54-5-108(b) requiring governmental agencies in the state to conform to the provisions of the manual. Tennessee Department of Transportion Rule 1680-3-1-.02 provides that “[t]he United States Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, Millennium Edition (2001), is hereby adopted in its entirety and incorporated herein by reference.” The trial court apportioned fault to both the City and Mrs. Russell at 50% each and ordered that the Russells were barred from recovering in this matter. On December 11, 2007, the Russells filed a motion to alter or amend judgment pursuant to Tenn. R. Civ. P. 59.04. After hearing oral arguments by both parties, the trial court issued its order on April 17, 2008, altering its original judgment “to reflect that Mrs. Russell’s negligence will not bar recovery but that the damages awarded . . . shall be reduced in proportion to the percentage of negligence previously assigned to Mrs. Russell.” COURT OF APPEALS OF TENNESSEE AT KNOXVILLE, February 11, 2011

Tennessee's Comparative Fault System - In 1992, the Tennessee Supreme Court announced the adoption of a system of modified comparative fault in its opinion in McIntyre v. Balentine, 833 S.W.2d 52 (Tenn. 1992). Under the doctrine of modified comparative fault, a jury determines the percentage of fault to be attributed for the accident to both the plaintiff and defendant. If the plaintiff’s fault reaches 50%, he or she receives no recovery. Otherwise, the jury determines the total amount of the plaintiff’s damages and then reduces the award by the percentage of the plaintiff’s fault. Co-defendants are generally no longer responsible for the entire compensatory damage award to the plaintiff, under a concept known as joint and several liability. Under the modified comparative fault system, each defendant pays only that percentage of the damages equivalent to the percentage of fault assigned to the defendant by the jury. Prior to the adoption of the modified comparative fault system, a plaintiff’s lawsuit could be dismissed if he or she was guilty of some contributory fault. That defense is no longer available.

New Tennessee Supreme Court Opinion on Comparative Fault - The Tennessee Supreme Court has ruled that a plaintiff who lost a medical malpractice case in federal court was not estopped from pursing a case against a State-employed doctor even though the federal court jury assigned no fault to the doctor, a non-party in the federal court action. The case is Mullins v. State of Tennessee, No. E2007-011130SC-R11-CV (Tenn. Sept. 30, 2009). Read the full opinion here. The opinion will be discussed in more detail in the November edition of the Tennessee Trial Law Report.

Roane County Tea Party supports foreign private "Federal" Reserve chairman Herman "Godfather" Cain, who counterfeits all so-called "US dollar bills" and steals 100% of federal income taxes for his foreign masters. Congressman Ron Paul founded the Tea Party during his previous candidacy for president, and his platform included putting the "Federal" Reserve Bank and IRS out of business.

Roane Views: Utopia Of Temperence