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Tuesday, January 11, 2011

The Ol' Proverbial Double Standard.......... W.T.F.Motorcycle Riders Hurt or Killed by Drunk Cop should get Punitive Damages says Cincinnati Attorney...

OFF THE WIRE
you may have seen this but it makes me mad
Art
http://motorcycleinjuryohio.blogspotcom/2011/01/motorcycle-riders-hurt-or-killed-by.html

 Motorcycle Riders Hurt or Killed by Drunk Cop should get Punitive Damages
 says Cincinnati Attorney
 This is a sad story of a drunk cop killing and injuring motorcyclists. The
 families involved are suffering and are rightfully angry. The cop may get
 away with being drunk.
 An Indianapolis police officer struck and killed a motorcyclist tested
 positive for alcohol at the time of the crash, police confirmed. Multiple
 sources close to the investigation told 6News that blood test results for
 Officer David Bisard show the officer registered a blood-alcohol level of 0
 19 percent, more than twice the legal limit
 Eric Wells, 30, was killed Friday morning when Bisard, who was on duty and
 responding to a call with his lights and sirens on, said he was unable to
 avoid striking two motorcycles at 56th Street and Brendon Way South Drive.
 Witnesses said three motorcycles were stopped at the light and couldn't get
 out of the way in time. Kurt Weekly, 44 and Mary Mills, 47, both on the
 other bike that was hit, were in critical and stable condition at Methodist
 Hospital, respectively.
 6News' Jack Rinehart received a text message from Marion County Prosecutor
 Carl Brizzi on Tuesday afternoon saying he was told by the crime lab that
 the officer was drunk, but that he won't see the report until Wednesday
 morning.
 Police Chief Paul Ciesielski said in a statement that the investigation is
 ongoing.
 In an interview with 6News Wednesday morning, Ciesielski said he's upset
 about the latest negative incident involving an Indianapolis officer.
 "This was a shock to us. … I can tell you that this is being treated like
 any other person. The investigation is all above board," said Indianapolis
 Metro Police Chief Paul Ciesielski.
 Police said Bisard is a nine-year veteran of the department. He and his K-9
 partner were not seriously injured in the crash.
 George Burt, 57, was the only motorcyclist involved in the incident to walk
 away from Friday's crash. He attended Wells' funeral Tuesday. Burt was on
 the other motorcycle that was not hit by Bisard, investigators said. He
 watched as his friends were thrown to the ground.
 "Now it makes sense. It wasn't making sense before," Burt said. "It made no
 sense. How could this happen? Burt's emotions have swung from considering
 forgiveness to anger. "This guy was drunk. This guy was a public servant. He
 wasn't supposed to be drunk," Burt said.
 But it got even worse as the alchohol related charges were dropped because
 the police did not follow the correct procedures. Poor crash scene
 management and conflicting policies within the Indianapolis Metropolitan
 Police Department led to the botched investigation into the fatal crash
 involving Officer David Bisard, according to an internal affairs
 investigation.
 Mayor Greg Ballard, Public Safety Director Frank Straub and Police Chief
 Paul Ciesielski held a news conference Wednesday afternoon to release
 details of the 47-page report by the department's Professional Standards
 Division, headed by Deputy Chief Valerie Cunningham.
 Read Full Report
 Cunningham outlined the events of Aug. 6, when police said Bisard was drunk
 on duty when he plowed into a group of motorcyclists stopped at a red light,
 killing one and severely injuring two others.
 She said investigators found that Bisard marked on duty that morning, but
 was unaccounted for more than two hours before he voluntarily responded to
 help serve a warrant.
 Cunningham said Bisard was operating with lights and sirens running, in
 violation of department policy, and was also sending and receiving messages
 not related to police business on laptop in his vehicle, also a violation of
 policy.
 According to a statement Bisard made on the scene, he said he looked down,
 looked back up and hit his brakes but was unable to stop before hitting the
 motorcyclists, police said.
 In a civil case the evidence still may be admissable. Also in Ohio you can
 sue for punitive damages (punishment damages) in addition to compensatory
 damages. Unfortunately punitive damages are not covered by insurance, but if
 the defendant has assets you can go after them.
 Injured in Ohio by a drunk Driver call Cincinnati Motorcycle accident and
 personal injury attorney Anthony Castelli 1-800-447-6549 to get your
 questions answered