Sean Higgins' attorneys files a motion to dismiss charges- Claims the Gaudreau brothers were more intoxicated than Sean Higgins was.

[Galactico]

Not surprised. He's facing a possible 70 years in prison if he's found guilty and I have no idea how he wouldn't be. In the USA they can really throw the book at you if they want.... unlike Canada where he'd probably get 10 and be out in 4.

In Canada ? He would get 6 years and be out in 18 months, I am not even joking.

 

[Hippasus]

Said it last time this topic popped up. Defence attorneys are a check on the legal system. Their job is to make sure law enforcement and the DA have done theirs properly. If the person is truly guilty, a defence attorney does their job properly, and so do law enforcement/the prosecutor, then the person will go to prison and will not have an avenue to win an appeal. If any of those three fail at their job, it means the accused could either walk free or have an avenue to appeal.

Criminal defence lawyers don't see their job as defending criminals. They see it as ensuring law enforcement and the prosecutor are doing their jobs and not skipping any steps.

You can call them scummy or evil or whatever you want, but the legal system would be absolutely rampant with corruption and innocents jailed without them.

Thanks for your help. We're doing great.

 

[Crow]

Good ruling

No offense, but how in the hell would you know? You practice law and have intimate details of the case?

 

[Kimota]

Judge made the right call.

Yea I mean THEY are the ones that got ran over. lol

 

[Hippasus]

No offense, but how in the hell would you know? You practice law and have intimate details of the car?

Good point, we need more experienced drivers behind the wheel.

 

[HolyGhost]

Why?

if you look at case laws across Canada and the US you will see the condition of the others can be factored in

 

[HolyGhost]

Why?

if you look at case laws across Canada and the US you will see the condition of the others can be factored in

Want to break it down why it matters....at all?

take a look at case laws in the state

 

[TheBeastCoast]

if you look at case laws across Canada and the US you will see the condition of the others can be factored in



take a look at case laws in the state

Evidently the judge disagrees with you. Take a lap.

 

[Dr Pepper]

In Canada ? He would get 6 years and be out in 18 months, I am not even joking.

Marco Muzzo probably watching this case unfold in some sprawling Richmond Hill estate, thankful he wasn't born in New Jersey.

 

[MikeyMike01]

Imagine wanting to become a lawyer to defend scum like this.

The entire point of the system is that anyone who goes to prison, does so despite every attempt at the best possible defense (in theory anyway).

The alternatives are worse.

 

[Hippasus]

The entire point of the system is that anyone who goes to prison, does so despite every attempt at the best possible defense (in theory anyway).

The alternatives are worse.

Some people want worse. Not talking about myself.

 

[SteelCityCannon]

No way he gets life

If Gaudreau wasn’t an NHl hockey player and he mowed down a couple everyday folks the sad reality is he likely serves little time at all. Motorists who kill cyclists very rarely get severe punishment. There’s usually the unspoken implication that the cyclist is partially to blame simply for riding on the road.

Sure, when alcohol isn't involved.

Unfortunately it was here.

 

[BFLO]

I don't understand the benefit the defense is hoping to get that his BAC was only .087%

It seems a lot worse actually that he's so reckless and indifferent to the lives of others while being only slightly impaired that he killed 2 people. Far more of a danger to society

 

[Lazlo Hollyfeld]

if you look at case laws across Canada and the US you will see the condition of the others can be factored in



take a look at case laws in the state

Ok so you don’t actually want to give an answer.

 

[Memento]

Yikes some of the responses in this thread are crazy. .8 is like a beer or two.

The brothers intoxicated has bearing.

Sad that alcohol caused it

Higgins was literally drinking a beer in his car at the time he ran the Gaudreau brothers over, and he had "five or six beers, but not in two hours". He admitted it to police, in his own words. He tested over the New Jersey legal limit with 0.87.

More than that, however, was the fact that Higgins drove like an absolute road raging maniac, swerving into their lane and running them over. The Gaudreau brothers being intoxicated didn't matter because they were apparently following cycling laws, not swerving in front of cars, etc.

They would not have been killed if Higgins wasn't swerving into their lane like a maniac, and he has a history of road rage.

I don't blame the defense attorney for trying every avenue; that's what you're supposed to do as a defense attorney, to give your client every avenue, so that if they are guilty, there's no doubt about it. Checks and balances and all that.

But Higgins is far from a sympathetic figure. I feel for his family, I especially feel for the Gaudreaus, but as someone who has lost a close friend to a drunk driver, I have less than zero sympathy for Higgins himself. I just want the defense to try everything reasonable, so that if he is found guilty, he spends a good portion of his life in prison.

 

[Crosby2010]

The article I read, said something along the lines of a possible 70 year sentence for double vehicular manslaughter, after Higgins and his team declined a plea deal that would've given him 35 years.

But you're right, even 35 is far more than I've seen some get for far worse when it comes to fatal alcholol-related crashes.

I'll say what I said a year ago, he probably gets less than 10, and then gets off for good behaviour.

 

[Strangle]

A non-motorized bicycle, in NJ, is not considered "vehicle" under the context of a DUI. Not saying there's no relevance to what happened, but just FYI for those wondering.

Edit with source:

https://bikeleague.org/sites/default/files/bui_full_chart.pdf

You can get a DUI for riding your bicycle drunk???

Isn’t that what they’re for?

 

[Lazlo Hollyfeld]

Higgins was literally drinking a beer in his car at the time he ran the Gaudreau brothers over, and he had "five or six beers, but not in two hours". He admitted it to police, in his own words. He tested over the New Jersey legal limit with 0.87.

More than that, however, was the fact that Higgins drove like an absolute road raging maniac, swerving into their lane and running them over. The Gaudreau brothers being intoxicated didn't matter because they were apparently following cycling laws, not swerving in front of cars, etc.

They would not have been killed if Higgins wasn't swerving into their lane like a maniac, and he has a history of road rage.

I don't blame the defense attorney for trying every avenue; that's what you're supposed to do as a defense attorney, to give your client every avenue, so that if they are guilty, there's no doubt about it. Checks and balances and all that.

But Higgins is far from a sympathetic figure. I feel for his family, I especially feel for the Gaudreaus, but as someone who has lost a close friend to a drunk driver, I have less than zero sympathy for Higgins himself. I just want the defense to try everything reasonable, so that if he is found guilty, he spends a good portion of his life in prison.

Exactly.

Getting lost in this discussion of alcohol is that the Gaudreaus were seen riding single file on the side of the road as they should be, which is why a car was moving into the other lane (as it should be) to pass them, when Higgins swerved to pass the car on the right hand side striking the Gaudreaus.

And not to be morbid but for two healthy young men to both be killed like that shows just how hard and reckless Higgins struck them. In many incidents where cyclists are hit by a car, the first cyclist may be killed but other riders often survive because the driver has made some response to the first impact.

 

[BB79]

You can get a DUI for riding your bicycle drunk???

Isn’t that what they’re for?

No, that's what Uber is for. Well, that and getting kidnapped

 

[Machinehead]

"Your honor, I wasn't fall-over drunk, I'm just a slightly buzzed asshole."

 

[DudeWhereIsMakar]

No way he gets life

If Gaudreau wasn’t an NHl hockey player and he mowed down a couple everyday folks the sad reality is he likely serves little time at all. Motorists who kill cyclists very rarely get severe punishment. There’s usually the unspoken implication that the cyclist is partially to blame simply for riding on the road.

Life would be the maximum, which would be my case considering he took two lives rather than one. But it's true it's possible he doesn't. If that's the case after his jail time is served he shouldn't be allowed behind a vehicle ever again.

 

[Strangle]

No, that's what Uber is for. Well, that and getting kidnapped

I live too far from the city to be able to get an uber

 

[hossua34]

Here's the thing - yes, the victim's own intoxication can be a factor. But based on all of the reporting thus far, there is an independent eyewitness and forensic evidence showing the dude swerved to the right and tried to illegally pass an SUV in the shoulder because he thought they were trying to block him from passing (when they were actually moving over to give the Gaudreaus more room on the right.) Were the Gaudreaeus supposed to have eyes in the back of their heads?

It's kind of like saying, "Sure I mowed you down in a crosswalk when you had the right of way. But you were drunk when you crossed the crosswalk..." (Oh also I was drunk too.)

The defense won't hold up. But yes, as others have said, the lawyers do their jobs by throwing everything out there.

 

[Cool Hand Puke]

I live too far from the city to be able to get an uber

That doesn’t excuse breaking the law

 

[Strangle]

That doesn’t excuse breaking the law

That depends on if I respect the law in question

I don’t believe in obeying stupid laws