In Iowa, Kill a rabbit bad... Kill a cyclist meh...
 

I'm not even sure what to say other than write your state law makers an demand action on the bills that are currently on the House or Senate floors in your state.

Now mind you these two sentencing happened on the same day this week in Iowa 5/3/2020.

Please for the sake of a follow this cyclist lets not turn this into a victim blaming thread.

Retired Cop Kills Cyclist


Rabbit Killer

Safe Passing of Bicyclists in Iowa Bill HF2189

Ride safe my fellow cyclists.

PROBATION?!!!:eek::wtf::eek:

Two justice systems, one for the privileged including cops and one for the rest of us regular citizens.

No idea how that isn’t mandatory jail time.

Sounds like a case of the Law protecting one of its own or at least a former LEO.

Seems to happen a lot these days.

Cheers

Damn! Dude actually went back to the scene of the crime not long after it happened and didn't stop, then waited several more hours to contact police. Sobering up perhaps?

But don't kill a pet rabbit in Iowa

If you have enough money...

My lawyer friend said the original charges carried 5 years. But since they didn't release details of the plea deal we have no clue what he pleaded to.

The good ol' boys club.

He "thought he had hit a dear or something." So I doubt he had to sober up /s

Of course he had to sober up. All drivers claim they thought they hit a deer. This guy is a retired cop, he knew he would get jail time regardless of his cop priviledge if he blew .08 or higher.

And guess what, it worked for him.

I agree that two years probation is ridiculous, but really there's not much comparison between these two cases. In the first case, the driver (possibly drunk) likely did not intend to hit or kill the cyclist. In the other, the psycho dude fully intended to kill that rabbit for whatever reason. You can't prove intent in the first case, but in the second the intent is pretty obvious. And I think at some point in recent history Congress passed a law making animal cruelty a felony. Whereas they still consider hit and run of a cyclist a misdemeanor. I'm not saying that hit & run laws don't need to be toughened up, but really comparing these two cases is apples & oranges. At least the rabbit killer got two years in jail, and the retired cop should have gotten at least the same.

We had a local case here a few years ago where a cyclist was run over and killed by a guy who was too impatient to wait for an oncoming car to pass before trying to pass the cyclist. He got a whopping 60 days in jail. Light sentences for drivers killing cyclists are a scourge upon this nation. Likely because defense attorneys always spin these incidents as an "unfortunate accident" instead of what it is, criminal negligence resulting in death.

I really have no doubt that's what happened. I mean, if you thought you hit some debris or a deer on the side of the road, wouldn't you stop to check it out to see what it was you ran over, and if there were any damage to your vehicle? He likely realized what he did, remembered that he was drunk, and went home to sober up and get his story straight.

While I agree the dude that killed the rabbit did it with malice and probably needs some metal health care while he is locked up and lets hope he gets it. We do not need a loose cannon like that on the streets because it could very well be a human next time.

The cop on the other hand got a slap on the wrist, even though like you, I'm sure he didn't intend to hit and kill the cyclist. However the fact remains that he did hit and kill the cyclist while possibly drunk (2AM!) and did not stop to render aid. As you said even if it was a "just a deer" any non-drunk/normal person would have stopped to see. This is criminal negligence resulting in death at the least and should have been punished as such. They had all the evidence to prove such and the courts failed this man and his family.

My point of this post however was... contact your state representatives to get laws to passed to make sure these types of crimes are punished accordingly. Join your local/state advocacy groups email list to stay abreast of what is happening with proposed laws so you can add your voice. If no one speaks up your representatives may not care or even know these laws are important.

How much time in prison should the cop have got? I don't know, but 2 years seems like a reasonable start since that is what a rabbits life is worth.

BTW I'm not arguing with you here. :)

I agree with the good professor here.

They both deserve jail time.

qft