Cop Gets Wrist Slapped for Killing Woman

Beverly police officer convicted in 2007 fatal crash

A Beverly police officer was convicted today of killing a woman when his cruiser smashed into her parked car, but he will not have to go to jail, Suffolk County prosecutors said.

The judge sentenced Merry to three years of supervised probation, 200 hours of community service, a $1,000 fine, and the loss of his driver's license for 15 years, said Suffolk district attorney's spokeswoman Erika Gully-Santiago.

Merry was convicted of negligent motor vehicle homicide in Peabody District Court in March 2008, but a judge later set aside the conviction because new evidence had been discovered.

The Supreme Judicial Court ordered a new trial earlier this year, rejecting Merry's argument that he should not be retried and that there was not enough evidence to establish that he was negligent.

He kills a woman for driving like an idiot. He gets a thousand dollar fine, three years of probation and 200 hours of community service. That's about the same fine for sharing ONE SONG on the internet....oh wait, no, it's much less.

No accountability. If he killed someone, by screwing up, as he was convicted of doing, he should be in jail.

I think this sends a really crappy message to the family of the victim. It takes two years to get to an end of this trial and when it arrives, he skates with a slap on the wrist.
Link to Source

Edit to add link...sorry guys.


[edit on 24-8-2009 by KSPigpen]

I hate when I hear about things like this. If I were one of her family members I know I would be plotting my own justice. Do you have a source link for the original article?

it does not surprise me... earlier this year, a football player got one month in jail for killing a man while driving drunk.

cops have the badge to kill

Is there a link to the story? I'd like to see it. If this was an accident and no alcohol or other substances were involved, I'd hardly call his punishment a wrist slap. Loss of license for 15 years and I'm sure his job, along with community service and fine.

I'm not sure what you'd consider adequate punishment for an accident. He hit a parked car. Distracted, maybe? Unfortunately and unforeseeably it resulted in a tragic death.

I guess I need more facts.

Originally posted by Estharik
I hate when I hear about things like this. If I were one of her family members I know I would be plotting my own justice. Do you have a source link for the original article?

I totally agree! If she were related to me, there would be another vehicular manslaughter in this guys future! He wouldn't be safe walking anywhere!

Perhaps not the source but from a different article on this story...

wbztv.com...

The officer was convicted of the same offense last year, but was granted a new trial after the judge said prosecutors failed to disclose evidence favorable to him.

Merry argued he'd had a seizure. Prosecutors said Merry made a crack in the windshield with his head, showing he'd been sitting up.

A judge ordered a new trial in May 2008 after a crash analyst told prosecutors after the trial that the crack came from a stress fracture.

So he was convicted of "negligent motor vehicle homicide" in the first trial, was granted a retrial since the initial prosecutors failed to disclose his claim of having suffered a seizure, and then convicted of the same offense the second time 'round. One would think the "seizure" aspect would have possibly lessened the charge to "vehicular homicide". "Negligence" would seem a case of having "control" over a certain aspect or instance but Not exercising that "control" ... thereby resulting in the outcome - the accident.

As for the sentence handed down by the judge, perhaps he took the "seizure claim" into consideration after the crash analyst stated the windshield crack was the result of a stress fracture. (?)

A sad and unfortunate loss of life, my heart goes out to this woman and her family, but with all we have to go on from the source and article I've linked to above it wouldn't seem a case of the officer having acted in a reckless manner. (?)

Accidents Do happen...

reply to post by 12m8keall2c


My point exactly. A little scary how quickly people are to pick up the pitchforks before all the info is available.

Originally posted by 12m8keall2c
As for the sentence handed down by the judge, perhaps he took the "seizure claim" into consideration after the crash analyst stated the windshield crack was the result of a stress fracture. (?)

A sad and unfortunate loss of life, my heart goes out to this woman and her family, but with all we have to go on from the source and article I've linked to above it wouldn't seem a case of the officer having acted in a reckless manner. (?)

Accidents Do happen...

Exactly, but if the seizure had real medical merit, he would have been acquitted. You don't get charged with a crime if said crime occurred because of an unexpected (and unforseable) medical issue. Now if the guy has a history of debilitating seizures there would be cause for the "negligance" part.

Regardless, even if it was a unforeseeable seizure, he would have lost his license in most states, depending on the cause of the seizure.

there are sentences worse then jail.

With jail, you still have roof over your head, and three meals.

With no license, and no career, this guy will have the worst time trying to find a job and survinng.

Originally posted by rogerstigers

Originally posted by 12m8keall2c
As for the sentence handed down by the judge, perhaps he took the "seizure claim" into consideration after the crash analyst stated the windshield crack was the result of a stress fracture. (?)

A sad and unfortunate loss of life, my heart goes out to this woman and her family, but with all we have to go on from the source and article I've linked to above it wouldn't seem a case of the officer having acted in a reckless manner. (?)

Accidents Do happen...

Exactly, but if the seizure had real medical merit, he would have been acquitted. You don't get charged with a crime if said crime occurred because of an unexpected (and unforseable) medical issue. Now if the guy has a history of debilitating seizures there would be cause for the "negligance" part.

Regardless, even if it was a unforeseeable seizure, he would have lost his license in most states, depending on the cause of the seizure.

The source I read didn't say anything about the seizure. He was convicted of being NEGLIGENT. He wasn't convicted of having a seizure. People with seizures go to the hospital. People that are negligent and kill other people go to jail. I thought that was the way it was supposed to work anyway.

Yeah. An 'unfortunate' loss of life. If it were a cop that was killed, the driver would either be rotting in prison, or would have already been killed by the cop's 'brothers.'

Originally posted by KSPigpen
If it were a cop that was killed, the driver would either be rotting in prison, or would have already been killed by the cop's 'brothers.'

Two police officers killed in accident; no charges filed.

Authorities said Adams, of Kentucky, was driving a box truck on Indiana 63 near Covington when it rear-ended a rented box truck that was providing support to a group of bicyclists raising money for families of police officers who died on duty.

The collision pushed the support truck into some of the bicyclists, killing Dudley and Martin and seriously injuring another rider.

Alexander said she considered filing a reckless homicide charge, but after considering an investigation, state law and Indiana case law, she determined that the charge wasn't warranted.

Alexander said Adams wasn't under the influence of alcohol or controlled substances and was not in violation of any federal regulations that govern the amount of time a driver can be lawfully on the road. She also said that there was nothing in Adams' medical or driving history that would have made him unfit to drive.

She said state law defined reckless homicide as being done "in plain, conscious and unjustifiable disregard of the harm that might result and the disregard involves a substantial deviation from acceptable standards of conduct."

Two police officers on a ride for a charity raising money for families of officers killed in the line of duty. Killed in a tragic accident by a truck driver who rear ended the support truck and pushed it into the bicycling officers.

Your personal opinions of police officers is coloring your judgment.

i complitly support you,if the law goes easy on them we take vengeance into our own hands,se if he thinks hes safe,if laws were real justice we wont have to relate so much,but if they screw us like this,then take the vengeance into hands brothers!

reply to post by Stillalive


What are you even talking about? Do your handlers know you're loose? Try determining what the facts are sometime before you get ready to promote vigilantism. Brother.

yea i admit im alot of times fast to convict and get on fire.
still the government of whatever powers are to blame here!
sure the police officer killed her,but the real problem is not fair trial right?
well how would you react? would you not get vengeance for your loved one,especialy if the killer didnt get justice?
its only natural were humans,some of us think differently nothing wrong with that.to not go after vengeance must be pretty honorous i guess. but yea,the system is to blame,people would not get so mad,if they sentenced him as they should

[edit on 24-8-2009 by Stillalive]

reply to post by Stillalive


Are you even aware of the facts in this situation? It was an accident. The officer is being punished. What do you want, some sort of John Gotti retribution, maybe dice him up with a chainsaw?

I think there are plenty of people who look to hang someone just because they wear a uniform. I don't see where anyone got away with anything. He hit a parked car. It was an accident. Someone died as a result, does that qualify him as "a killer"? It's sad, but it happens. Police officers aren't immune from having accidents, and accidents happen to them as well. Did you read my post above?

Thank God there's a court system to at least attempt to sort things out and administer the outcome. I shudder to think of the alternatives should some of you in this thread have the ultimate power to make the decision.

Originally posted by MrDesolate

Originally posted by KSPigpen
If it were a cop that was killed, the driver would either be rotting in prison, or would have already been killed by the cop's 'brothers.'

Two police officers killed in accident; no charges filed.

Authorities said Adams, of Kentucky, was driving a box truck on Indiana 63 near Covington when it rear-ended a rented box truck that was providing support to a group of bicyclists raising money for families of police officers who died on duty.

The collision pushed the support truck into some of the bicyclists, killing Dudley and Martin and seriously injuring another rider.

Alexander said she considered filing a reckless homicide charge, but after considering an investigation, state law and Indiana case law, she determined that the charge wasn't warranted.

Alexander said Adams wasn't under the influence of alcohol or controlled substances and was not in violation of any federal regulations that govern the amount of time a driver can be lawfully on the road. She also said that there was nothing in Adams' medical or driving history that would have made him unfit to drive.

She said state law defined reckless homicide as being done "in plain, conscious and unjustifiable disregard of the harm that might result and the disregard involves a substantial deviation from acceptable standards of conduct."

Two police officers on a ride for a charity raising money for families of officers killed in the line of duty. Killed in a tragic accident by a truck driver who rear ended the support truck and pushed it into the bicycling officers.

Your personal opinions of police officers is coloring your judgment.

"my thoughts betray me..." I was just looking for something sunny to cut this thread with a little while ago. Good job keeping things on a nice even keel, MrD. I appreciate it.

I suppose if we try hard enough, we can find something to just about support ANY position. The only difference on this one, was there was not enough evidence to support 'negligence.'

i didnt much read the whole info, i dont know if it was a really incident,or the cop was just driving insade i dont know man.but still i take my words back,i dont hate on police officers that much,i know alot of them work for small salaryes and risk theyr lives,and some of them are complete bast****,that use theyr power to humiliate and beat up people.even if your right,here in bulgaria if i kill a granny by a car incident,even if shes 80 years old and about to die,i go in jail FOR MY WHOLE LIFE!some granny even jump infront to get you sued
how is that fair?

Originally posted by MrDesolate
reply to post by Stillalive

 

It was an accident. Someone died as a result, does that qualify him as "a killer"?

negligent motor vehicle homicide

Uh, yeah...afraid it DOES make him a killer. He was negligent and killed another human being with his car.

Is HE a human being too? Sure he is. He probably also deserves some compassion as he must be feeling pretty crappy about the whole thing. My point is that for some reason, he got off pretty easy. A seizure wouldn't have indicated negligence. He screwed up, killed a woman and gets a pretty damn light sentence.

its hard to judje what he deserves,but i know for one thing that if i go to jail until i die for killing a granny with my car,and if i have to pay 10000000000000$ for filesharing why would he get off easy?espeacialy if there arent enough evidence of neglicion. i dont know if the person is deserving,or is he just with very bad luck and sorry for the woman,but well whats with the light sentence?

as for me making decisions,i may be radical some times,but if it were me pulling the strings the world would be a better place,couse a lot of evil egoistic monsters would be behind bars or tied in the towns square

[edit on 24-8-2009 by Stillalive]