Colorado governor slashes trucker's prison term to 10 years

[Eugene]

Source: Associated Press

DENVER (AP) — Colorado Gov. Jared Polis on Thursday shortened the prison sentence of a truck driver convicted in a deadly crash to 10 years, drastically reducing his original 110-year term that drew widespread outrage.

The decision on Rogel Aguilera-Mederos’ sentence was among several year-end commutations and pardons issued by Polis.

The move comes days after a judge scheduled a hearing for next month to reconsider the sentence at the request of the district attorney, who planned to ask that it be reduced to 20 to 30 years.

Around 5 million people signed an online petition seeking clemency for Aguilera-Mederos, who was convicted of vehicular homicide and other charges in an explosive pileup that killed four people in 2019.

-snip-

By COLLEEN SLEVIN
19 minutes ago


Read more: https://apnews.com/article/business-colorado-jared-polis-3b3b02c1891b9b1833e08e0f943053ef

[iluvtennis]

2. So happy for this decision. The guys brakes went out on an 18-wheeler

that was on a highway where there were cars stopped from a previous accident.

So happy this 25 year old will get his future back.

p.s. I’m probably a bit biased as I have 3 brothers that are big wheel truck drivers, so I have a lot of empathy for truck drivers

[mountain grammy]

3. Thank you to my governor....

This is appropriate. Enough of the madness.

[Lunabell]

4. This is more appropriate.

He failed to do the right thing, but he did not deliberately hurt anyone. Nor was he physically or mentally impaired.

[stopdiggin]

5. much more appropriate. wonder how the trial

court got it so wildly out of proportion in the first place.

[OnlinePoker]

6. The judge says his hands were tied by legislation passed in Colorado.

He was not allowed to sentence the driver to concurrent terms and had to do it consecutively. He and the DA say the sentence was too severe.

“If I had the discretion, if I thought I had the discretion, I would not run those sentences consecutively,” Jones said.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/colorado-da-seeks-review-truck-drivers-110-year-sentence-deadly-crash-rcna9603

[ZonkerHarris]

13. Judges need to make a stand against mandatory minimum etc. Do the right thing and let

Last edited Fri Dec 31, 2021, 07:33 PM - Edit history (1)

appeals courts deal with it.

[Eugene]

10. The ADA had the discretion whether to throw the book at the defendant.

A case of the adversarial process gone haywire.

The prosecutor later boasted on Facebook how she received a trophy as a gift. The DA's office finally backed down after the blow-back.

[Joinfortmill]

7. A wise decision

[blue-wave]

8. Our entire criminal justice system

needs reform. Wisdom, common sense and compassion for victim and perpetrator should be considered and prevail. I guess that would mean federal mandates or guidelines to eliminate draconian state laws. And let's not forget intervention so as to provide proper mental health or other professional services if needed.

[SammyBrown]

9. Full pardon

He should be pardoned if truly the brakes failed. The Trucking company he works for should be held liable and take responsiblity for the faulty brakes.

[PatSeg]

11. Yes

What purpose does it serve for him to be in prison at all?

[Bengus81]

12. That was my thought when the story first broke.........

Hopefully he'll come up for a parole hearing in the first year or two and get the hell out of there.

[uncle ray]

15. the brakes failed from misuse.

it's reported that he did stop to inspect the brakes after overheating them, and then continued on his way down the mountain knowing his brakes were already overheated. he then blew by the runaway truck ramp put in place for exactly this situation. he was then too incompetent to get his truck into a lower gear to allow compression braking of the engine to help slow his truck, and allowed it to coast down the mountain using only his brakes. he made conscious decisions that led to people being killed. this guy failed at one of the most crucial aspects of driving a truck: slowing/stopping it in an emergency situation. as the law stands, commercial drivers are responsible for the ~20 tons they are piloting down our roads. they are required to do equipment checks. do you really want to relieve drivers of this responsibility? how should the company be held responsible for decisions made by the driver? do you really want our roads filled with commercial vehicles driven by operators who bear no personal responsibility for their actions? if anything, we should have better protections to protect drivers from retaliation when the decide to stop their rig for safety reasons.

[Owl]

16. +1

[olegramps]

14. I think that time served would be sufficient. He has suffered enough.