[Muckraker]

Quote by: ruksak Disagree? Cite precedent.

How about this one? A little old lady that had suffered numerous strokes is off to the pen too.

Driver guilty of negligent homicide in bicyclist's death
Verdict is a message to motorists, brother of Josie Johnson says

By Joseph M. Dougherty
Deseret Morning News
Published: December 23, 2005

WEST JORDAN — An eight-person jury found Elizabeth M. DeSeelhorst guilty of negligent criminal homicide Thursday after deliberating five hours.
"It was a hard conclusion to come to," Brent Bedke, juror No. 5, told the Deseret Morning News. "But the facts speak for themselves."

Shortly after the verdict was read, DeSeelhorst was hustled out of the courtroom and onto an elevator. She and her attorneys, Greg Skordas and Rebecca Hyde, left without commenting on the verdict.

DeSeelhorst hit and killed bicyclist Josie Johnson in Big Cottonwood Canyon Sept. 18, 2004.

Johnson's family, who may file a civil suit against DeSeelhorst, was pleased with the verdict.

"I have no ill feelings toward (DeSeelhorst)," said Ken Johnson, Josie Johnson's brother. "In fact, I have sympathy for her. She probably had as many sleepless nights as we have."

But the verdict sends a message to motorists, he said.

"If you strike or injure or kill a cyclist, there is a consequence," Ken Johnson said.

Utah bicyclists took up the cause of bicycle safety after Johnson's death by organizing bike rides called Josie Rides, the second of which, in October, had more than 1,000 participating cyclists, said Bob Springmeyer, a cyclist who helped organize the first two Josie Rides.

The Utah Legislature enacted HB49 in May, making it the law for drivers to stay at least 3 feet away from cyclists unless road conditions force them closer together.

Johnson, 27, was hit from behind while she rode about 18 inches to the left of the white fog line at the road's edge. During the trial, crash investigators testified that DeSeelhorst's Jeep was straddling that line when she hit Johnson.

Springmeyer was among a handful of cycling enthusiasts who sat through three days of testimony in 3rd District Court.

Many others followed the three-day trial, expecting that a not-guilty verdict would have set a precedent in car-vs.-bicycle legal cases.

"If the case was lost, it would be almost impossible to bring prosecution on any other case . . . because they're difficult cases to prove," Springmeyer said, citing two car-versus-bicycle crashes in southern Utah that were never followed by prosecution.

"I hope that coming out of it, some people are going to learn that you have to respect cyclists," Springmeyer said.

DeSeelhorst testified Wednesday she didn't remember driving outside of her lane and directly into the rear of Johnson's bike.

But after the crash, when Salt Lake County sheriff's deputies arrived, DeSeelhorst indicated on a witness statement that she had seen the cyclist and moved out of the way. The deputies who investigated the crash testified that what DeSeelhorst wrote as her statement didn't happen.

"She (DeSeelhorst) did nothing to avoid her," deputy district attorney Chris Bown said during closing arguments. "That, ladies and gentlemen, is criminal negligence."

DeSeelhorst suffered a stroke in 1991 and a ministroke, or transient ischemic attack, in 1994. Since then, she has suffered numerous smaller strokes that she was unaware of until being examined by LDS Hospital chief of neurology Dr. John Foley. She is on two medications, an anti-coagulant and an anti-seizure medication. She has since surrendered her driver's license.

DeSeelhorst had the mental ability to pull her Jeep to the side of the road after the crash, Bown said. She knew to call her husband, the president of Solitude Mountain Resort, and asked him to summon the resort's emergency medical technicians. She had the presence of mind to tell people arriving on the scene that she probably shouldn't be talking to them. She knew what direction she was traveling. And she knew she had had at least one stroke and memory loss in the past, Bown said.

"That shows a clear understanding of what just happened," he said. "For how much she drives the canyon, for how much she sees bikers, that was a risk that she should have been aware of . . . that's the gross deviation."

Bedke said most of the six remaining jurors — two were released as alternates before deliberations started — went into deliberations with open minds.

What followed was five hours of respectful debate, Bedke said.

"Nobody was pressured to make their decision," he said.

He said Foley's testimony about DeSeelhorst's neurology was a huge part of the defense's case, but it was overcome by the inconsistencies between DeSeelhorst's testimony and her statement to deputies last year.

"The facts supported the state," he said.

Third District Court Judge Royal Hansen set a sentencing date of Feb. 3 at 8:30 a.m. and told DeSeelhorst to not operate a motor vehicle.