DiscussMormonism.com

Posted: **Mon Dec 20, 2021 8:50 pm**

Truck drivers boycott Colorado after driver sentenced to 110 years in prison

Truck drivers are protesting the 110-year prison sentence of a truck driver who killed four people in an accident.

Truck driver Camilo Diaz of Miami wears a mask after parkig his rig at the Flying J Truck Stop during the outbreak of the new coronavirus Saturday, April 11, 2020, in Aurora, Colo.

Rogel Aguilera-Mederos, the truck driver, crashed a semi-truck into traffic, killing four people an injuring several others in April 2019. The crash also damaged and destroyed 28 vehicles, per CBS4 Denver.

The truck reportedly lost braking function when it was traveling downhill on Interstate 70.

Aguilera-Mederos was arrested on 27 counts — four counts of vehicular homicide, six counts of first-degree assault, 10 counts of attempt to commit assault in first agree, two counts of vehicular assault, one count of reckless driving and four counts of careless driving causing death, per the report.

Aguilera-Mederos, 26, was found guilty in October and sentenced on Dec. 13, where Judge A. Bruce Jones said his hands were tied due to mandatory minimum laws in the state.

According to the Independent, his lawyer stated that Aguilera-Mederos had no previous criminal record and he’s a Cuban immigrant who values his new life in the U.S. The investigation also didn’t find the truck driver under the influence.

His sentence caused an outage. A Change.org petition already has 4.3 million signatures, and is asking for clemency or commutation as time served.

The petition also states that the trucking company involved has had “several inspections since 2017, with several mechanical violations.”
Now, truckers are protesting by boycotting Colorado.

One Tiktoker said, “this truck is no longer going to Colorado. We want justice for Rogel Aguilera. Truckers he needs our help.”

Another trucker said, “no longer going to Colorado. I’ve told all my drivers not to take any loads or fuel up there. They’ll be paid extra to go around if they have to. Justice for Rogel Aguilera!”

On Thursday, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis said, “we review all clemency applications, we’ve yet to receive one from the individual but every clemency application that we receive, we review and make a determination,” per The Independent,

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/tr ... d=msedgntp

Maybe there is something more to this than what this article is telling me but as the grandson of a truck driver I find this sentence outrageous!

Posted: **Mon Dec 20, 2021 9:56 pm**

So this accident happened because of a mechanical failure in his truck?

If that is so, how can he be criminally responsible?

Posted: **Mon Dec 20, 2021 10:13 pm**

My memory from a while back was that the issue was he could have swerved right or left, left would kill lots of people and right would have been less devastating, and he chose left because he figured he was dead anyway, so what did it matter if other people died also?

As for the judge's hands being tied, didn't Res show proof a while back that "mandatory sentencing" laws are the creation of conservatives who are "tough on crime"? They want to make sure that liberal judges aren't letting people off easily. So it looks like your rant is partisan, against the right.

Posted: **Mon Dec 20, 2021 10:16 pm**

So it looks like your rant is partisan, against the right.

Perhaps it was unwittingly. I'm obviously not in the business of winning votes or support on this forum. I usually don't post from google news feeds because mainstream media etc. But perhaps the source explains the partisan bias you discovered.

Posted: **Mon Dec 20, 2021 10:54 pm**

ajax18 wrote: ↑
Mon Dec 20, 2021 10:16 pm

So it looks like your rant is partisan, against the right.
Perhaps it was unwittingly. I'm obviously not in the business of winning votes or support on this forum. I usually don't post from google news feeds because mainstream media etc. But perhaps the source explains the partisan bias you discovered.

I've seen two rationales offered, Ajax. One is that he knew he had a problem with his brakes, stopped at the top of the hill and called his employer, and then decided to proceed. The other is that he said that he deliberately chose not to use the runaway truck lane to avoid a $1200 fine.

Those facts may justify some type of criminal prosecution. However, in my opinion, it does not justify the prosecutor's decision to charge the driver with a crime that would result in a mandatory 110 year sentence.

This is the downside of taking away the discretion of judges in sentencing. Any mandatory sentencing system will from time to time produce results that the vast majority of us would consider unjust. This case is the necessary cost of being tough on crime and removing the judge's discretion over sentencing. Under this kind of system, the defendant is at the mercy of the prosecutor, with no other check in the system. Except the governor, who has the power to pardon or commute the sentence.

Posted: **Mon Dec 20, 2021 11:12 pm**

Oof. Brutal. This is a miscarriage of justice.

- Doc

Posted: **Tue Dec 21, 2021 8:27 am**

The guy missed a runaway truck lane. Not judging, but there is something to that. There is obviously a shared responsibility with the trucking company for sending out trucks in disrepair. Even so, if he panicked and missed the lane he bares at least some responsibility.

As an RN I get the full brunt if I give a wrong med to a patient and a sentinel event occurs, I am responsible. No matter that the doctor approved it and the pharmacist approved it. I was the one that was "at the wheel" and gave it. You have no idea how many times I've had to call MD's and say "Sorry Doc, we can't do that."

"Why?"

"Cause it might kill them because of x,y,z"

"Oh, ok. Don't do that then and ask the pharmacist (rad tech, or someone else what we should do instead)"

If I didn't catch those issues I would agree that I was culpable, but the HCA's their lawyers and the doctors would throw me under the bus.

This bottom up prosecution needs to stop.

Posted: **Tue Dec 21, 2021 11:57 am**

The first thing a trucker should have done in that emergency situation is to look for the runaway truck lane.

Posted: **Thu Dec 23, 2021 1:56 am**

Moksha wrote: ↑
Tue Dec 21, 2021 11:57 am
The first thing a trucker should have done in that emergency situation is to look for the runaway truck lane.

Gee, ya think??

Posted: **Thu Dec 23, 2021 2:10 am**

Dr. Shades wrote: ↑
Thu Dec 23, 2021 1:56 am

Moksha wrote: ↑
Tue Dec 21, 2021 11:57 am
The first thing a trucker should have done in that emergency situation is to look for the runaway truck lane.
Gee, ya think??

I further think that the failure to pursue this available option figured into the verdict.

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