Testimony in the Mandeville Canyon case concluded on Wednesday, with the Good Doctor, Christopher Thompson taking the stand for the full day. Closing arguments were held on Thursday, including a powerful presentation from Asst. D.A. Mary Stone in which she employed a baseball bat, doctor’s lab coat and Ron Peterson’s shattered bike — can’t wait to get details on that one.
The case went to the jury about an hour before court adjourned on Thursday; the courthouse is closed today, so deliberations will resume on Monday.
DJwheels was in the courtroom for both days and has promised to provide a full update today; check back later today for more details.
He also reports that there’s a phone chain in place, so I’ll post the verdict as soon as it comes in. Then again, the weather is supposed to be great on Monday and Tuesday, so if the verdict comes in when I’m out riding, it will go up as soon as I get back.
I know, I know. Damn cyclists.
One other note: There’s a lot of anger over this case in the cycling community, and the verdict could go either way. So please, no matter how this case comes out, keep cool — and try to channel that anger productively, where it will do some good.
We have a bad enough reputation as it is.
You can read about Thompson’s testimony in the L.A. Times and VeloNews.
what a crap reporting is this. ### “Christopher Thompson, a veteran emergency room physician, said a group of cyclists flipped him off and yelled profanities when he overtook them last year as they rode three abreast down Mandeville Canyon Road, a narrow residential street that is popular with bike riders.” #####
He honked at them first and then yelled at them. Some how that wasn’t included. Not mention the cyclists were going the speed limit and did nothing wrong..
Note: BB is responding to the article in the Times about Thompson’s testimony. While I agree that they could have done a better job in presenting the background in this story — including a recap of the cyclist’s version of events — they have covered that in previous stories.
“We have a bad enough reputation as it is”. To me this is just the general perception idiots have of us. I have gown very tired of how we are defined by what we do not who we are. People are people, good bad other wise not because we drive a car or ride a bike. There are aholes on both side but not because of how they decide to travel, but because they are aholes. We can never find common ground when it is always an us against them mentality. We will always be weary of autos because of our vulnerability to injury where they will always see us as a nuisance. As long as our society promotes the individual over the social needs of everyone this mentality will prevail. I step down from my soap box.
You won’t get an argument from me, Ray. My point isn’t that we deserve that reputation; it’s just let’s not do anything to convince people we do. And feel free to climb up on that soapbox any time.
Had an interesting thought. The L.A times stated that under cross examination Thompson claimed that he wanted to take a picture of the cyclist riding three abreast. He is a very highly paid physician. Doesn’t he have a vidio camera? What do you want to bet that somewhere in this world there is a vidio, along with audio, of the whole assault? Also makes one wonder why he didn’t take any photos before, during and after passing the cyclists. Very curious.