No details yet, but just got a text from DJwheels in the courthouse. Dr. Christopher Thompson has been found guilty on all seven counts. More details as they come in.
I’m taking off the comment filter for now, so feel free to offer any comments or talk between your selves.
This just in from Eric, which I’m moving up from the comment section so everyone can see:
He was convicted of the following:
2 counts of Assault with a Deadly Weapon (245a)
2 counts of Battery with Serious Bodily Injury (243d) reckless driving (23103a) Reckless driving causing specified injury (23105a)
Mayhem (203)
The first five charges are felonies, the judge would not release him on bail so he goes to jail for the moment.
He was convicted of the following:
2 counts of Assault with a Deadly Weapon (245a)
2 counts of Battery with Serious Bodily Injury (243d) reckless driving (23103a) Reckless driving causing specified injury (23105a)
Mayhem (203)
The first five charges are felonies, the judge would not release him on bail so he goes to jail for the moment.
AWESOME! This is a big victory for cyclists everywhere!
YES! YES! YES!
Thank you SOOOO MUCH for all your updates on this throughout! Please thank DJwheels as well.
Woohoo, I wish I could send Ms. Stone flowers for an amazing job.
You couldn’t be more welcome. I’m just glad I could do it, and that so many people cared enough to follow it on here.
And I think that will be the topic of my next post — a big thank you to Mary Stone, and 12 honest men and women in the jury. And especially DJwheels, who made it possible to cover this case in such detail.
yes
Can we have photos now?
damn… amazing. can’t believe things went our way. SO nice to know that the courts have our backs this time…
How do we get a mugshot of Doctor mahem to put on a billboard along PCH to remind every other woulbe bully!
Good idea… “use a car, go to jail”
I am glad of the results. A little bit of my trust in the police and justice has been restored. It is nice to see that there are some limits on the offenses that can be committed behind the wheel of an automobile with impunity.
Thank you for the excellent coverage and details of this case.
He was charged with 6 felonies. Reckless driving is the only misdemeanor and involves the March incident with Patrick Watson and Josh Crosby.
He’s facing 10 years in state prison. Sentencing is 8:30 on December 3rd.
Ok, I censored my response (all I can say is wikipedia Kevin ‘Bloody’ Wilson and look for a song with “Canada” in the title, I know the same applies in the USA so I can’t say it).
Anyway, F**KING YES!
Bet he’s having a fat cry now. Gobby (insert word I can’t use here)!
Yes, thank you and DJWheels for your coverage. And a special thank you to the prosecutor.
+1 on Sweetpea’s comment.
Its just nice for once to see someone actually get charged and prosecuted as they should be.
[…] just in from BikingInLA, Christopher Thompson was found guilty on all counts in his trial in LA. Evil on Trial: GUILTY, GUILTY, GUILTY! I am just dumbfounded by this verdict. This is more than I could ever believe possible. I […]
Words fail me on this one. The thing that walks like a man with a medical degree is going to jail, for a very long time. I feel no joy, but I do feel some vindication as a victim of hit-and-run myself. Dr. Thompson, meet your new best friend Bubba the homosexual rapist…
Now the good doctor is going to feel the full impact of being rear ended!!! Call it “carma”[sic]
Dave, that was a dumb thing to say.
Prison rape is not funny. The doctors horrible crimes do not make more horrible crimes funny.
Relax, it was only meant to be funny play on words.
Not a funny play on words Dave. Men who are raped in prison frequently go out and rape another person once out of jail. Violence creates violence. I am happy for the conviction of the Dr. and hope the cyclists can get over the trauma of this event.
Sure, nothing gets an American male’s dick harder than thinking about prison rape. Thank god I’ve got a plan to get out of this perverted disease of a country.
I personally thanked D.A. Mary Stone and Detective Spear after the press conference for their hard work on the case.
From Jack Leonard’s article – click here
in the L.A. Times:
“There’s not a cyclist in Los Angeles who would feel comfortable with this defendant out on the road after this verdict,” Stone told the court.
Seeing Dr. Thompson escorted into the holding area in cuffs was surreal.
All I can say is that I hope we can also reach a suitable conclusion to the FIVE other criminal cases currently working their way through the L.A. County Superior Courts. (Three separate vehicular manslaughter cases; one hit and run case; and one more assault with a deadly weapon case.)
A great day for all cyclists. I hope the man has a lot of time to reflect upon his attitude and anger while in prison.
Good news for road safety. He practically convicted himself with that absurd stopping to take a photo story. I think he would have done better had he admitted to having lost his temper and having severely misjudged the stopping ability of the cyclists. That would have been believable, and might have drawn a conviction on lesser charges. He’s lucky nobody was killed in this “accident”. Sure, he only intended to scare the cyclists, but aggressive intent makes you responsible for any consequences.
The road is no place for people to intentionally create hazards for others, even if they believe that the law allows them to do so. See a different example of this at http://la.streetsblog.org/2009/07/08/mandeville-canyon-road-rage-doctor-trial-set-for-917/#comment-41151
One other aspect of this case has escaped notice. The residents (Dr. Thompson for sure!) appear to feel that they own the road, and that cyclists are interlopers. This reminds me of the recent closure of Sand Dune Park in Manhattan Beach due to the crowds it was drawing from near and far, inconveniencing local residents. The city government responded by shutting down all public use. Apparently it’s normal for locals to feel that they own their area and to resent over-use by outsiders, and it’s normal for politicians to respond favorably to that feeling.
Yes — he’d done it before without sending somebody to the hospital.
——————————
I think he would have done better had he admitted to having lost his temper and having severely misjudged the stopping ability of the cyclists. That would have been believable, and might have drawn a conviction on lesser charges.
this case is being discussed on larry mantle’s show this morning on KPCC – open to callers…
This reminded me to smile and wave. I also use a camera to record my movements. @:30 you see the same thing this guy does to me. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPtTNRGDkgw I simply slowed down, but you can see at 30 mph yikes.
bb, that is scary one. Glad you got out of there in one piece. Hope you got the license number from that video and reported the jerk.
[…] Dr. Christopher Thompson was convicted of assaulting and seriously injuring two cyclists on Mandeville Canyon on July 4th, 2008, and was sentenced to five years in state prison for five felony convictions and two misdemeanors. […]