Finally, this bas...d is going to trial
- Thread starter #juan
- Start date
There is no difference between what he did and if he pulled out a gun and shot them...
Was noticing that myself.... I've had a front axle knocked from beneath me ... but the truck depicted isn't even configured for a second steering axle
Drunk Drivers - with the potential to reoffend. Why not just give him a loaded handgun8O
Every afternoon in any town you'll find several repeat offenders reloading who have yet to smoke someone off. Chances are one of those people is part of your inner circle of family and friends.
If you want to take things to the extreme ban parking lots around drinking establishments.
If you want to take things to the extreme ban parking lots around drinking establishments.
Every afternoon in any town you'll find several repeat offenders reloading who have yet to smoke someone off. Chances are one of those people is part of your inner circle of family and friends.
...and I would have no problem with them losing their liscence and getting carted off to jail. If they killed somebody, then they should stay in jail
You mean some actually wait until afternoon?
Then, there are some whose "holier than thou" attitudes are a 24/7 thing. They can be more dangerous than a drunk driver....
Then, there are some whose "holier than thou" attitudes are a 24/7 thing. They can be more dangerous than a drunk driver....
That is the photo of his truck. Here is the story from early this afternoon. Trial continues through the day and likely longer this week.
CTV Calgary- Cement truck driver on trial - CTV News, Shows and Sports -- Canadian Television
Prosectors say Tschetter was driving at frightening speeds when he ran into the car.
The Crown says that after the crash, Tschetter threw a bottle of vodka into the back of his cement mixer.
Prosector Jonathan Hak also told the court that two drivers had called 9-1-1 to report the truck driving at unsafe speeds.
He also said the light had been red for some time and the truck didn't slow down before hitting the stopped car.
The trial continues Monday afternoon.
You're rationalizing to the wrong guy. I'm all for making Alcohol a banned substance
I would love if this piece of garbage got a sentence that fits his crime, but this is Canada. A slap on the wrist type of sentence will be what he'll probably get. I hope I'm wrong though. I'd say 20+ years would be a good start(he did kill a family of 5 after all).
You would think these judges who give such lenient sentences would have trouble sleeping at night. I know I would.
You would think these judges who give such lenient sentences would have trouble sleeping at night. I know I would.
I don't see anywhere if he had to go to the hospital. If he did, there is a chance that a blood sample may have been taken and if so - the police will have his blood alchohol content. Hospitals do not need permission to test for it and they will do it in such circumstances. Might depend on the province. You all know that it is going to depend on the Judge himself. If he gets the kind of Judge we would want him to have, then he's going down. If he gets a weak Judge, and there are lots of them, he will probably get the 2 yrs. less a day. I hope the Calgary police have their ducks in a row.
That is a good point. I had forgotten the fact that they can sometimes get blood samples taken at the hospital. I hope that is the case here. Either way, there should be enough physical evidence that he was impaired while driving.
It never happens that way. Y'know ... come to think of it ... if I wanted to rid my world of someone, 5 years for Impaired Driving resulting in Death is a much better deal than life for Premedicated murder (typo is intentional)
Well, I am certainly not defending drunk drivers, their vehicle is no different than a loaded gun, and I would throw the book at them every time, but I have
never read in the paper that someone with a 'holier than thou' attitude, while
driving, killed someone, is their a breathilizer test for that problem?
That's the most ludicrous statement on this board for some time.
Tschetter takes the stand
Updated: Mon Mar. 16 2009 12:05:13
ctvcalgary.ca
The man accused of killing five people in a traffic accident has taken the stand in his own defense.
On December 7, 2007, Tschetter was driving a cement truck that smashed into the back of a car stopped at a light on Macleod Trail.
The accident killed five people including three children.
Tschetter's lawyer says his client was driving erratically but denies he was drunk.
On Monday, Tschetter testified that after the accident he wanted a drink of water so he reached into his cab and grabbed a bottle. Tschetter says he accidentally drank from the vodka bottle instead of his water bottle.
Tschetter says the reason he threw the vodka bottle into the cement mixer is because he became paranoid and was worried what police would think if they saw him with the bottle.
Tschetter says he is a recovering alcoholic who has barely had any alcohol for the past 18 years.
CTV Calgary- Tschetter takes the stand - CTV News, Shows and Sports -- Canadian Television
Oh Yeah.
Mistakenly drank vodka after deadly Calgary crash, driver testifies
Court hears that accused was frustrated, distracted on day of collision
Last Updated: Monday, March 16, 2009 | 2:17 PM MT
Daniel Tschetter, who is on trial for manslaughter, leaves the Calgary courthouse on March 9. (CBC)
A cement truck driver charged with killing five people in a Calgary rear-end collision testified that he's a longtime recovering alcoholic who's had a "couple of slips here and there."
Daniel Tschetter, 51, has pleaded not guilty to five counts of manslaughter, five counts of criminal negligence causing death and one count of obstruction in the deadly crash in December 2007.
Testifying in his own defence on Monday morning, Tschetter said he has been sober for 18 years in his battle against alcoholism aside from "a couple of slips here and there."
The driver said he was in a rush to return to the cement plant in Springbank to wash out his truck after delivering a load of cement to a job site near Nanton on Dec. 7, 2007.
The Crown presented witnesses last week who testified that they saw Tschetter's truck speeding and driving erratically before the crash that killed Chris Gautreau, 41, his daughters, Alexia, 9, and Kiarra, 6, Gautreau's fiancée, Melaina Hovdebo, 33, and her son, Zachary, 16 months.
Frustrated driver was distracted by gauges
Tschetter said he was weaving in and out of traffic that evening because he was checking the air pressure gauges on the dashboard of his truck, and was frustrated because his water lines were freezing up.
He told the court he was also thinking about his wallet, which was either lost or stolen a few days earlier.
Approaching 194th Avenue on Macleod Trial, Tschetter said he didn't notice the flashing yellow lights above the road, or the red light.
"I spent too much time with the gauges. I was feeling frustrated. I can't recall seeing those lights," he testified, admitting he was travelling at 105 km/h, even though the posted speed limit was 80 km/h.
Tschetter said he didn't see the vehicle stopped at the red light in front of him "until the last second." There was a loud bang, and then he smelled debris, plastic and anti-freeze, said the driver.
The court has heard that the car was lodged under the truck and was dragged about 275 metres.
"I was in shock. I was in disbelief. I was actually sick to my stomach, couldn't see what I hit," Tschetter testified, his voice shaking as he wiped tears from his face.
'Everything was a great big blur'
He recalled wanting a drink of water, so he reached under his seat and took a drink from a bottle, before realizing it was vodka, Tschetter said.
"I absolutely freaked, paranoid, I was getting into a frenzy," said the driver, who was raised on a Hutterite colony near Fort Macleod and now lives in Cochrane.
The deadly crash left the vehicle lodged under the cement truck in December 2007. (CBC) He then got out of the truck and saw the vehicle on the side of his bumper.
"There were people all over," Tschetter remembered. "I didn't know how many people were in the car…. Everything was a great big blur."
Tschetter said he returned to his truck, climbed to the top and threw the bottle of vodka into the drum, because he didn't know what to do if people saw him with the container.
"What do I say, what do I do?" he testified.
Under questioning by his lawyer, Balfour Der, Tschetter explained the vodka bottle was in the truck so he could offer drinks to staff at concrete suppliers to get to the front of long lineups.
The judge-only trial also heard Monday that Tschetter had 10 traffic tickets between 1989 and 2003 for speeding, failure to stop at a stop sign, failure to stop at a crosswalk, failure to drive in centre of lane, and failure to obey traffic control device.
"The most important thing about this was that people wanted to paint him as a monster. They wanted to paint him as an impaired driver, a drunk driver who had wiped out a family. And I think today all of that was put to rest," Der told reporters outside the courtroom.
Closing arguments are scheduled for Tuesday morning.
With files from Bryan Labby
Updated: Mon Mar. 16 2009 12:05:13
ctvcalgary.ca
The man accused of killing five people in a traffic accident has taken the stand in his own defense.
On December 7, 2007, Tschetter was driving a cement truck that smashed into the back of a car stopped at a light on Macleod Trail.
The accident killed five people including three children.
Tschetter's lawyer says his client was driving erratically but denies he was drunk.
On Monday, Tschetter testified that after the accident he wanted a drink of water so he reached into his cab and grabbed a bottle. Tschetter says he accidentally drank from the vodka bottle instead of his water bottle.
Tschetter says the reason he threw the vodka bottle into the cement mixer is because he became paranoid and was worried what police would think if they saw him with the bottle.
Tschetter says he is a recovering alcoholic who has barely had any alcohol for the past 18 years.
CTV Calgary- Tschetter takes the stand - CTV News, Shows and Sports -- Canadian Television
Oh Yeah.
Mistakenly drank vodka after deadly Calgary crash, driver testifies
Court hears that accused was frustrated, distracted on day of collision
Last Updated: Monday, March 16, 2009 | 2:17 PM MT
A cement truck driver charged with killing five people in a Calgary rear-end collision testified that he's a longtime recovering alcoholic who's had a "couple of slips here and there."
Daniel Tschetter, 51, has pleaded not guilty to five counts of manslaughter, five counts of criminal negligence causing death and one count of obstruction in the deadly crash in December 2007.
Testifying in his own defence on Monday morning, Tschetter said he has been sober for 18 years in his battle against alcoholism aside from "a couple of slips here and there."
The driver said he was in a rush to return to the cement plant in Springbank to wash out his truck after delivering a load of cement to a job site near Nanton on Dec. 7, 2007.
The Crown presented witnesses last week who testified that they saw Tschetter's truck speeding and driving erratically before the crash that killed Chris Gautreau, 41, his daughters, Alexia, 9, and Kiarra, 6, Gautreau's fiancée, Melaina Hovdebo, 33, and her son, Zachary, 16 months.
Frustrated driver was distracted by gauges
Tschetter said he was weaving in and out of traffic that evening because he was checking the air pressure gauges on the dashboard of his truck, and was frustrated because his water lines were freezing up.
He told the court he was also thinking about his wallet, which was either lost or stolen a few days earlier.
'I was feeling frustrated. I can't recall seeing those lights.'—Daniel Tschetter
" had a little turmoil in me," he recalled on the stand.
Approaching 194th Avenue on Macleod Trial, Tschetter said he didn't notice the flashing yellow lights above the road, or the red light.
"I spent too much time with the gauges. I was feeling frustrated. I can't recall seeing those lights," he testified, admitting he was travelling at 105 km/h, even though the posted speed limit was 80 km/h.
Tschetter said he didn't see the vehicle stopped at the red light in front of him "until the last second." There was a loud bang, and then he smelled debris, plastic and anti-freeze, said the driver.
The court has heard that the car was lodged under the truck and was dragged about 275 metres.
"I was in shock. I was in disbelief. I was actually sick to my stomach, couldn't see what I hit," Tschetter testified, his voice shaking as he wiped tears from his face.
'Everything was a great big blur'
He recalled wanting a drink of water, so he reached under his seat and took a drink from a bottle, before realizing it was vodka, Tschetter said.
"I absolutely freaked, paranoid, I was getting into a frenzy," said the driver, who was raised on a Hutterite colony near Fort Macleod and now lives in Cochrane.
"There were people all over," Tschetter remembered. "I didn't know how many people were in the car…. Everything was a great big blur."
Tschetter said he returned to his truck, climbed to the top and threw the bottle of vodka into the drum, because he didn't know what to do if people saw him with the container.
"What do I say, what do I do?" he testified.
Under questioning by his lawyer, Balfour Der, Tschetter explained the vodka bottle was in the truck so he could offer drinks to staff at concrete suppliers to get to the front of long lineups.
The judge-only trial also heard Monday that Tschetter had 10 traffic tickets between 1989 and 2003 for speeding, failure to stop at a stop sign, failure to stop at a crosswalk, failure to drive in centre of lane, and failure to obey traffic control device.
"The most important thing about this was that people wanted to paint him as a monster. They wanted to paint him as an impaired driver, a drunk driver who had wiped out a family. And I think today all of that was put to rest," Der told reporters outside the courtroom.
Closing arguments are scheduled for Tuesday morning.
With files from Bryan Labby
Finally, this bas...d is going to trial
Air Brakes work in the opposite way that Hydraulic brakes do.
Hydraulic Brakes use hydraulic pressure to apply the brakes, so
a brake failure means No Brakes.
Air Brakes use air pressure to keep the brakes from applying,
so a brake failure means that you stop whether you want to
or not.
___________________
Air Brakes work in the opposite way that Hydraulic brakes do.
Hydraulic Brakes use hydraulic pressure to apply the brakes, so
a brake failure means No Brakes.
Air Brakes use air pressure to keep the brakes from applying,
so a brake failure means that you stop whether you want to
or not.
___________________
If he was proven to have been drinking then yes he should be charged with murder IMO but in reality killing someone accidentally when drunk is a different sort of crime.
The fact that 5 people were killed is irrelevant because they were all involved in the same collision (i.e. it could just as well have been 1 person in the car).
If there is no proof that he was drunk, then it's all about circumstantial evidence (i.e. the bottle he tried to hide). If he's convicted on that alone then it's BS--circumstantial evidence allows too much freedom to the judicial system (a legal relic from the dark ages).
As far as his testimony is concerned, it's not improbable (i.e. it keeps within expected behaviour for someone with that background). If he was telling the truth, then he was wise to fear being convicted on circumstantial evidence (still happens often enough to make me shiver at what could happen if I were in the wrong place at the wrong time)--granted, throwing the bottle into the mixer was not smart, but one can't be expected to think clearly in a situation like that.
They only have trouble sleeping at night if a) they don't believe in the law or b) they have not interpreted the law correctly. Otherwise you're talking about a biased judge who manipulated the law because s/he wanted to and so will sleep just fine. Fortunately those seem to be a minority here in Canada.
