From the news: cops at fault?

[nuttylawprofessor]

Here is a local story here in Chicago:
http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2010/05/boy-killed-in-1-car-crash-in-steger.html

In sum: A five-year-old was killed in a car crash after the car had been stopped by police. The mom was driving before they were stopped, but she was arrested for driving on a suspended license. She gave her drunk boyfriend the keys to drive her son home. They didn't make it.

The mother is now suing the police department for letting her boyfriend drive.

Where is personal responsibility?!?!?

 

[FireDancer]

Ultimately, the fault is with the boyfriend. When the mom was arrested the boyfriend could have just said I have been drinking and don't feel comfortable driving. He wasn't breaking any law by being in the passenger seat so speaking up would not have resulted in any arrest for him.

As to how much the police contributed to the situation, that depends. If the boyfriend gave them any reason to suspect he was drinking they should not have given him the keys. As police officers they have criteria they would have used had they pulled the man over to determine if he was under the influence of anything. They use this criteria every time they pull someone over for DUI. If the boyfriend was at .081 with a .080 legal limit he could have been legally drunk but showed no signs to the police thus giving them no reason to suspect he was drunk.

The story says that the boyfriend's BAC was three times the legal limit so the former scenario above is more likely.

I think that while I believe ultimately in personal responsibility and because of that the boyfriend should have spoke up and deserves the blame I do think a police officer who is trained to recognize intoxicated behavior should have stepped in and let him know that he is too drunk and if he gets in that car he will be stopped in 100 feet for a DUI. Perhaps there would be an entrapment defense for his DUI but ultimately the police would have been doing their job, keeping the rest of us safe, even if the DUI wasn't enforcement. I feel as though the department will settle with the family on any civil suit.

Everything above is merely the opinion of someone without a law degree.

 

[Heidict]

I think everyone can have a share of the blame on this one.

The mother for being an idiot and allowing her drunk boyfriend to drive her child home. Why didn't say something to the cops? Tell them that he had been drinking and she didn't want him to drive?

The cops, because at 3 times the legal limit he wasn't exactly walking or talking straight and that should have been noticed. I'm sure they spoke to him and ran a check on him before letting him go. The cop who interacted with him needs to go back to the academy.

The boyfriend because he is a drunk idiot who thought it was okay to drive and ended killing an innocent boy.

 

[EMom]

Of course the mother's family is going on and on about how much she LOVED her child. She loved him so much that she and her boyfriend took him out partying until the wee hours of the morning. She drove with a suspended license, and they usually make it clear in traffic court that if you do that and you get pulled over while driving, you are subject to arrest. So she chose to drive with her kid in the car, knowing she could be arrested at any time. Then when she WAS arrested, did she speak up and say, "Officer, please don't let my BF drive my son home. He's been drinking way too much tonight to get behind the wheel." Nope, she knew he was lit up like a Christmas tree and she chose to keep her trap shut and gamble her son's life away rather than tell the police the BF had been drinking. It sounds like the child was the LAST thing on her priority list.

And the BF? All he had to do was say, "Hey officer, the reason I'm not driving right now is because I've had too much to drink and thought it was better that she be the designated driver. I don't feel like it's safe to drive the boy home." You don't get arrested for being a passenger while drunk.

The cop pulled over the car and the driver wasn't drunk. I've seen drunks who could make it from the passenger side of the car to the driver's side without letting on they're drunk. If the mom had given him even a TEENY heads up that the BF was drinking, the kid would be alive today. But no, protecting her BF was more important to her than protecting her son. Maybe the BF wasn't 3 times the limit at the time the cop saw him. Maybe he drank even more after he drove off. Who knows?

No matter....The child paid the price. Typical.