Tilley pleads guilty to bogus 205-mph charge

WFT? <http://www.startribune.com/stories/462/5153522.html>

"A 20-year-old Stillwater motorcyclist charged with going 205 miles per
hour down Hwy. 61 in September pleaded guilty on Wednesday in Wabasha
County District Court to speeding and was sentenced to 200 hours of
community service. Judge Terrence Walters placed Samuel Tilley on
probation for a year and ordered him to pay $125 in court and probation
fees, said the Wabasha County attorney's office. He will not serve any
jail time. He also admitted not having a proper motorcycle license.
Under a plea agreement, a reckless-driving charge was dropped. The
agreement states that Tilley was going 205 mph in a 65 mph zone 12
miles south of Wabasha. He was clocked by a State Patrol pilot on Sept.
18 during the Flood Run, a motorcycle charity event."

In case you don't remember this case, here's a refresher:
<http://superbikeblog.blogspot.com/2004/09/sportbiker-given-bogus-ticket-for.html>

I don't get it. In Texas, a speeding ticket can easily be thrown out of
court if it can be shown that the officer made a mistake or otherwise
performed his duties in an incompetant manner. Since exact speed
calculation serves as the prima facie evidence that potentially proves
the charge, showing the court that the speed overage was arrived at by
either negligent or -- more likely -- dishonest law enforcement
practices, will usually result in dismissal of the case (in Texas,
anyway).

That aside, the saddest aspect of this situation is not that Tilley
pled guilty to a crime he did not commit, but that he fell victim to a
bloated, overly-powerful law enforcement entity that was attempting to
do little more than generate revenue for itself. It is unsettling to
know that we, as a citizenry, allow cops to sqaunder our tax dollars by
using multi-million dollar helicopters (that cost $500 to $1500 per
hour to operate, on average) to chase down pimply-faced kids on
sportbikes. Meanwhile, murders, robbers, vandals, and thieves run
rampant as the police have a grand time playing with their
taxpayer-purchased toys.

If Tilley had done what he did in Italy, Germany, Spain, or even
pre-1999 Montana, he would've gotten little more than a smile and a
wave from the cops. Instead, he got screwed because the citizenry,
police, and justice system of his community are comprized largely of a
bunch of boobs.

 

Well-endowed women of the world are righteously insulted by that
remark, I'm sure.

 

Yep...no danger at all to the public from an unlicensed, uninsured 20yo
going at least 100mph over the speed limit.

It was just a ploy to get his money.

Shit, man, if it were about revenue enhancement, wouldn't the penalty be
far greater than $125? That's about the price in CA for a ticket going 1-15mph
over. It would have been closer to $1000 here. Plus at least a temporary
impoundment of the bike.

 

he wasn't going 205, thats been pretty much established, there's no way in
hell his bike could have gone much over about 160 flat out downhill w/ a
tailwind.

So, how fast WAS he going? you're assuming 100+ over the limit, but the
only evidence is an impossible speed... the guy doing the timing was
flying a plane solo and simultaneously stopwatch timing two bikes that
were almost a 1/2 mile apart (according to the riders reports on various
online forums).

 

So at what speed does he no longer pose a risk, being unlicensed, uninsured?
Are you going to claim he was not going triple digits now?

The 205 part was clearly suspect. But the reckless driving - sure doesn't
look like it.

 

message SNIP

The speed isn't the reckless thing. The reckless thing was
no license and no insurance. The speed issues you bring up
are a shite old LIE and not even good science.

OBTW...you must be one of those punks on a sport bike that
can't keep up with a 25 year old gold wing. I love passing
you little wannabe's.


--
Nefarious Necrologist 42nd Degree
Some people ride, some just like to show off their butt
jewelry once in a while.
Dum vivimus, vivamus
<3 )3~ <3 )3~ <3 )~ <3 )~

 

How about charging him with what he was really guilty of. Is riding
without insurance reckless? Insurance isn't required in NH where I
live. If it wasn't for his speed how would you have even known about
the lack of insurance? Same goes for the lack of license.

It was his speed that could have justified a reckless driving charge,
even if an exact speed could not be determined. So why was that charge
dropped and the speeding charge with the bogus mph kept? I suspect
because they didn't want someone to beat the speeding charge in a high
profile case like this. If it can be shown that they were off by 50
mph in this case, don't you think that might get used in arguing a case
where someone is just 20 over?

So they cut a deal, dropping a charge they could have made stick, and
reduced the punishment, to make pleading guilty to the bogus charge
look better.

Why not lower the speed they were charging him with? Because that's
not how things are supposed to work in this country. You don't just
throw charges and then see what you can make stick, though that does
seem like a common tactic these days. He was charged with 205 mph,
which he was obviously not doing.

Bruce

 

186 mph.

 

Yah... THERE's an unbiased source...

 

He knew what he was doing. You just wait and see... This isn't the last
you'll hear of this.

 

Somewhere over 100...that would depend on the road...I have no pity for the guy,
esp given that he's an unqualified rider. So if you think the cops exaggerrated
his speed by more than 100%, let's talk. If not, STSTFU.

I have 80,000 miles on two boxers, mostly lanesplitting in commute traffic.
Pass me at your own risk...I'm not gonna care. Totally irrelevent to the
topic at hand too.

If you want to talk about persecution from the Marin CHP, I'm all with you.
But this kid got a sweet deal, not a raw one.

 

Did you mean 186,000 mps?

Rich, Urban Biker

 

(Jason O'Rourke) wrote in

IN last month's WIRED magazine, there was a beautiful article by Buzz
Aldrin. Yes, the SECOND man to walk on the moon.

I won't detail it here, but the summary was "we have become so 'risk
averse' and want such a guarantee of safety that we have stopped
adventuring, and wil not be able to make a spaceflight soon"

what does this have to do with some jackass kiddo speeding? Not much,
EXCEPT! ya'll care WAY too much about 'danger to the public' and it's
startin to make me wonder if it's part of what is holding us back from
being a great nation.

"i'm scared. I want a guarantee of safety!"

screw that. I wanna do a line of crank, wash it down with a shot of wild
turkey, then see if I can'd kick that guy's ass at the Sacramento Mile!

wake up. Safety is an illusion. When you give up your rights for the
promise of safety, all is lost. It's btter to die standing, than live
on your knees.


--
Assuring you of my best intentions at all times,

Charles Statman
Rocket Scientist/Wonderboy/Women's Legs Shaven

DoD the Un-Numbered One

 

I'm with you...**** THE PUBLIC! Those unwashed scared
shitless little apes can kiss my hairy white ass...I'm only
nice and polite because my parents taught me to be polite
and nice to the mentally handicaped.

Hmm, skip the crank I'll settle for gel caps with a proven
level of 1,200mcg and chase that with a half liter of
Bacardi 151 mixed with a half liter of Mega Jolt...THEN mega
dose some B6/12 for giggles.

I'd rather live now than arrive safely at a miserable death
supported against my will by enough machines to take the
Chinese army to the moon.

--
Nefarious Necrologist 42nd Degree
Some people ride, some just like to show off their butt
jewelry once in a while.
Dum vivimus, vivamus
<3 )3~ <3 )3~ <3 )~ <3 )~

 

W00t! Yay for the Mad Texan!

Now git yer ass up to SF and we can play chicken with cab drivers (Which is
why I need to replace my left side signals....I lost, hahahha)

 

Sounds like the usual old man whining about how great it used to be. I hadn't
noticed America stopping being a great nation, myself.

Want to go as fast as your bike can...lots of tracks out there. And it's not
exactly a trying process to get a license. Esp compared to the rest of the world.

Risk averse is wise when your risks put others at risk. I don't skydive over
large population centers either. Basic courtesy should I **** up, no?

 

So the next time you're racing at Infineon, and some cranked up, drunk takes
you off at the knees because he's going for it through the turn, and you
spend the rest of your life in a wheel chair, we'll know that at least you
approved of his behavior.

Crank it up, drink it up, wind it up, and let's see how many people we can
kill today!! Freedom means never having to be responsible for the safety of
others!!

Sounds like a REAL dumb rally cry.

 

WOW! You kids are REALLY REALLY STUPID! Freedom means
even more responsibility than being told what to do and
always doing what you are told to do. It is infinitely more
difficult than being another bleating sheep...damn kids
these days.
Problem is not enough blood sport these days. Not blood
sport involving animals...nope blood sport involving people.
--
Nefarious Necrologist 42nd Degree
Some people ride, some just like to show off their butt
jewelry once in a while.
Dum vivimus, vivamus
<3 )3~ <3 )3~ <3 )~ <3 )~

 

X-No-archive: yes

Actually your argument is specious, since it crosses the boundary of
personal responsibility and brings actual harm to another. Most
current traffic laws are based on the illegal premise of prior
restraint and the possibility that something bad MIGHT happen
somewhere in the future.

The argument of personal choice+personal liability/responsibility
deals with harming no one other than yourself from your choices (your
family and harm to it from your death as a result of your choice is
between you and your family). That's the apple to your onion of
personal choice devoid of all personal responsibility/liability. That
your is so frequently used as a counterpoint to the apple is a
testimony about the ability/desire of current generations desire to
seek the ease of servitude over the struggle of freedom.
--
Mark Johnson, Ft. Worth, TX
http://www.bikes-n-spikes.org
"Stupidity cannot be cured with money, or through education, or by
legislation. Stupidity is not a sin, the victim can't help being
stupid. But stupidity is the only universal capital crime, the
sentence is death, there is no appeal, and execution is carried out
automatically and without pity." ~ Robert Heinlein

 

No need to. That's what hospitals are for.

-B