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MichaelBluejay

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From: Austin, TX

Registered: 2008-05-26

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Driver gets only community service for killing cyclist in hit & run

Five years ago I posted a case on the site about a Garland driver arrested for killing a cyclist in a hit-and-run.  The victim's girlfriend just wrote me to say that, five years later, they finally had the trial, the driver was found guilty, but got only Community Service as a penalty.  (I haven't been able to find a news article to corroborate this but her story seems genuine.)

What else can explain light sentences in cases like this except a car culture which often considers road deaths mere collateral damage, especially if the victim wasn't a member of that car culture him- or herself?

I asked Amy whether it was a judge or jury who determined the driver's fate.  If it was a judge, I'd love to ask why the sentence was so light, but I imagine that judges don't talk to the media or the public as a rule.

http://BicycleAustin.info/justice/non-local.html
From KLRD and the Garland Police Department, Friday, June 16, 2006

Charges have been filed against a Garland man in a fatal hit-and-run this morning. Garland police arrested 43-year-old Nduka Kula [Kalu?] at his home and he's been charged with failure to stop and render aid, resulting in death. Officer Joe Harn tells KRLD News at about 4:30 a.m., someone hit the bicyclist on the eastbound service road of I-30 between Zion and Bobtown. A white bumper from the car was left behind. Police found the car -- a 1993 Geo Prizm -- at Kalu's home about a mile from the accident scene. A photo from the police department shows damage to the front end and both passenger-side windows are shattered. The bicyclist has been identified as 30-year-old Robert Bird of Garland.

Update, 10/15/11:  "i am amy benton and i was robert bird's girlfriend at the time of his death. i want to thank you for the attention you have shown to the cause for no justice for bicyclists and inform you that i have a memorial page for robert wayne bird on fb with a group called no justice for bicyclists in robert wayne bird aka bill bird aka superman..... after 40 resets for trial the jury was selected this month on october 11, 2011 and the following day the trial for nduka o kalu began for the charge of felony for failure to stop and render aid resulting in death of victim robert wayne bird. the trial only lasted for 3 days and even though there was testimony that shows the defendant stopped 250 feet from the accident and removed the victim's shoe lodged or thrown into his vehicle during the impact and then the defendant drove home and went to bed, leaving the scene without notifying anyone..... he still was able to beat everyone else in the courtroom to the parking lot where he was able to go home and return to his life basically with only a slap on the wrist and a guilty verdict. they found him guilty but all he will be getting for it is community service which has shattered my heart all over again. i wanted to tell you because you probably havent heard of the turnout of this case and it has been 5 1/2 years since the hit and run and this past week was the first time the man who was charged didnt reset the courtdate...... i really understand that these laws need to change because mr bird was a remarkable man and i feel he has gotten no justice even though the man responsible was found guilty. it was like they said, "yeah you are guilty, no doubt, but you can go home now, check in with us, and you can just go about your life." seeing the photos of the scene including robert birds condition at time of death taken by the investigators conducting the scene for evidence..... something i will never be able to erase form my mind even if i were to go blind. all i got out of it was seeing his extremely mutilated and distorted body is all i can say i walked away from this trial receiving and i feel like it is happening to me all over again, mourning and the tears. i wanted you to have the update because i know now that this issue is not making the process we all want and i will be here to support you in any time you need from here until the day i die. thank you for doing something about it and i thank you for robert bird and his family as well."