Media Hits - Legal Implications
Very few investigative bodies can rival the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) in its thoroughness and investigative abilities when it comes to unearthing evidence in accident cases. Their expertise is valued even in the remotest of cases occurring in areas where they have no jurisdiction such as the KQ 507 Crash in Douala Cameroon or the TAM Airlines Airbus A 320 crash at the Congonhas Airport in Sao Paulo Brazil. Called upon to investigate an accident involving of two news choppers that collided and crashed while covering a high speed chase in Phoenix, Arizona, the NTSB team will be cautious and meticulous in trying to bring to light reasons as to what led to the mid-air collision. The investigative team will take nine months to complete the reconstruction of the choppers, simulate various aspects of both flight paths in order to determine what happened and issue its recommendation. What we know preliminarily however, is that one of the choppers was rising and barelled into bottom of the other leading to both crashing. As always, our prayers are with the victims’ families.
So how did we get here in the first place? How did ‘getting the news first’ become such a hot point for news channels the world over? Is the thirst for breaking news so great? Perhaps, but clearly the chase for the ‘latest breaking news’ in this modern age has meant that newsworthy happenings’ are streamed live to your medium as they happen within minutes. This means prolonged news bits such as burning buildings and in this case a high speed car chase are covered via cell phones and/or news crews covering the ongoing story on-site or from news choppers trasmitting live streaming images. Generally, news choppers fly in such infrequent patterns and below radar thus communication with Air Traffic Controllers (ATCs) is minimal at best. This low flight path and the difficulty and dangers of vertical maneuvers make helicopters more susceptible to accidents than the regular airplanes.
Related to this incident, the DA has chosen to charge the high-speed chase suspect with 4 counts of murder as a result of the crashes. Perhaps this is to send a message to other would-be high speed chase suspects that they will be prosecuted for incidents that arise as a result of their actions regardless of whether they caused them directly or indirectly? This is sure to cause great debate in the legal community. A conviction, which at this point would be a stretch, if somehow a judge were to let the charges stand, would be almost impossible to get IMHO. How, pray, is the suspect directly responsible for a pilot error on a chopper covering a chase he was involved in? How do you prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that the driver was implicitly involved in the crashes of both choppers? Talk about jurisprudence absurdity!
Vick in the dog house:
There is little doubt that Michael Vick, star quarterback of the Atlanta Falcons football team’s case will end up in a plea bargain. Anyone who has read the 18 page indictment brought against him and four others for allegedly - note: allegedly being involved in a dogfighting operation that included transporting pit bulls across state lines for illegal prize fights, will no doubt be left gagging at the level of brutality that some of the dogs mentioned, faced. Few pages in the 18-page indictment will cause more damage than paragraph 83 on page 17 which reads:
“In or about April 2007, PEACE, PHILLIPS and VICK executed atleast 8 dogs that did not perform well in “testing” sessions at 1915 Moonlight Road by various methods, including hanging, drowning and slamming atleast one dog’s body fo the ground”
Predictably, pet lovers have come out in arms against Vick protesting against dog fighting and fueled by images being portrayed in the media from incidents of dog fights. Nike and Adidas have pulled merchandise bearing the native Virginian’s name from the shelves. The National Football League (NFL) has wisely ‘requested’ him not to report to training camp pending their decision after a review of the case. And predictably the NAACP came late to the party, made the most noise, least sense and got on TV. Did we not learn anything from the Duke Lacrosse case?
Legally though, Michael Vick’s lawyers will no doubt be overly concerned about the illegal gambling charge for which he could end up getting more time than for any of the dog fighting charges. I’d like to know what questions will be asked during jury selection, if we get that far. The guy should just cut a deal.
Racism in Jena, LA:
If you thought that racism in America is going away any time soon, think again.
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Magaidi.com is the journal of the African kid. A diary of sorts, a collection of musings and a discussion point on the way forward for the motherland.
