The trial (shocking update)

[cactusjack]

UPDATE

"A mistrial was declared Thursday in the trial of truck driver Michael Jakscht after the jury deadlocked over whether to convict him of manslaughter and assault in the deaths of four motorcyclists.

In March 2010, Jakscht, 48, plowed his dump truck into a group of motorcyclists stopped at a traffic light in north Phoenix. Four died and five others were injured in the fiery accident.

Blood tests found methamphetamine in Jakscht's system, prompting police and prosecutors to accuse him of being impaired and causing the accident.

Jakscht, however, testified in his own defense that the accident happened because his brakes pulled his truck into another lane and he froze as it passed over the bikes and the bikers.

The positive meth test, he testified, could have come from diet pills his roommate had bought on the Internet and which he consumed.

Jakscht was charged with four counts of manslaughter, five counts of aggravated assault and two counts of endangerment.

A hearing will be held Aug. 29 to discuss if and when he will be retried."

They can't let this go...he needs to be held accountable.

[ponch]

Originally Posted by cactusjack

UPDATE

"A mistrial was declared Thursday in the trial of truck driver Michael Jakscht after the jury deadlocked over whether to convict him of manslaughter and assault in the deaths of four motorcyclists.

In March 2010, Jakscht, 48, plowed his dump truck into a group of motorcyclists stopped at a traffic light in north Phoenix. Four died and five others were injured in the fiery accident.
slideshow Carefree Highway motorcycle crash

Blood tests found methamphetamine in Jakscht's system, prompting police and prosecutors to accuse him of being impaired and causing the accident.

Jakscht, however, testified in his own defense that the accident happened because his brakes pulled his truck into another lane and he froze as it passed over the bikes and the bikers.

The positive meth test, he testified, could have come from diet pills his roommate had bought on the Internet and which he consumed.

Jakscht was charged with four counts of manslaughter, five counts of aggravated assault and two counts of endangerment.

A hearing will be held Aug. 29 to discuss if and when he will be retried."

They can't let this go...he needs to be held accountable.

Deadlocked? What, is this the OJ jury? Stunad.

[Top Cat]

Does not surprise me a bit.
I mean what the hell, all he killed were motorcyclists.
Who gives a sh*t about their lives anyway. :(" title="" border="0"/>

[Jared]

Wow. I do remember this happening a few years back. Thanks for the update! What a shame that he'd denying the whole thing. I hope the jury can see through his lies and throw the book at him.

[cactusjack]

Originally Posted by Utah Motorcyclist

Wow. I do remember this happening a few years back. Thanks for the update! What a shame that he'd denying the whole thing. I hope the jury can see through his lies and throw the book at him.

Apparently they couldn't do that, because they were deadlocked and the driver walks free...for now.

[cnc]

What a load of bull, His lawyer argues he could not of competed with out incident his earlier deliveries if he was on meth. Who says he didn't consume it shortly before the accident. By his own admission he felt the brakes acting funny before the accident, but was not surprised given the places he had been where lines or cables can be damaged. Why did he not pull the truck over then? Because he didn't give a sh*t and only gives a sh*t now that his ass is on the line.
Throw the book at him.

[AlabamaNomadRider]

Happens all the time. Just last week a trucker that killed someone in a wreck was tried. His sentence was five years. Oh by the way, his sentence was suspended. He does have probation though. I can't remember the details of the wreck but this jackoff killed someone through his stupidity and all he ends up with is probation.

[Loafer]

CJ, What's going on out there?

Chandler, Az.

.Chandler man who shot own p***s gets order of protection
by Laurie Merrill - Aug. 18, 2011 11:52 AM
The Arizona Republic
.

Joshua Seto has seen no end to his bad luck.

Six days after accidentally shooting his p***s with his fiancee's pink gun Aug. 2, the Chandler man obtained an order of protection against her, saying she cooperated in a burglary of his home. Meanwhile, police are questioning his account of the accident.

"My apartment was broken into and I'm sure she was involved, or let the burglars take my property," Seto, 27, said in court papers. "So I need to get her out of my apartment to avoid any other problems."

Seto made national news after firing his fiancee's Taurus .380 semiautomatic, special Breast Cancer Awareness Edition, as he was putting it in his pants.

The Chandler Police Department has been inundated with requests from media outlets across the country for information about the shooting in a Fry's parking lot in the 900 block of West Elliot Road.

Seto told police he found the gun while rummaging for money in the purse of his fiancée, Cara Christopher, 26. He was attempting to put it in the waistband of his pants, police said.

The bullet struck his p***s and went through his scrotum and left thigh, police said. He underwent surgery, and has since been released from a hospital, Chandler police Sgt. Joe Favazzo said.

Police are still investigating the shooting amid questions about the versions of the accident they received from Seto and Christopher.

Seto and Christopher at one point lived together with a female relative of Seto's in the 3400 block of North Alma School Road in Chandler, according to court papers. It is unclear when the pair lived together.

In the order of protection signed Aug. 8, the court said Christopher must neither contact nor commit crimes against Seto and his female relative.

She may return once to the apartment with a law enforcement officer to gather her belongings, the order reads.

"Because defendant poses a credible threat of bodily injury to (Seto), defendant shall not possess, receive or purchase firearms and shall surrender same within 24 hours of service," the order reads.

The gun was likely confiscated after Chandler police arrived at the shooting, Favazzo said. No charges have been filed in the shooting, he said.

Court records show that Seto has prior criminal cases from Mohave and Maricopa counties. Charges of burglary, unlawful means of transportation and criminal damage, dating from 2002 to 2008, were dismissed in Mohave County, where he was found guilty of two probation violations.

In Maricopa County, Seto was convicted in June 2010 of possession of drug paraphernalia, the records show.

[cactusjack]

I dunno, but that HAD to HURT! Makes me wince just thinking about it.

Warm weather states attract the biggest collections of ne'er-do-wells, idiots and weirdos on the planet. Just look at Florida and California, too.

[Loafer]

Originally Posted by cactusjack

I dunno, but that HAD to HURT! Makes me wince just thinking about it.

Warm weather states attract the biggest collections of ne'er-do-wells, idiots and weirdos on the planet. Just look at Florida and California, too.

Too much avacado..... ;)

[Top Cat]

Have I got this right?
The woman has a pistol in her purse. The guy lookin' for money to STEAL from her finds the gun. SHOOTS HIMSELF because he is stupid and she has to give up her right to own a gun
That is messed up.

[MarkG]

The following was copied from a news article on azcentral.com. This jerk may eventually get off in the criminal trial. We can only hope he gets hung out to dry when the families take him to civil court. It would be too much to hope for the families could bankrupt him and the company that owned the truck.

The question for jurors was whether Michael Jakscht was impaired by methamphetamine when he plowed his dump truck into a line of motorcyclists, killing four and injuring five.

If they determined he was impaired, then Jakscht would be guilty of four counts of manslaughter, five counts of aggravated assault and two counts of endangerment.

If not, he would have to be found not guilty.

Because all of the deaths and injuries took place in the same instant, he was either guilty on all counts or not guilty of any.

But the jury could not reach a unanimous decision, and on Thursday, after four days of deliberations in Maricopa County Superior Court, it hung 9-3 in favor of acquittal. Judge Joseph Welty was forced to declare a mistrial.

A hearing has been set for Aug. 29 to determine if and when to reschedule a trial.

Relatives of the victims, who have attended nearly every day of the trial, expressed disbelief at the hung jury. Some wept in the courthouse hallways.

On March 25, 2010, Jakscht, now 48, was midway through his day driving a roll-off truck when, according to his testimony, he glanced to one side. When he looked back to the road, he realized he was bearing down on 10 motorcyclists stopped at a red light at 27th Drive and Carefree Highway in north Phoenix.

Jakscht slammed on the brakes and the 12-ton truck skidded to the left, over the top of the bikes and the riders. Several motorcyclists were trapped beneath the truck when their gas tanks burst into flames.

Clyde Nachand, 67; Stephen Punch, 52; and Daniel Butler, 35, died at the scene. Dayle Veronica Downs-Totonchi, 47, died a day later. Several other riders suffered serious disabling injuries.

Phoenix police said Jakscht failed a roadside sobriety test and his blood tested positive for meth.

On the witness stand, Jakscht said he had not done well on the test because he had been burned while trying to rescue the people trapped beneath the truck and because dry chemicals from a fire extinguisher had sprayed into his eyes and throat.

The meth, he said, could only have come from some diet pills that he had been taking for weeks and had last taken the day before.

"He was just out of it," prosecutor Tom McDermott said during his closing argument last Friday. The accident, he said, was caused by a "lapse of consciousness or his inability to maintain his attention to the task of driving."

But defense attorney Robyn Varcoe said Jakscht had already made 10 runs and had driven about 150 miles that day, operating the truck's complicated machinery, so it was unlikely that he was suddenly unable to drive.

Furthermore, she said, the prosecution's expert witness had said three of the truck's six brakes were out of adjustment.

[rolfe]

Yes remembering the story and its very sad. I don't buy it about the sudden loss of brakes, just plain Bull****. Nothing can be done to keep the families who lost loved ones in this horrific accident from feeling the pain. =r=