Caleb Pruitt posts bail, awaits trial in Angela Burke fatality

Probably wrong, but the fact that he can afford the (at least?) $20K is even more upsetting.

And I never would have thought only a percentage of bail would be sufficient to release someone from prison……?????

Nick- he is still presumed innocent. As long as he shows up for trial and goes to jail (one would assume) after he is convicted, he has a legal right to be out before the trial begins.

It is kind of stupid of him though- he is going to get pridon time and he could start working it off now.

Paying 10% of the bond amount is pretty much what everyone does, that is what a bail bondsman is. Anyone who owns a home that is above water and has a job could probably get a 20k home equity loan, cash advances on credit cards for 20k wouldn’t be that hard either… Don’t get me wrong I don’t like this guy and I think what he did is manslaughter, but you don’t have to be loaded to be able to make 200k bail and the fact that it took him a number of days to come up with it means that he likely didn’t just have it lying around.

Duncan
Nick- he is still presumed innocent. As long as he shows up for trial and goes to jail (one would assume) after he is convicted, he has a legal right to be out before the trial begins.
It is kind of stupid of him though- he is going to get pridon time and he could start working it off now.

Time served.

welcome to our overcrowded prison system.

Certain irony seeing the ad for the Bike Bar below this story…

Remember, it wasn’t alcohol that caused this death, it was alcohol combined with the irresponsible use of a motor vehicle. Just as motor vehicles can be used responsibly, so can alcohol. They can even be used together responsibly, drunks can be stacked in the back of a car like cordwood to return them home after an evening of “over-celebrating”. Just make sure there’s a sober person at the controls.

Typo: “alchohol-monitoring ankle bracelet” should read “alcohol-monitoring ankle bracelet”

It honestly makes me wonder why all cars are not required to have an ignition interlock device.

It would also be a boon to insurance companies, no longer having to pay out claims for entirely preventable accidents.

Which really takes the bite out of the penalty of accidents caused by alcohol. I think it is about the only premeditated crime that insurance will pay a persons restitution, since insurance is mandatory.

I wonder how much this equipment would increase the price of a new car. My guess is that if it was made mandatory for all sold in the US the price per unit would drop quite a bit. It would be challenging to figure out how to deal with existing/used cars, but I hardly see it as insurmountable. We could make the testing of the breathalizer/kill switch part of the bi-annual emissions program.

I like the idea.

People use bail time to sell and put their stuff in storage. tie up loose ends, say good bye to family. etc. Its also cheaper to go to a lawyer then have them come to you.

Breathalyzers could be implemented on company owned commercial vehicles. But will likely never be mandatory on consumer cars.

As far as retrofitting breathalyzers onto old cars, who would pay for that? old cars are not required to have seat belts or airbags. Replacing millions of airbag equipped steering wheels with breathalyzer ones is financially insane.

People making poor choices is a bigger problem, than the existence of those choices.

“Well, we might as well extend this technology to drunk cycling.” – middle of the road guy

I’d agree with you if drunk cyclists killed 12,000 innocent Americans a year.

But they don’t. Drunk drivers do, however.

have to let all know…he is devastated from what happened. He is doing all he can to continue living with what he did and is NOT proud of it. Those of us who know him will tell you how horrible he feels. Nothing will change the situation, but he knows that he will have his consequences when the time comes.