Lucas Bates needed Curtis Mertensmeyer's luck

I read today on the Pitch's blog (Plog) that one Lucas Bates "gets life in prison for causing" a "drunk driving wreck that killed Shirley Harless".

There are a lot of "darn shame"'s to this thing.

First, it's a darn shame that Mr. Bates was so obliteratedly drunk.  Then, it's a darn shame he was driving.  It was a darn shame Ms. Harless--or anyone else--was remotely close to where he was driving.  

Some of the details are fairly shocking:  

"...Lucas A. Bates was so drunk on March 14, 2009, that he would have blown twice the legal limit ... but he was too busy causing carnage on the roadway.

Bates' blood-alcohol content was 0.174 when he sped down a two-lane highway in rural Clay County on his way to causing two head-on collisions, killing 60-year-old retired teacher Shirley Harless and injuring three other people."

More "darn shames":

Shortly before the wrecks, Bates lost control of his car and drove into a ditch along US 69 as a Missouri Highway Patrol trooper approached from the other direction.  Bates steered around the trooper.

The Trooper turned around and pursued.  A dashboard video shown during Friday's hearing showed the trooper exceeded 120 mph but couldn't catch up with Bates.

Bates smashed into Harless' vehicle while passing several cars. He then slammed into another vehicle before leaving the road -- his car in flames.

It was pretty insane, all in all.

But wait.  There's another big "darn shame".

It's a darn shame Mr. Bates wasn't born in Mission Hills like one Curtis Mertensmeyer.  

And it's a "darn shame" Mr. Bates' mother or father weren't attorneys, as Curtis Mertensmeyer's was.

Remember this story, from back in June, 2009?  Personally, I refuse to forget.

From my blog entry, here, June 20, 2009:

It seems a young 21 year old Curtis Mertensmeyer of MISSION HILLS, KANSAS (keep that address in mind) is to be released now, after having KILLED Daniel Reimann, 25, "as he was crossing

Ward Parkway

on foot near

55th Street

."

Curtis killed another man while drunk driving, late at night near his home in one of the absolutely wealthiest neighborhoods in town. For this he, Mertensmeyer, served a whopping 120 days in jail. 

Can you say "slap on the wrist?"

Check the stats:

"The victim's body was found 139 feet from the impact, his severed leg another 200 feet beyond that."

Nice, huh?

But wait, as they say, there's more--much more:

It seems this wealthy Mertensmeyer is a graduate of--where else?--Pembroke Hill and a student of Tulane University. Mertensmeyer "admitted drinking that night, speeding when the accident occurred and then fleeing the scene."

But besides the rich kid and his family getting justice at the expense of the poor schmuck, what really has to get you about this ruling by the judge--one Jackson County Circuit Court Judge John Torrance--is that he and the court ended up BLAMING THE VICTIM for getting struck by the other drunk driver and killed.

Check it out. The judge says "It is clear that the extreme intoxication of the victim was a significant contributing factor to his being struck by the defendant's vehicle."

That is beautiful.

So it's the victim's fault FOR GETTING STRUCK BY A CAR, DRIVEN BY A DRUNK DRIVER.

Wow.

I just thought the judge might admit the truth, and that is that the wealthy family and their position in society and their wealth is getting him off the hook but no. I should have known better than that.

In fact, the judge indignantly insists "that the defendant's ZIP code and family wealth played no role in his" (the judge's)"decision."

Yeah, right.

And pigs fly.

Listen to the state of Daniel Reimann's--the "guilty victim's"--body: "...head trauma, both femurs and pelvis broken, aorta cut, spinal cord severed, lacerated spleen and liver."

And let's not forget that amputated leg.

You wouldn't think it could get any worse, would you? But, oh yeah, it does. This all happened on Mother's Day.

And then there's the fact that Mertensmeyer was driving his Mommy's 2003 Saab (cheap car, you knew that, right?), he LEFT THE SCENE OF THE ACCIDENT and "Five days would pass before Mertensmeyer surrendered to authorities."

Sounds innocent, doesn't he?

So young Daniel Reimann was in the wrong neighborhood--in this case, an extremely rich one, and you know how THEY are--got hit by a car and it's his fault.

My God, Judge Torrance, that is magnificent.

Actually, though, it shouldn't surprise me at all. It's a slight twist on an old, old story. To wit, if you're poor--or in this case, just not as wealthy--it's your fault.

It's just a darn shame Mr. Bates wasn't born right, as Mr. Mertensmeyer was.  Lucas Bates got a scolding from the judge and serious jail time.

Curtis Mertensmeyer ended up getting a 3-month vacation, meals included.

As I said, if only Lucas Bates were born where Curtis Mertensmeyer were, this would all have turned out radically differently.

Links:  http://blogs.pitch.com/plog/2010/11/lucas_a_bates_gets_life_drunk_driving_wreck.php

http://moravings.blogspot.com/2009/06/obscene-and-grossly-unfair.html