The loss last week comes a few months after the county agreed to pay the man $65,000 to settle a separate lawsuit he filed in 2008 claiming the officer was at fault because part of her car was blocking the dark roadway.
Officer Dina Johnson, who started with the department in 2005 and continues to serve in the Patrol Services Bureau, said she was disappointed in the jury's verdict, calling it "unfair." She declined further comment.
Jory Lee Beatty, 23,...
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stupid cop - 2009-10-29 14:54:07
so a cop parks her car in the road and it gets hit and she still is so stupid she thinks she did nothing wrong....this woman shows whats wrong with our police force...they think they are above the law...guilty !!!!
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stanley davis - mayo, md - Karma: Terrible
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Can this be written more poorly - 2009-10-29 13:11:40
1. Defense attorney claimed the officer still has injuries. The officer was the plaintiff in this case. Why would the defense attorney argue damages?
2. A one-year subscription to the Capital is the prize for the first person to figure out who testified to what as to the location of the patrol car.
3. He appeared to be going between 52 and 72, not 51 or 73. She was doing radar duty and didn't know how fast that car was going.
4. An inquisitive reporter might ask the AACo police spokesman why a police officer in a dark uniform, driving a dark car, is in the median doing radar at 4AM in the morning. I can understand doing street patrol looking for drunk drivers, but radar?
5. I also chuckled at how "Beatty clipped the corner of Johnson's patrol car" and Beatty "bounced off the patrol car and into the path of the dump truck". I believe his car did those things, not him, unless he was running 52 miles an hour down Ritchie Highway.
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Floyd daBarber - Mayberry, NC - Karma: Neutral
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52 to 72mph? - 2009-10-29 11:31:21
Was it AACO police's radar gun or the accident reconstruction experts that determined that range?
Then again, it could be a "misprint" by the Capital staff.
"...but an expert hired by the defense said she was outside of the travel lane and against Beatty."
"...but an expert hired by the defense said she was outside of the travel lane and parked in the median."
Are they in need of a proof-reader?
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K C - Annapolis, MD - Karma: Excellent
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Hired Expert - 2009-10-29 09:55:57
Of course the defense is going to find somebody to say their client is innocent. Of course anybody they find, they will tag them with the "expert" label.
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Rick M - Laurel, Md - Karma: Excellent
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Jaklitsch - 2009-10-29 00:30:42
I think he is actually the lawyer trying to sue the county for the Chris Jones murder.
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franklin martin - Annapolis, MD - Karma: Neutral
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police - 2009-10-29 00:08:30
excuse me if im wrong but doesnt an officer running radar have to be within view of the car its clocking to get an accurate read and also dont the have to be visible otherwise its considered entrapment
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joe schmoe - , - Karma: Terrible
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99% ? - 2009-10-28 18:47:55
Richard Jaklitsch, Johnson's attorney, said....
"Maybe I am old fashion, but I think if you crash into a parked car that is at least 99 percent off the road then that is negligence"
With all due respect to attorney Jaklitsch, maybe I'm the one who is old-fashioned since I don't park a car with any percentage on travel lanes other drivers are using. In the event I need to stop my car, I make sure all 100% of it is off the lanes of traffic. Not 95% of my car, not 99%, not even 99.9%, but my entire car. I think it's negligent that a police officer not responding to an emergency (where stopping on the road is justified) but rather setting up radar does not have perception enough to move her vehicle completly out of the way of traffic so that her cruiser is not one foot into the travel lane.
Anyone know if Jaklitsch is a police attorney, since I am suprised that anybody would take this case after the county basically admits fault by paying out $65,000.
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Erik Johnson - , - Karma: Good
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Agreed - 2009-10-28 16:17:05
I would think a dark car parked partially in a travel lane at night could be very difficult for a driver to see and jump into the next lane in time. Officers should obviously completely clear the travel lanes when they park on the roads for radar.
As an aside, this story was not an easy read with the two duplicate paragraphs in the middle of it!
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Rachel Rachfal - Annapolis, MD - Karma: Excellent
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Sorry Richard - 2009-10-28 12:55:44
The negligence is on the car that was parked partly in the travel lane. Not sure why he thinks the other driver should be faulted.
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Matt B - Deale, MD - Karma: Excellent
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