Comments by "SmallSpoonBrigade" (@SmallSpoonBrigade) on "DA Asks Judge to Reduce Trucker's 110-Year Sentence" video.

@BruceS42 If that's the signage, it needs to be replaced by something standard. Simply placing another grade warning pictograph sign would communicate the same information without requiring any English reading.
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@christopherkidwell9817 I don't believe that's actually the case, in those situations the DA just stops defending that portion of the verdict. This isn't the same thing as dropping the charges. There have been cases that went to SCOTUS where they decided that innocence wasn't sufficient to let somebody out of prison if they've already exhausted their appeals.
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@arnoldromppai5395 Sort of, they can't rewrite the law, but they can change the interpretation of legal language in the law.I don't believe that they can do that here in a way that wouldn't violate the explicit language of the law, but they can often times do things like adjust the meaning of terms like probable cause or reckless in a way that makes the law act very different from what was originally passed. It's how we got that asinine qualified immunity rule that shields people that should be brought into court.
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I’m not a trucker, but from what I understand, he didn't have a full license, and he was trying to maintain his speed using the brakes alone. Even a small truck trying to use brakes in conditions like that might have issues with the brakes glazing over from heat generated by excessive braking without time to cool. I've been in the truck with my dad when that's happened, and his truck is much smaller, and we've had periods in the middle where it was relatively flat. It's clearly possible to stick to the posted speed limit here, even with a big rig, otherwise they'd be banned from the road.
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@KiwiCatherineJemma I keep hearing that, but around here the signs for such stretches of road are purely numerical and pictographic. You're not going to hit a stretch of road here and not know what's coming. Even in places that don't use English, the Arabic numerals are typically understood. I mean literally, random Chinese people in China know Arabic numerals even though they have their own numbers as well. A trucker that can't understand the signage is particularly incompetent, as even non-truckers are going to recognize that second lower speed limit and the steep grade warnings.
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Possibly, but I doubt they were expecting to get guilty verdicts on every charge. Often times they'll overcharge defendants in case their biggest charges fall through in order to ensure something sticks.
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The language he referenced suggested that the judge can lower or adjust the sentencing when reconsidering it, not when making the initial sentence. My guess, is that it was to deal with eventualities like this when they wanted to ensure that nobody got less than the charges warranted because they were connected or the judge liked them. There have been cases where defendants got basically no jailtime just because the judge liked or related to them.
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The bit about the signage puzzles me. Around here we have steep mountain passes, probably not as steep as this stretch, but quite steep. None of them have signs that require any English proficiency to understand. They're all standard MUTCD signs like you see throughout the US, and none of them require any English knowledge to understand. Are there really signs there that require English proficiency to understand? Around here, none of our steepest passes have English only signs warning of the grade. It's a picture of a truck coming down a triangle with the relevant number for the grade. Anybody capable of driving a truck would understand it.
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