News: Killed in his festiva

[neanderpaul]

http://www.mywesttexas.com/articles/2008/06/07/news/top_stories/191_fatality.txt

[collegeboi]

* My condolences to his family.

[GenevaDirt]

Too bad for the guy.....hit from the rear...had no idea it was coming.

Pruitt indicted in '07 traffic death
by Bob Campbell
Midland Reporter-Telegram
Published: Friday, June 6, 2008 3:21 AM CDT
- Case involves elderly Las Cruces man killed in rear-end collision on Highway 191

By Bob Campbell

Staff Writer

A 62-year-old Midlander has been indicted for manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide in the Aug. 11, 2007, traffic death of a 77-year-old Las Cruces, N.M., man.

David Ward Pruitt is accused of driving his 2007 Lexus "at excessive speed" on Highway 191 a half-mile west of Texas 158 and rear-ending a 1993 Ford Festiva driven by Warren Buttram, who was declared dead at the scene. Pruitt is the former longtime chief executive officer of Cap Rock Energy.

[oxbrain]

Killed buttram? Don't worry, "Woody" will defend you.

[todd00]

just like the rich sob to say he wasnt speeding and he is sorry. yeah he is sorry he is being prosecuted. and of course the experts are wrong, he wasnt going 80-90 mph. he was being mr safe driver, and it was just an accident. makes me want to puke.

and that stupid analogy by his lawyer. "A 20-foot fall will kill a person in his 70s or 80s and disable someone in his 50s or 60s while a 20-year-old will bounce up, dust himself off and walk away. So you could say if Mr. Buttram had been younger, it wouldn't have killed him. But he wasn't and it did." a 20 year old wouldnt have stood much of a chance either with a lexus going over him at 80 mph.

i sure hope he has to pay dearly for killing the old guy. thats really a sad story. these kind of stories are why ive given up reading the paper. either makes you sad or mad or both.

[Levitan]

The guy could have died if he were in a Cadillac El Dorado. Rear end crashes can cause alot of damage. Don't think the defendants lawyer can get away with saying it was because he was elderly, though there is some uncomfortable truth behind that. I'm kinda surprised the lawyer didn't say it was because he was in a Festiva, aka, a real small car that allowed the damage. Think that would have been a better defense than saying the guy died because he was old as dirt.

The facts are: if you rear end somebody, 99.9% you are going to be found guilty and responsible, at least, here in Iowa. One must be responsible for what is ahead of onesself.