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 |  Subject: On ANCAPS: Drunk corrupt pig, kills bike riders... coverup continues...  Wed Mar 12, 2008 10:26 pm | |
| Santa Clara County Sheriff Laurie Smith, speaking publicly for the first time since one of her deputies barreled his patrol car into a group of bicyclists, broke down in her office Tuesday, saying she was "more than sorry" for the crash that left two riders dead.
"We accept responsibility," Smith said, crying. "Our whole department is sorry. We feel terrible for this incident, for the families, for the victims."
But the focus Tuesday remained on Deputy James Council, who reportedly told witnesses he had fallen asleep. With questions lingering - and as court documents revealed previous drunken driving charges against the 27-year-old - his lawyer, Mary Sansen, said her client was among those still searching for answers.
"To be candid, I don't think my client really knows what happened," she said.
Sansen also said Tuesday, as fellow cyclists and family members were planning memorials, that the tragedy has been hard on Council, too: His 7-year-old sister, Laura, was struck and killed by a car when he was young boy, Sansen said.
Council was driving mid-morning Sunday on a stretch of Stevens Canyon Road with a 30 mph speed limit when he crossed a double-yellow line and struck a group of three bicyclists. Matt Peterson, 29, died at the scene; Kristy Gough, 30, died hours later at Stanford University Medical Center; and Christopher Knapp, 20, suffered a broken arm and leg.
The CHP did not ask the second-generation sheriff's deputy to submit to a blood-alcohol test. A 2004 legislative bill that would have required blood-alcohol testing for anyone involved in a fatal auto accident did not pass out of an Assembly committee.
Council's attorney late Tuesday, however, requested that the sheriff's office release a blood sample it had taken from Council as part of its internal affairs probe into the crash and turn the sample over to the CHP. Sansen said she wanted to dispel any notion that drugs or alcohol may have been a factor in the crash.
When CHP investigators arrived at the accident scene, Council had already been taken back to the West Valley sheriff's station. Removing a distraught driver from the scene of a serious accident is a common practice, sheriff's officials say. Sheriff's officials would not comment on whether they asked Council to submit to a blood test at the substation.
New details also emerged Tuesday about Council's 2001 conviction for being involved in a speed contest in Los Angeles County. Council, 20 at the time, also was charged with two drunken-driving counts: driving while intoxicated and having a blood-alcohol content greater than 0.08 percent, court records show.
In a plea deal, records show, Council was only convicted of street racing. He received 24 months of court probation - a punishment that had ended before he was hired by the sheriff's department.
Sheriff's officials knew about Council's conviction and the plea deal. After standard background checks, he was hired about 18 months ago. Smith defended hiring Council, a 1999 Bellarmine High graduate. Council - a Loyola Marymount University alum who lives in Santa Clara - remains on paid administrative leave.
Sheriff's spokesman Sgt. Don Morrissey said one mistake doesn't necessarily disqualify a job candidate. Evaluators want to see if there is a pattern of mistakes. That wasn't the case with Council, authorities said.
"He has had that one incident," Morrissey said. "There weren't any other incidents. We look at that as being young and making a mistake, adapting and learning from that mistake and becoming a viable candidate."
The sheriff's department has contacted the victims' families, Smith said, adding that she and her department "would do everything we can" for them.
Gough's step-father Bill Artz said Smith herself had yet to speak to the family. Whether they will accept an apology depends on how it's phrased, he said.
"I don't have an honest answer right now," he said. "It was a tragic accident. Until we know more details, there's no reason to be angry and upset. We've got other things to spend our energy on."
Smith said she did not know whether Council - who was about four hours into his Sunday shift after working another 12 1/2-hour shift the day before - fell asleep at the wheel. After the crash, witnesses said they heard the deputy saying he had nodded off.
"I don't know if he dozed off," Smith said. "It's fair to say at this point that we know that we caused the accident. I understand, well, I believe, that we will be found at fault."
Meanwhile, investigators from the CHP and internal investigators from the sheriff's office were probing deeply into how the horrific accident could have happened on a sunny, dry Cupertino day perfect for biking - and patrolling.
Asked if there was any reason to believe Council was drunk or on drugs, Sansen replied: "Absolutely not."
Sansen advised her client to decline to speak with CHP investigators. This is, she said, common legal advice in this type of situation.
"Deputy Council is completely devastated by this and his family is devastated by this," Sansen said. "This is a terrible tragedy - two talented athletes lost their lives."
Smith also answered complaints that Council, whose father has been a deputy for 23 years, has received special treatment: "Absolutely not," she said, pointing out that her department had immediately requested that the CHP take over the investigation.
CHP investigators were contacting witnesses this week, according to officer Todd Thibodeau.
"We are on the same page," County Counsel Ann Ravel said of Smith's acceptance of responsibility. "In a situation like this, the board, the sheriff, everybody just feels devastated by what happened."
http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_8533238?source=most_viewed
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