7/24/23 Trial of Usman Shahid -- driver who killed two Oakton teens

[Anonymous]

NP and I have not followed this case at all - was Shahid high or drunk?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NP and I have not followed this case at all - was Shahid high or drunk?

No indication of it according to initial police reports.

[Anonymous]

Just drunk on confidence and thirsty to impress his friends.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:An update from today’s proceedings. I really feel for the 4Runner driver.

https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/northern-virginia/defense-tries-to-shift-blame-in-crash-that-killed-two-oakton-high-students/3596155/

From that link:

"A nationally known crash expert also testified, supporting the prosecution. He said the BMW's sophisticated data recorder showed Shahid accelerated from 60 to 81 mph and never applied the brakes."

Elsewhere I saw one of the passengers of the BMW said that he thought the driver accelerated before the collision. Was he trying to go around the SUV and missed? Was he trying to brake and hit the wrong pedal? Was he trying to beat the light? This seems the most likely.

Did he accidentally hit the gas instead of the brake?

Would his car’s data recorder thing have this info?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:An update from today’s proceedings. I really feel for the 4Runner driver.

https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/northern-virginia/defense-tries-to-shift-blame-in-crash-that-killed-two-oakton-high-students/3596155/

From that link:

"A nationally known crash expert also testified, supporting the prosecution. He said the BMW's sophisticated data recorder showed Shahid accelerated from 60 to 81 mph and never applied the brakes."

Elsewhere I saw one of the passengers of the BMW said that he thought the driver accelerated before the collision. Was he trying to go around the SUV and missed? Was he trying to brake and hit the wrong pedal? Was he trying to beat the light? This seems the most likely.

If that were the case, I feel like they would have him testify saying that. It seems from the other testimonies like he saw the Toyota, and the light turning yellow, and thought he could hit the gas and get around them while also getting through the light in his 6 (?)-day old new car. Even his passenger testified that he thought he was going "50-60 mph" and that was even *before* the other, inexplicable (other than teen bravado?) acceleration... the other passenger testified it was all happening "super fast." At that point, whether he hit the gas or brake is really irrelevant, why are you driving 60 mph on a 35 mph road, one block away from a preschool and 3 blocks away from an elementary school and a high school? Throughout the trial he also looks like he's as cold as ice, too. No regret or sympathy for what he's done to all those families... my guess is the jury sees this.


Did he accidentally hit the gas instead of the brake?

Would his car’s data recorder thing have this info?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:An update from today’s proceedings. I really feel for the 4Runner driver.

https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/northern-virginia/defense-tries-to-shift-blame-in-crash-that-killed-two-oakton-high-students/3596155/

From that link:

"A nationally known crash expert also testified, supporting the prosecution. He said the BMW's sophisticated data recorder showed Shahid accelerated from 60 to 81 mph and never applied the brakes."

Elsewhere I saw one of the passengers of the BMW said that he thought the driver accelerated before the collision. Was he trying to go around the SUV and missed? Was he trying to brake and hit the wrong pedal? Was he trying to beat the light? This seems the most likely.

Did he accidentally hit the gas instead of the brake?

There's no indication of that, and the fact that Shahid never told the police that means it would be really hard for him to mount that defense now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:An update from today’s proceedings. I really feel for the 4Runner driver.

https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/northern-virginia/defense-tries-to-shift-blame-in-crash-that-killed-two-oakton-high-students/3596155/

From that link:

"A nationally known crash expert also testified, supporting the prosecution. He said the BMW's sophisticated data recorder showed Shahid accelerated from 60 to 81 mph and never applied the brakes."

Elsewhere I saw one of the passengers of the BMW said that he thought the driver accelerated before the collision. Was he trying to go around the SUV and missed? Was he trying to brake and hit the wrong pedal? Was he trying to beat the light? This seems the most likely.

Did he accidentally hit the gas instead of the brake?

Would his car’s data recorder thing have this info?

The data recorder doesn't record intent, just what happened. So I don't know how it would record that.

[Anonymous]

The data recorder shows the car accelerated from 60 to 81 and the brake was never applied.

Shahid could testify he pressed the wrong pedal but it sounds like his attorneys don’t want him on the stand, probably for good reason. Assuming he doesn’t testify then he basically can’t use that as a defense.

If he had accelerated from 35 to 55 he’d have a better shot at being acquitted, but hard to blame it on a mistake when he was going 60 to begin with.

[Anonymous]

Is there somewhere we can stream the trial?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is there somewhere we can stream the trial?

No. There is no local court tv.

I was driving Blake Ln. today (I live nearby). When you are at the corner of Five Oaks (on Blake heading north -- like the 4Runner/SUV), you can see about one or one-and-a-half blocks of on-coming traffic. That is PLENTY of time for someone going 55 in a 35 mph zone to stop or slow down. If Shahid had even TRIED to brake -- even if he was going 60 or 80 mph, he would have been able to reduce his speed substantially. The chances of him deflecting off the SUV and killing the 2 girls and seriously injuring the 3rd girl, would have been greatly diminished if he had hit the SUV at 30 mph rather than 80 mph.

I think the most likely scenario is that Shahid was distracted by impressing his young friends in the car, his attention (if any of it was on the road) was focused on the green light far ahead of him, and he was not thinking about anything else. Inexperienced drivers often focus on one thing without completely surveying the whole scene. He was thinking "green light, let's show how fast this car can go" -- and he didn't think about the possibility of other cars in the road. He gunned it right into the SUV and couldn't react in time because he was going SOOOO fast.

The next time you are out driving on any road where you can legally go 45 or 55 -- see how long it takes you to slow down to 20 mph or even stop. You can stop in the distance of a full block or block-and-a-half.

I think he'll get 4-6 yrs jail, with half suspended --> serving 2-3 yrs in jail as long as he stays out of trouble for another 2-3 yrs. He was EXTREMELY reckless, but he wasn't outright malicious. Young. Stupid. Self-centered. That's my guess.

[Anonymous]

He needs to do minimum of three years jail time. He needs to learn a lesson and this has to be a lesson for all people his age to learn to drive responsibly and you can’t just take a life and walk away because you have a rich daddy with lots of money.
Honestly, for his crime, he needs more jail time, but I’m willing to be somewhat lenient.
People died. If they try to blame the other driver, who is turning, that would be absolutely a travesty and a crime. this kid needs to learn a lesson.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:An update from today’s proceedings. I really feel for the 4Runner driver.

https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/northern-virginia/defense-tries-to-shift-blame-in-crash-that-killed-two-oakton-high-students/3596155/

From that link:

"A nationally known crash expert also testified, supporting the prosecution. He said the BMW's sophisticated data recorder showed Shahid accelerated from 60 to 81 mph and never applied the brakes."

Elsewhere I saw one of the passengers of the BMW said that he thought the driver accelerated before the collision. Was he trying to go around the SUV and missed? Was he trying to brake and hit the wrong pedal? Was he trying to beat the light? This seems the most likely.

Did he accidentally hit the gas instead of the brake?

There's no indication of that, and the fact that Shahid never told the police that means it would be really hard for him to mount that defense now.

Do we know everything he said to police?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:He needs to do minimum of three years jail time. He needs to learn a lesson and this has to be a lesson for all people his age to learn to drive responsibly and you can’t just take a life and walk away because you have a rich daddy with lots of money.
Honestly, for his crime, he needs more jail time, but I’m willing to be somewhat lenient.
People died. If they try to blame the other driver, who is turning, that would be absolutely a travesty and a crime. this kid needs to learn a lesson.

Just three years seems crazy for someone who didn’t plead guilty. Otherwise what’s the incentive for future offenders to do so? If you can afford a good lawyer, might as well gamble on a 10 percent chance of acquittal if all you risk is a minimally longer sentence.

The DA needs to send a message that someone who won’t take responsibility for his actions and instead tries to blame others (in this case, the 4 Runner driver), wasting tons of public resources in the process, is going to end up much worse.

[Anonymous]

3 years is an insult to the families that lost their kids. 10 years+.

[Anonymous]

Worth noting that Cameron Herrin got 24 years for something similar in FL. He was 18 years old, street racing with a friend, and hit a mom and her baby at 100 mph, killing them.