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

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:I posted this before but will repeat it. Don’t hold your breath that this individual will get a long sentence. I know an adult who was very drunk and killed two people with their car and got just three years of jail time.

Three years seems probable for a plea agreement. But he’s taking this to a jury so I assume he’s risking five to ten.

An accident? He didn’t oops slip on a banana peel. He knowingly drove recklessly.
A judge would give only 3 years for killing 2 innocent victims?! No wonder people aren't afraid to speed. No real consequences. Shameful.

If your murder weapon is a car, it’s an automatic reduced sentence.

Good way of putting it. Recklessly fire a gun and you’ll get 20+, but drive a car at 81 past a school and no one cares as much.

Well, no, if you were firing a gun in target practice and not careful to clear the area first or something like that and killed someone as a result, you would not get 20 in that situation either. Let's remember this was an 18 year old without a fully developed frontal lobe. Not saying he does not deserve years in prison, but people talking about the death penalty and life in prison are crazy. It was an accident. A reckless accident for sure, but there was no intent to murder.

Exactly what is a person's intent when they drive 81 mph in a 35 mph zone? Unless he is intellectually challenged, he knew what could happen and did not care.

When I was just out of high school, a kid from my class was hit by a drunk driver as the kid was walking around his car to be the DD. The guy was charged with 2nd degree murder - when you drink as much as that guy did, you are knowingly brandishing a deadly weapon. I just googled and he ended up being convincted of involuntary manslaughter - he got 10 years in prison.

Yet the drunk (rich) kid in McLean, who killed the other high school student only got house arrest.

I'm beginning to see why kids in the DC area have little fear of consequences for irresponsible and criminal behavior.

Fairfax Commonwealth Attorney office encourage this criminal behavior by not prosecuting these crimes. A half of the office are not even trial attorneys, just posters for the prosecutors. November is a chance to vote for an alternative.

Are you saying that half of FCA's office is made up of social media posters? Like 10 attorneys and 10 social media personnel? That doesn't make sense.

PP is a moron. Probably works for Youngkin's office.

Prosecutors are notoriously overworked. Government litigators, as a whole, are generally overworked, both at the state and Fed level. They cannot prosecute everything to the public's liking. It's just not possible. Saying they "encourage" it is offensive, ridiculous, and untrue.

You want a staffed up prosecutor's office, pony up the additional revenue so they can hire more people. But, let me guess, you don't want to pay more in taxes, right?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I posted this before but will repeat it. Don’t hold your breath that this individual will get a long sentence. I know an adult who was very drunk and killed two people with their car and got just three years of jail time.

Three years seems probable for a plea agreement. But he’s taking this to a jury so I assume he’s risking five to ten.

An accident? He didn’t oops slip on a banana peel. He knowingly drove recklessly.
A judge would give only 3 years for killing 2 innocent victims?! No wonder people aren't afraid to speed. No real consequences. Shameful.

If your murder weapon is a car, it’s an automatic reduced sentence.

Good way of putting it. Recklessly fire a gun and you’ll get 20+, but drive a car at 81 past a school and no one cares as much.

Well, no, if you were firing a gun in target practice and not careful to clear the area first or something like that and killed someone as a result, you would not get 20 in that situation either. Let's remember this was an 18 year old without a fully developed frontal lobe. Not saying he does not deserve years in prison, but people talking about the death penalty and life in prison are crazy. It was an accident. A reckless accident for sure, but there was no intent to murder.

Exactly what is a person's intent when they drive 81 mph in a 35 mph zone? Unless he is intellectually challenged, he knew what could happen and did not care.

When I was just out of high school, a kid from my class was hit by a drunk driver as the kid was walking around his car to be the DD. The guy was charged with 2nd degree murder - when you drink as much as that guy did, you are knowingly brandishing a deadly weapon. I just googled and he ended up being convincted of involuntary manslaughter - he got 10 years in prison.

Yet the drunk (rich) kid in McLean, who killed the other high school student only got house arrest.

I'm beginning to see why kids in the DC area have little fear of consequences for irresponsible and criminal behavior.

Fairfax Commonwealth Attorney office encourage this criminal behavior by not prosecuting these crimes. A half of the office are not even trial attorneys, just posters for the prosecutors. November is a chance to vote for an alternative.

Are you saying that half of FCA's office is made up of social media posters? Like 10 attorneys and 10 social media personnel? That doesn't make sense.

PP is a moron. Probably works for Youngkin's office.

Prosecutors are notoriously overworked. Government litigators, as a whole, are generally overworked, both at the state and Fed level. They cannot prosecute everything to the public's liking. It's just not possible. Saying they "encourage" it is offensive, ridiculous, and untrue.

You want a staffed up prosecutor's office, pony up the additional revenue so they can hire more people. But, let me guess, you don't want to pay more in taxes, right?

I would happily pay more taxes to keep criminals off the streets.

[Anonymous]

Per the Change.org petition, trial postponed until April 2024. This seems crazy and indefensible:

It has been one and half years since our daughters passed away. Victim families got a call from the victim service staff that the trial was postponed again to Apr. 15, 2024. It was the third time. Every announcement of the postponement of the trial was very right before the expected trial and was appointed the trial date moving so far out as far as possible. Looks like they tried to postpone the trial as long as they had a chance to do so, until the local public people and medias' interest faded and the witness's situation changed to not being able to stand at the court.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Per the Change.org petition, trial postponed until April 2024. This seems crazy and indefensible:

It has been one and half years since our daughters passed away. Victim families got a call from the victim service staff that the trial was postponed again to Apr. 15, 2024. It was the third time. Every announcement of the postponement of the trial was very right before the expected trial and was appointed the trial date moving so far out as far as possible. Looks like they tried to postpone the trial as long as they had a chance to do so, until the local public people and medias' interest faded and the witness's situation changed to not being able to stand at the court.

Very sad and frustrating for the parents of the girls.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Per the Change.org petition, trial postponed until April 2024. This seems crazy and indefensible:

It has been one and half years since our daughters passed away. Victim families got a call from the victim service staff that the trial was postponed again to Apr. 15, 2024. It was the third time. Every announcement of the postponement of the trial was very right before the expected trial and was appointed the trial date moving so far out as far as possible. Looks like they tried to postpone the trial as long as they had a chance to do so, until the local public people and medias' interest faded and the witness's situation changed to not being able to stand at the court.

Any more info on why the delay?

[Anonymous]

The petition doesn't have any more info. And there's no public reporting on the case right now.

It's a common defense tactic to push for a delay (just look at what Trump's lawyers are doing). By the time April rolls around, maybe a key witness will retire and move to Florida where he's beyond the reach of a subpoena, and the prosecution will feel compelled to agree to a light sentence.

I have no idea what is happening, but I think it's disgraceful the prosecution isn't pushing for an earlier trial date. Shahid gets to go on living his life (supposedly as a college student) while the victims' families continue to be deprived of any justice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Per the Change.org petition, trial postponed until April 2024. This seems crazy and indefensible:

It has been one and half years since our daughters passed away. Victim families got a call from the victim service staff that the trial was postponed again to Apr. 15, 2024. It was the third time. Every announcement of the postponement of the trial was very right before the expected trial and was appointed the trial date moving so far out as far as possible. Looks like they tried to postpone the trial as long as they had a chance to do so, until the local public people and medias' interest faded and the witness's situation changed to not being able to stand at the court.

Let me guess...

When April 2024 rolls around, the defendant's attorneys will tell the court that the promising young lad (the defendant) is on the cusp of final exams for his very promising future, and it really wouldn't be fair for him to miss school and exams that would essentially cause him to fail the whole semester. So, you see judge ... it's very detrimental to the defendant to go forward, and the trial should be postponed until next fall.

Rinse and repeat.

I'm sure that the defense strategy is to delay, delay, delay so that there is more time for the defendant to appear to be a good, upstanding resident of the U.S. who has a promising future, and who can show that he really can stay out of trouble. Which is just lovely... except for the two dead bodies he left in his path. But never mind that!

[Anonymous]

Is this dude’s family especially well-connected?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Per the Change.org petition, trial postponed until April 2024. This seems crazy and indefensible:

It has been one and half years since our daughters passed away. Victim families got a call from the victim service staff that the trial was postponed again to Apr. 15, 2024. It was the third time. Every announcement of the postponement of the trial was very right before the expected trial and was appointed the trial date moving so far out as far as possible. Looks like they tried to postpone the trial as long as they had a chance to do so, until the local public people and medias' interest faded and the witness's situation changed to not being able to stand at the court.

Let me guess...

When April 2024 rolls around, the defendant's attorneys will tell the court that the promising young lad (the defendant) is on the cusp of final exams for his very promising future, and it really wouldn't be fair for him to miss school and exams that would essentially cause him to fail the whole semester. So, you see judge ... it's very detrimental to the defendant to go forward, and the trial should be postponed until next fall.

Rinse and repeat.

I'm sure that the defense strategy is to delay, delay, delay so that there is more time for the defendant to appear to be a good, upstanding resident of the U.S. who has a promising future, and who can show that he really can stay out of trouble. Which is just lovely... except for the two dead bodies he left in his path. But never mind that!

I wish I could serve on that jury...I wouldn't forget...

[Anonymous]

I'm all for funding signs to be put up in Oakton on that stretch of street to remind everyone until the trial about what happened.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I posted this before but will repeat it. Don’t hold your breath that this individual will get a long sentence. I know an adult who was very drunk and killed two people with their car and got just three years of jail time.

Three years seems probable for a plea agreement. But he’s taking this to a jury so I assume he’s risking five to ten.

A judge would give only 3 years for killing 2 innocent victims?! No wonder people aren't afraid to speed. No real consequences. Shameful.

If your murder weapon is a car, it’s an automatic reduced sentence.

Good way of putting it. Recklessly fire a gun and you’ll get 20+, but drive a car at 81 past a school and no one cares as much.

Well, no, if you were firing a gun in target practice and not careful to clear the area first or something like that and killed someone as a result, you would not get 20 in that situation either. Let's remember this was an 18 year old without a fully developed frontal lobe. Not saying he does not deserve years in prison, but people talking about the death penalty and life in prison are crazy. It was an accident. A reckless accident for sure, but there was no intent to murder.

Yeah, no. If that’s the case, let’s stop issuing drivers’ licenses to anyone under 26.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I posted this before but will repeat it. Don’t hold your breath that this individual will get a long sentence. I know an adult who was very drunk and killed two people with their car and got just three years of jail time.

Three years seems probable for a plea agreement. But he’s taking this to a jury so I assume he’s risking five to ten.

An accident? He didn’t oops slip on a banana peel. He knowingly drove recklessly.
A judge would give only 3 years for killing 2 innocent victims?! No wonder people aren't afraid to speed. No real consequences. Shameful.

If your murder weapon is a car, it’s an automatic reduced sentence.

Good way of putting it. Recklessly fire a gun and you’ll get 20+, but drive a car at 81 past a school and no one cares as much.

Well, no, if you were firing a gun in target practice and not careful to clear the area first or something like that and killed someone as a result, you would not get 20 in that situation either. Let's remember this was an 18 year old without a fully developed frontal lobe. Not saying he does not deserve years in prison, but people talking about the death penalty and life in prison are crazy. It was an accident. A reckless accident for sure, but there was no intent to murder.

Exactly what is a person's intent when they drive 81 mph in a 35 mph zone? Unless he is intellectually challenged, he knew what could happen and did not care.

When I was just out of high school, a kid from my class was hit by a drunk driver as the kid was walking around his car to be the DD. The guy was charged with 2nd degree murder - when you drink as much as that guy did, you are knowingly brandishing a deadly weapon. I just googled and he ended up being convincted of involuntary manslaughter - he got 10 years in prison.

+1 as he should have...or more.

10 years for a non-criminal for an accident is more than enough. 10 years is not a joke. He could be raped or murdered in prison. Not a light sentence at all.

NP here
Non-criminal? YES! The person in that story was a criminal! Drinking and driving is a crime.

Actual career criminals who are not trying to get a college education get less than 10 years for violent and intentional attacks all the time. 10 years is serious time for an 18 year old.

Good.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The petition doesn't have any more info. And there's no public reporting on the case right now.

It's a common defense tactic to push for a delay (just look at what Trump's lawyers are doing). By the time April rolls around, maybe a key witness will retire and move to Florida where he's beyond the reach of a subpoena, and the prosecution will feel compelled to agree to a light sentence.

I have no idea what is happening, but I think it's disgraceful the prosecution isn't pushing for an earlier trial date. Shahid gets to go on living his life (supposedly as a college student) while the victims' families continue to be deprived of any justice.

There is a college in the country that admitted this garbage?

[Anonymous]

Is there a statute of limitations on the charges?

It sounds like the defense is trying to run out the clock: hoping for a new elected prosecutor who will go lighter on the defendant, retirements of key law enforcement individuals who will no longer be available to testify, departure of key individuals in prosecutors office so less experienced prosecutors are handling the case, hoping that the passage of time degrades the memory of witnesses and introduces more reasonable doubt, etc.

If you have lots of money, these are the games you can play with the justice system. Time is your friend.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is there a statute of limitations on the charges?

It sounds like the defense is trying to run out the clock: hoping for a new elected prosecutor who will go lighter on the defendant, retirements of key law enforcement individuals who will no longer be available to testify, departure of key individuals in prosecutors office so less experienced prosecutors are handling the case, hoping that the passage of time degrades the memory of witnesses and introduces more reasonable doubt, etc.

If you have lots of money, these are the games you can play with the justice system. Time is your friend.

Statute of limitations is for charges filed, not trial/conviction. So that’s not an issue. Also I’m pretty sure there is no statute of limitations for manslaughter.

The benefits of delay are that witnesses may be unavailable or forgetful, that the crash is more distant in people’s memory, etc. And it’s probably easier to get a better plea deal if the crash is not as fresh.