Firefighter trainee kills police officer.

TROY, Mich. (AP) - A 21-year-old firefighter trainee has been
ordered tried for murder on accusations that he was highly drunk
when he crashed his speeding car into a patrol car, killing a
police officer.
The May 13 crash occurred moments after Officer Gary Davis, a
12-year police veteran in Oakland County's Bloomfield Township,
arrested a drunken driving suspect on southbound Interstate 75 in
this Detroit suburb. The officer died, and his suspect was
seriously hurt.
After a preliminary examination Wednesday, Troy District Judge
William Bolle ruled that there was enough evidence for Joshua
Campbell of Royal Oak to stand trial.
The charges are second-degree murder, drunken driving causing
death to emergency personnel, failing to use care while passing a
stationary emergency vehicle causing death, and drunken driving
causing serious injury.
The maximum penalties for the four felonies are life in prison,
20 years, 15 years and 15 years, respectively.
Campbell, who was to graduate May 14 from the Oakland Fire
Training Institute, had been drinking with friends in Canada. His
blood alcohol level was 0.17 percent, more than twice the level of
0.08 percent that is drunk under Michigan law.
Authorities say Campbell was driving at least 90 miles per hour
in a 65-mph zone.
"He passed me like I was standing still," witness Freeman Lee
of Royal Oak testified.
Davis, 36, had handcuffed a 26-year-old Madison Heights man and
put him in the back seat of his squad car.
Defense lawyer Richard Lustig said Davis was partly responsible
for his own death.
"My client did not have time to stop," Lustig said. "Police
officers make mistakes sometimes."
Ontario Provincial Police are investigating whether bars in
Windsor over-served Campbell, Troy police Lt. Gerry Scherlinck told
the Detroit Free Press.
Campbell remains free on bond. Arraignment before Oakland County
Circuit Judge Rae Lee Chabot is scheduled for July 26.

(Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Posted Mon 19 Jul, 2004 02:11:

"My client did not have time to stop," Lustig said. "Police
officers make mistakes sometimes."

WTF is this "Law whore" thinking. :evil:
Police officers make mistakes by doing thier JOBS????????? :BM: