Mosher court date

[SnoBrdr]

Its sad but Mosher had to admit to the judge his culpability in the death of a guy just driving down the road who lost his life due to his actions. It could have been any one of us who drive down that road so many times and we all just got lucky. Having custody of an 1800 pound animal is a responsibility that has a zero failure rate due to the potential consequences. Wrong place wrong time but a situation that could have been avoided. You can get away with being sloppy in your many lifes choices for only so long but once enough time goes by the laws of averages call your number and you pay the price. The "but he was speeding" crap was BS but I think we would all be soul searching for a way out of that mess to defer the horrible guilt he must feel. He will have to live with that the rest of his life. I hope he can get over it he did not want this to happen in any way.

Of course he was speeding, everyone speeds on that section of Rt 4, in both directions.

[ME2VTSkier]

So..... substitute a moose for the cow. The operator still over-drove his headlights. Sad no matter what, but still no excuse for Mosher to not control the cow. Helluava nice guy or not...

[GSKI]

Of course he was speeding, everyone speeds on that section of Rt 4, in both directions.

The point is it does not matter if they guy was doing 50 or 65 when you hit an 1800 pound animal. "but he was speeding" does not get you off. Are you being myopic or just tedious?

[Mister Moose]

This case can be seen as a city point of view vs a country point of view. From the city's viewpoint, like Killington Lover and GSKI, Mosher should never let his bull get out. His fences should be maintained with Swiss watch precision so that an escape never happens. Rte 4 is a highway for them, and they have the right of way in all cases over errant livestock.

The rural point of view is that Rte 4, along with many other state routes, runs through small towns with livestock. It is a common occurrence that cows get out. If you've never tried to keep cows in, you don't appreciate this. It doesn't happen every day, or every week, but it does happen. However, you are in their rural world, the cow and farmer is not in your urban world. Being sleepy is not a criminal offense.

There's a reason so many Vermont farmers showed up in court. They understand how wrong the charges are. They are the true jury of his peers.

Mosher clearly felt the plea of reckless endangerment with no fine or jail time was better than risking a trial in front of a city prosecutor and a city judge with potentially much more severe consequences. And the prosecutor while saving face with a verdict settled for a far lower charge.

I'll state again that an 18 wheeler truck stopped and avoided the bull shortly before the fatal accident. That demonstrates a measurable lack of certain reckless endangerment to me.

Imagine if a slow farm tractor was in the road, and was struck. Imagine if someone was drunk on the access road and was struck by a less than vigilant driver. In both cases the driver would be found at fault. But because it's a cow, and because the cow belongs to a excavator contractor, somehow it's different.

This is not a good day for the Vermont judicial system, nor Vermont farmers. It's a great day for out of state drivers expecting the roads are built for them to their standards, going too fast for their reaction time looking to place the blame on someone else.

[freeski]

Bull was probably brown and hard to see at night. Moose are also hard to see. If you can't stop it's your fault. It's rural VT for goodness sake. I bet he feels no guilt at all and misses his murdered bull.

[SnoBrdr]

Of course he was speeding, everyone speeds on that section of Rt 4, in both directions.

The point is it does not matter if they guy was doing 50 or 65 when you hit an 1800 pound animal. "but he was speeding" does not get you off. Are you being myopic or just tedious?

Just stating my personal observations.

[yiddle on da fiddle]

Of course he was speeding, everyone speeds on that section of Rt 4, in both directions.

The point is it does not matter if they guy was doing 50 or 65 when you hit an 1800 pound animal. "but he was speeding" does not get you off. Are you being myopic or just tedious?

Just stating my personal observations.

...ad phukin nauseam......

[rogman]

Unfortunate precedent, but Mosher was what has long been referred to as a gentleman farmer: it's not his primary occupation, nor a means of income, it was a hobby. If the bull escapes once and someone dies, well that's unlucky. If the bull escapes many times and you've been warned by the police and do nothing, then that is negligence. Going back to bed when you know you have a loose bull, and you've been told where it is, but don't even look there, that is also negligence. Mosher wasn't unlucky, and he certainly wasn't a good example of how to keep livestock. He got manslaughter. He's lucky. The woman? not so much.

[GSKI]

This guy is NOT a gentleman farmer!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QokeAwXDwc" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[ANGUS]

So I guess I can bring an action against the state if I hit a moose, deer or bear? The state of NH has R.O.W. fences on many roads. They never receive maintenance. So would they be liable for an animal VS car incident? Over driving your headlights will kill you. I can't blame Mosher for taking a plea. Legal proceedings are long, costly and stressful. I think the 50 hours of community service thing is stupid. Remember the r*in shower called Irene? I think he has served his community service and then some. It was an unfortunate accident. Accident being the key word. Criminal charges should have never been brought forward.

[SnoBrdr]

So I guess I can bring an action against the state if I hit a moose, deer or bear? The state of NH has R.O.W. fences on many roads. They never receive maintenance. So would they be liable for an animal VS car incident? Over driving your headlights will kill you. I can't blame Mosher for taking a plea. Legal proceedings are long, costly and stressful. I think the 50 hours of community service thing is stupid. Remember the r*in shower called Irene? I think he has served his community service and then some. It was an unfortunate accident. Accident being the key word. Criminal charges should have never been brought forward.

Wonder how many hours of community service he put in after Irene.

[ANGUS]

So I guess I can bring an action against the state if I hit a moose, deer or bear? The state of NH has R.O.W. fences on many roads. They never receive maintenance. So would they be liable for an animal VS car incident? Over driving your headlights will kill you. I can't blame Mosher for taking a plea. Legal proceedings are long, costly and stressful. I think the 50 hours of community service thing is stupid. Remember the r*in shower called Irene? I think he has served his community service and then some. It was an unfortunate accident. Accident being the key word. Criminal charges should have never been brought forward.

Wonder how many hours of community service he put in after Irene.

I'm sure he put in more than enough hours to satisfy his bogus community service hours. Granted FEMA may have reimbursed him for some of his time and expenses after Irene. I know first hand from a similar situation (2008 ice storm) they never pay for it all. He is a good man and used his resources to help the community. The judge should have had the common sense to recognize that. The town may need him again in such an event. Craig is a good guy.

I raise beef. I'm not a full time farmer. This is a scary ruling. Fences brake. Livestock gets out. Sh*t happens. VT justice is backwards. Then again Stenger and queerboy from Jay peak are still free. All of the state paid crooks are immune to charges.

[icedtea]

Let's see how much they get him for in a civil suit now?

All that will need to be done is to file complaint, and then summary judgment with the judgment of conviction as exhibit A.

[SnoBrdr]

Let's see how much they get him for in a civil suit now?

All that will need to be done is to file complaint, and then summary judgment with the judgment of conviction as exhibit A.

Civil suit has already been settled it was reported a while back.

[SnoBrdr]

Letter to the editor of the Rutland Herald

Crash produced many tragedies
Rutland Herald | July 05, 2017
This case involves many tragedies.

The first tragedy in this whole case was the death of Jon Bellis. We are all extremely sorry for this loss. This was a terrible accident, and one that had already been adjudicated in civil court. That is where this case should have ended. Rose Kennedy should never have brought this case to the criminal court system. The circumstances in this case do not warrant a first-time precedent in our nation to be charged in a criminal court, as there was no malicious intent.

The second tragedy in this case is the destruction of Mr. Mosher’s life. He is well- known and well- respected in his community. Since the date of this accident, he has been haunted by the deaths of both Mr. Bellis and his pet bull. The accident caused him and his family great devastation and turmoil. He was forced to spend two years fighting a criminal charge when he had no malicious intent.

If the Rutland County legal system thought that the results of this case could create publicity to educate the public and prevent another accident, this is another tragedy.

We are so concerned about the far-reaching implications of holding owners criminally liable for farm animals who have gotten loose on public roads. The implications in this case are that the fences weren’t adequate. I inspected the fence after the accident with Robert Barnes of Straight Line Fence in Orwell. We both agreed that Craig Mosher’s fences were more than adequate.

We need everyone to drive more carefully and slowly in Vermont, acknowledging the rural and agricultural working landscape of this state which we all love. Although the facts that the car accelerating and traveling 64 miles per hour, in a 50 mph zone, and no brakes were applied, was deemed irrelevant by the judge, they may have been causative factors. That’s awfully fast for that road and those conditions. As we understand it, the bull was under streetlights and not moving.

We need everyone who drives in Vermont to understand that livestock and wild animals can be on a road at any time.

RAY DUQUETTE Sr.

(President, Rutland

County

Farm Bureau)

West Pawlet