Congratulations to Dublin PD on tracking down this coward.

Sad from just about every angle.


Mike

The SF Chronicle reported that this lawyer had not one but two speeding convictions within just the past year. He was an accident waiting to happen.
Web Link

Coward is right! What a horrible person, he didn't stop, he hid away his car, and he didn't even have enough conscience after the fact to turn himself in...despicable!

It's too bad he is out on bond! I hope whoever let him out had enough sense to make sure he doesn't get behind the wheel again.

This is a real tragedy.

It was probably the biker's fault. There is a complete bikeway on one side of the street and a sidewalk on the other. The biker probably caused his own death by doing something illegal or improper. Roads are for cars and bikes need to follow the rules and be safe or this type of thing will happen.

If the driver stayed and called for help he probably wouldnt have ben charged at all. (I could be wrong, but im guessing this is the case)

Again.. real tragedy.. One guy was stupid and lost his life.. Other guy was selfish and will now lose his freedom.

Joe, with your posting, it almost sounds like the outrageous quotes by Smith's attorney (--- you know the one who was sited by HUD and the DOJ for bilking Federal funds in the "Jubilee" organization).

The pedestrian who was killed by this person was found on the side of the road, not the middle of the road. This was clearly the driver's fault. The scumbag left the scene of the crime and has been charged with vehicular homicide.

KTVU reports that they are trying to figure out where Smith was prior to him running over the pedestrian to determine if Smith had been drinking.

Also, ABC News reports that the neighbors say the Dublin police waited for him over night and the entire day in San Ramon because Smith hid the car in the garage and then left his residence.

No Im just saying that is it possible the deceased chinese national Mr Hu may have been the one who was drunk and swerved into mr Smith's path, causing his own death. What I said was that I think there is a good chance the biker was at fault. Maybe not, but I think it is better than 50/50 that this is the case. Please note that there are bike paths off of the road that anyone in their right mind would have used...

I think what crossed Mr Smith's mind was that he could get in a lot of trouble and he decided to take the chance and leave the scene. His unethical behavior combined with the resourcefullness of the police will be his downfall. Had he stayed at the scene and owned-up, it may have been the case that he would not have been charged at all...

he probably was a DUI enough not to think clearly I guess.

Smith has been charged with felony hit and run and vehicular manslaughter.

Good that parts fell off the car so that he could be caught.

Someone who would hit someone, leave them dying by the side of the road, not call 911, then hide a car in the garage deserves no mercy, regardless.

Joe said: "No Im just saying that is it possible the deceased chinese national Mr Hu may have been the one who was drunk and swerved into mr Smith's path, causing his own death. What I said was that I think there is a good chance the biker was at fault."

Unfortunately for your hypothesis, you have absolutely no facts to support it.

Here are the two key facts that we know at the present time:
(1) There is considerable evidence that the Mercedes owned by the lawyer was involved in the hit and run death of the bicyclist.
(2) According to DMV records the lawyer was convicted of speeding twice in the past year.

The few facts revealed so far do not look good for the lawyer.

Sam, here are the "facts" : The man is dead. He was either riding on the side of the road despite there being bikeways on either side of the road. The bikeways are there because it is a fast dangerous road. Either this is what happened or he was hit crossing the road in which case he should have been able to see a car's headlights coming for him, no matter how fast he was going. It's a very straight road so he could've looked and seen the headlights coming his way and he could have not made the crossing. One of those two things happened. He used bad judgement and lost his life for it.

The fact that the driver was speeding or drunk or distracted on the phone is meaningless. The man is DEAD.. He's never coming back and his family will never see him again. It's great we can crucify this dirtbag coward lawyer, but the fact is the biker is dead because of bad judgement.

There's your facts, Sam.

I guess my point is that bad things can happen, and that you should do everything you can to keep YOUSELF safe, because people, your family, your kids depend on you. I hope the takeaway from this tragedy is that you will try a little harder to keep youself and your family safe by not depending on the safety and judgement of others. People do dangerous and illegal things, but if you are aware and use good judgement then you dont expose yourself to the dangers of the world like this lawyer.

Is this making sense now?

Ultimately this lawyer, who might very well go free in a short period of time, will be able to live to old age, perhaps in comfort. His bad judgement isnt anywhere near as costly as the biker's bad judgement who's children will never see him again...

Joe said: "Sam, here are the "facts" : The man is dead. He was either riding on the side of the road despite there being bikeways on either side of the road. The bikeways are there because it is a fast dangerous road. Either this is what happened or he was hit crossing the road in which case he should have been able to see a car's headlights coming for him, no matter how fast he was going. It's a very straight road so he could've looked and seen the headlights coming his way and he could have not made the crossing. One of those two things happened. He used bad judgement and lost his life for it."

You named just one hard fact: The bicyclist is dead. Nearly everything else you said is speculation. You say that either (1) he was riding in the road or (2) he was crossing the road, and blame the bicyclist in either case. Did it occur to you that the bicyclist might have been riding in the bikeway? The bikeway path is only separated by a few feet from the street pavement in that vicinity of Dougherty road near Fall Creek road. Do you think that it is within the realm of possibility that the lawyer who, judging from his two recent speeding convictions, was perhaps driving a bit too fast and carelessly along that road may have swerved a few feet off the pavement and hit the bicyclist, perhaps distracted by, say, the bicycle's rear reflector? Or maybe the lawyer was just drunk. Furthermore, if the bicyclist were crossing the road, why do you assume that the bicyclist should have seen the car's lights? Perhaps the lawyer was driving without his lights on? Or perhaps the bicyclist was waiting by the side of the road to cross it and the lawyer swerved his car into him?

In the absence of hard facts, we can go round and round forever playing these games of speculation and imagining what may or may not have happened. For the time being you have absolutely no factual basis for blaming the bicyclist and are foolish for jumping to such a conclusion.

Reminds me of the Mercedes driving nanny Jimena Barreto who killed the two small children in Danville walking on the sidewalk 8 years ago, was intoxicated, then fled the scene, quickly flushing down the toilet a bag of cocaine. Web Link

She was caught two days later.

She was sentenced to 30 years to life in prison. Web Link

Joe, you are a dangerous jerk. Cyclists are ENTITLED to share the road with cars. Have you looked at a DMV manual lately? Do the words "share the road" mean anything to you? I have had countless close encounters with people just like Joe who think that a cyclist has no right to be on the road, that I am nothing but an inconvenient impediment to their car. Before you start blaming a cyclist for his own death, perhaps you need to change your idiotic mindset about ALL cyclists.

Does anyone know the possible sentence he is facing?

Let see. Joe
How about it's one off your family is the victim. I guess you will say it's the lawyer fault right away. You are super jerk moron because you are just no brainer.

I think they should try to find out how much money this creep lawyer gave to his holiness Barack Hussein Obama in champaign money. Until we find that out, we'll not be abel to determine what his sentence will be.

No reason to pick on Joe. Yes do 'throw away the key"....but the victim is STILL dead. So that 'others' might stay alive, it is advisable to ALL walkers and definitely ALL arrogant bikers to walk/ride 'defensibly'....in hopes of staying alive.
Drivers are taught defensive driving. Why do SOME walkers and bikers do so in a fog, or a 'I have a right-of-way' attitude.
Not stopping is another notch down.

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With all the respect for everyone who try to justify an accident as unavoidable, we are talking about "hit-and-run", not just a collision a car with a bike. It is possible that the accident was difficult to prevent, it is possible that the driver could not safe the biker's life; but the the driver CHOSE to run away from the place and to leave the victim to die. In my opinion this act is simply a murder.

And there it is....I knew that it was only a matter of time before someone would get into this discussion with their off topic, partisan comments and try to bring in Barack Obama and fault Obama for this ......which of course has nothing to do with the topic being discussed. Its too bad that this continually happens - its really a disrespect to the other people commenting.

...Here is the post that i am referring to - "I think they should try to find out how much money this creep lawyer gave to his holiness Barack Hussein Obama in champaign money. Until we find that out, we'll not be abel to determine what his sentence will be."

I am reading all these posts and wow. someone died and we debate. with that said, I both drive my car and ride my bike. I have been in my car and been amazed at how cocky some cyclists can be, almost with attitude owning the road and I just go around them without honking or causing problems, but they do get cocky. they are out there...and when I am on my bike I have at times felt a car get so close, with no need to, and I am careful, I stay on the bike lane and don't veer out but a driver will get close as they can..Who knows how and what really went down. Riding a bike at night is not the safest thing to do and the man who killed him has his own price to pay. Two lives over. sad enough to end this debate. Just saying.

First of all get the facts. You are not the judge or the jury. To the person Amazon your post is stupid. In this situation someone lost their life this doesn't have anything to do with race cards and nor does it have to do with a Presidential Campaign. You need to get past race and think of the sorrow for the family who lost someone they loved and that justice be served in the proper manner. Again race doesn't matter were talking about loss of life. Get over your race issues and politics focus on the situation at hand. This issue of race is an unsolved issue as well as murder of many lives taken in the past whereas and today as people watch publicly people like you who get away with mouth murder because you can hide while judging. How about you how many lives have you taken by making stupid statements or what you feel about a race of people. Well I can see thru you and know that you are a fool.

@new beginning - YOU need to read Amazon's post fully, as they are referring to stevenp's post, with his usual "it must be Obama's fault" spin.

Amazon wasn't pulling the race card, they were wondering why stevenp is.

@stevenp - you keep telling us you are moving to Idaho, we all want to know when.

JOE,
You are the jerk here. How can you make a statement "it was probably the bicyclists' fault.". That is an assumption in that statement. You don't sound, in any of your statements any sympathy for the victim, or the victim's family. The man that hit him is nothing but a coward, and my assumption, from him running and allegedly hiding the car, is that he may well have been intoxicated. Having a Mercedes, does not make him a gentleman.

I'd like to know what Mercedes dealership withheld information in a homicide investigation.

JOE-he was walking his bike which had a flat tire AND the crooked lawyer ended up hiding his $85,000 Mercedes in his garage.

I rest my case.

Why would they EVER let this killer out on bail????
He's obviously a flight risk. He proved that his own
Recogniscence is NO good. He's a shady scumbag who
hid like the coward he is. If he came forth or called 911,
I could maybe understand them giving him some freedom,
but he proved his own character to be dirty. Throw him in
jail. He can't claim he didn't know the law either! He should
get the same mercy he showed for the person he killed.
NONE! This used to be a nice valley and now we have all
these people moving here that we don't want here.
We used to be like family around this whole valley.
Not anymore. Liberals want every town to look exactly alike.

You people are something else to ponder. For most of you it appears that English is your second language, with 'Trailer Park' as your primary. You are doing nothing more than calling each other names. You contribute nothing to the intelligent comments and discussion that a couple of people have tried to initiate. Instead you go off topic, trash each other, talk nonsense politics and ridicule each other in a feeble attempt to demonstrate just how above the crowd you feel you are. You point out the obvious as if only you can see the truth of the matter, as you attempt to pass down these comments as wisdom, for consumption by the poor unfortunate masses. How unfocused you are and how unaware of your own sad condition you remain. Even at this moment, you are still in denial.

Joe, you have succeeded in convincing the rest of us that you are as much of a lowlife as this Spencer Smith is. Way to go, Joe! You didn't even have to run over someone then take off. Anyone who would put the blame on the bicyclist instead of where it clearly belongs, ON THE COWARDLY HIT AND RUN DRIVER, is just as much of a poor excuse for a human being as the one who was driving the car that night! Shame on you, Joe.

I'm going to come to the defense of Joe. In review, I have taken a different reading of his comments. Joe's wording in his post was unfortunate. I see clearly why the post drew so much response. But I do believe that Joe's comment was an attempt to say that given the known facts so far, this accident may have been avoided if the bicyclist had moved to the sidewalk instead of remaining in the roadway. Others have posted that the bicycle had a flat tire and was being walked at the time of the accident. I am not sure if this is fact, or more unsupported speculation. Joe's observation is that there were alternatives available to the bicyclist as opposed to walking in the roadway. I don't think Joe's intention is to redirect any blame from the driver of the car. The comment is simply another way of saying that sometimes, even when we think we're in the right or doing the right thing, bad things can still happen to us. It is upon us to help ourselves out. I don't think this is any way excuses the actions of the driver of the car, who should clearly be held accountable for his negligence in driving and subsequent criminal actions after the fact. That is all his own doing and is on his shoulders.

Bob, Thanks for that analysis of Joe's comment[s]. I think you "nailed" it.
CC

Bob said: : "I'm going to come to the defense of Joe. In review, I have taken a different reading of his comments. Joe's wording in his post was unfortunate. I see clearly why the post drew so much response. But I do believe that Joe's comment was an attempt to say that given the known facts so far, this accident may have been avoided if the bicyclist had moved to the sidewalk instead of remaining in the roadway."

You made a poor choice in coming to the defense of Joe. If Joe had merely stated that bicyclists need to be careful about their own safety, especially when bicycling late at night, then that would have been fine. But he went way beyond that and accused the bicyclist of probably causing his own death by "doing something illegal or improper." He further suggested that the bicyclist may have been drunk and swerved into the path of the car. If you're critical of those who engage in "unsupported speculation", then I have to wonder why you don't direct your harshest criticisms at Joe.

By the way, we don't even know where the bicyclist was when he was hit. I'm not aware that that information has yet been released. He may have been riding in the road, or he may have been on one of the bike paths which are just a few feet from the road, or he may have been standing off the side of the road waiting to cross when he was struck. You're engaging in "unsupported speculation" yourself when you say that the biker was "walking in the roadway".

Joe is really a moron! "Better than 50/50 chance that the bicyclist is drunk?" Come on, give me a break! You made such a judgement probably because he is a Chinese. You should look into your mind to see whether you have racial bias.

I am not a moron. I may not be very articulate, but I do have common sense and I take seriously the responsibility one has for their family. I would NEVER ride/walk a bike at 11:30 at night; that was just plain stupid. In fact I never ride my bike on city streets at all for that matter. It is reckless and pointlessly dangerous. You take your life in your hands each time you go riding, plain and simple.

I feel my stomach drop everytime I see a bike run a stopsign, come within an inch of being sideswiped, and especially when I see recumbant bikes (with no flags to help people see them) riding in someone's blindspot.. I cringe because what crosses my mind is that in an instant he could make his wife and kids widows and orphans. I think that is the height of selfishness and I think every biker wearing their special tight conformist outfits are all cut from the same selfish cloth. Sure, you got RIGHTS and are ENTITLED to the road. Just like your wife/kids will be ENTITLED to your death/dismembent benefit from your former employer which will only help for a year or so. Then the house goes up for sale...

So yeah, I stand by my premise that this biker played a large part in his death. It was a selfishly stupid and was completely avoidable.

On a side note, I am very glad the driver didnt kill a minivan full of kids with his speeding. It seems this guy was destined to cause real damage eventually...

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