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Texting Green Line crasher pleads guilty

Aiden Quinn, the T driver who smashed his train into a stopped trolley while texting, pleaded guilty today to a charge of negligence by a person in control of a train and was sentenced to two years' probation and 100 hours of community service, the Suffolk County District Attorney's office reports.

Following the May 8, 2009 crash, which injured dozens and caused several million dollars in damage, the T banned mere possession of a cell phone by workers on duty. Spokesman Joe Pesaturo said today 22 T workers have been fired or suspended since then for violating the policy.

Suffolk County District Attorney Dan Conley expressed outrage that Quinn got no jail time:

What kind of message does this send to others? This defendant caused $10 million in damages, sent 64 people to the hospital, and shut down the Green Line on a busy spring evening. Why? Because he was trying to send a text message while pulling 80 tons of steel and glass and human lives. The riders on the train trusted him with their safety. This wasn't an accident. It was the foreseeable consequence of his actions and he should have been punished accordingly.

Prosecutors said Quinn was writing a text message to his girlfriend while going from 0 to 25 in the tunnel away from Government Center and that he blew through not just a yellow light but two red lights before plowing his train into a stopped trolley with its brake lights on.

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Comments

refuses to admit the plain truth that everyone else knew hours after the crash - that Quinn was indeed texting when he hit the stopped streetcar.

Instead, the Boston.com report reads "Adrain Quinn, who said he was texting .."

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I understand the literal difference between the two different presentations of fact. But I don't follow what you are getting at with this observation; can you explain?

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Journalists are loathe to state something as fact, preferring instead to let others make the assertion (it works very nicely with he said/she said stories).

"The sun, which experts say is a large, luminous object in the sky, rose this morning, Associated Press reported."

So in this case, the Globe sorta hedged with the texting bit by including attribution - even if it was to a statement by the texter himself.

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I will also add that this practice is a recent trend. I took some basic journalism courses (as open electives) in my college days almost 30 years ago, and had I included such "might be a fact" statements in my writings, it would have resulted in at least a half-letter grade lower on the material from my professors.

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. . . that future historians will point to as symptomatic of the sort of lousy reporting we get these days from major media brand names- it is the rank refusal to distinguish between true and false. Nothing is true- absurdity stands next to truth as an equal now in our media.

The pattern I see on the national level (where this refusal to distinguish truth from fiction is strongest) is this:

If the Dems and GOPERS agree on something- no matter how false it becomes "Beltway conventional wisdom" and everyone must pretend that it is truth and anyone who points it out as false is "not serious" or being "partisan".

If the Dems and the GOPERS disagree on something- no matter if one side is plainly lying or just out right false- the stupid false argument is given as much weight and respect as the the obvious truth.

Thus nothing is ever a fact that both sides must accept. Everything is just an "Opinion" with the truth unknowable.

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It's just an illusion caused by the world, spinning 'round.

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when these things happen.

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Now, imagine you'd made this same comment using your big-person words instead of a reference to a song:

"Say, fellow Internet readers, let us not forget to mention that this individual is transgender."

Would there be any point to pointing that out right here and now? I'm thinking not. So you look like even more of a cowardly ass by posting song lyrics as if this is some middle schooler's MySpace.

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Nobody did time for Melina Delvalle, either, and she died. Probably nobody will do time for the miners who died from negligence last year, or the guys on Deepwater Horizon. A dude named Finnerty or something who worked for WRKO killed a kid while drunk driving on the Riverway a couple years ago- did no time. It's definitely hit or miss./ rant.

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Why is the DA expressing outrage here? Weren't he and his staff directly involved in the plea negotiations? If so, is he expressing outrage at himself, or what?

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From the DA's office:

Assistant District Attorney Paul Treseler recommended a sentence of two and a half years in a house of correction, with six months to serve behind bars and the balance suspended for a probationary period of two years. Suffolk Superior Court Judge Carol Ball sentenced Quinn to two years of probation with an order that he perform 100 hours of community service during that time. Ball recommended that Quinn's community service encourage safe driving practices if possible.

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And part of the reason why I seek to get onto the ballot for Boston City Council in 2011. He's a real leader, not a wuss like so many of our politicians and judges. God forbid somebody be punished for trying to injure people.

We have a law that bans texting while driving that got passed not 3 months ago...and we turn around and don't send a guy WHO CRASHED A (EXPLETIVE) TRAIN to jail.

Massachusetts: Where Common Sense Goes To Die

At least Quinn admitted he screwed up. I can respect him for that instead of forcing a farce of a trial.

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appeal the judge's sentence to a higher court? At the very least, it would force the judge to defend their decision to impose a lighter sentence.

And. if the DA had recommended (or agreed to) a more lenient sentence than the one the judge imposed, you can bet that Quinn's attorney would appeal that in a flash.

Oh wait. I forgot that the new principle of justice in Massachusetts is obviously "innocent even after proven guilty (or admitting your guilt)"

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Mostly because it can't be done. A defendant can appeal a sentence as too harsh; the Commonwealth can't appeal a sentence as too light.

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The media turned this tradgedy into a circus because of the sexual identity of the driver. As far as the ban on texting why is it that only bus drivers and train drivers who get punished. I have seen cops on traffic details with a cell phone in one hand and a butt in the other.

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Oh Please. Can you really not tell the difference between someone not paying attention, running 2 red lights, crashing a train care and injuring people to a detail cop? Really?? Give me a break.

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Obviously someone operating a train while texting or otherwise not paying attention at all to things like signals is a serious deal and needs to be punished. Personally I think jail time for this person seems a bit stupid, considering the cost and the fact that he's not exactly a threat to society given that he's no longer operating a train. A whole bunch of community service and probation results in some good being done for someone and his maybe thinking twice before doing something stupid in the future.

Cops sitting/standing around on details paying more attention to the phone in their hand than the task at hand (safe flow of people or cars) could result in just as serious a problem. The whole argument for having police officers instead of flagmen or private security services is that they are more professional, prepared and can respond to any number of things that might happen at the construction site, bar or wherever the paid detail is. I resent like hell the abusive way in which police take advantage of the system, but don't necessarily disagree with the argument for having a cop in many (not all) cases. So if they're going to be there, put the goddamned phone down and pay attention.

I think that statement can be applied to nearly any work scenario or operators of potentially dangerous machinery (slicing pastrami at the deli? put down the phone, taking a coffee order at Starbucks? put down the phone, extracting my premolar? puh duh duh hong.)

And I don't think the gender identity situation of the person has really affected too many people's opinion of this. It just gave some Herald readers something to snicker about.

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20 years ago where there were no cell phone, police officers could go to another channel on their police radio and talk about minor police business on that police channel. You couldn't do a lot of talking on the radio like you could on the phone, but you could get the basics back and forth. My experience today is that a lot of these work calls are being done on the cell phone. Instead of taking up time on the non-emergency police channel, dispatch or your superior can call you on the police radio and have you give them a call. It has happens a lot for cases where officers need to relay work information on their days off when they are on detail.

Of course many of these people are making personal calls as well, but there are a lot of work related calls that go out as well. As long as it isn't illegal, it is going to be done. Cops cant text and drive, and they shouldn't be talking to anyone on a cell phone if they are helping someone crossing an intersection.

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Police have police radios for work. If they're on the job, they shouldn't't be on the phone.

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There are protocols for what can be said on police radios. Many things have to be discussed on the phone.

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if this:

Prosecutors said Quinn was writing a text message to his girlfriend while going from 0 to 25 in the tunnel away from Government Center and that he blew through not just a yellow light but two red lights before plowing his train into a stopped trolley with its brake lights on.

be the case, then Quinn deserved to be punished accordingly, and spend some time in the pokey for causing so much damage, sending 64 Green Line MBTA riders to the hospital, not to mention causing the Green Line to shut down on a busy evening, and causing much back-up and inconveniences. Most importantly, though, Quinn should pay the price for putting so many human lives at risk who had entrusted them with their safety.

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