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Uploaded: Friday, October 12, 2012, 1:59 PM                                             

Pumar pleads not guilty  

by Nick Veronin
Mountain View Voice Staff

Posted by gcoladon, a resident of the Slater neighborhood, on Oct 12, 2012 at 2:20 pm
gcoladon is a member (registered user) of Mountain View Online

I don't know whether it's a problem with how our legal system works, or people's values, that results in guilty parties seemingly never pleading guilty. I think everyone would, or should, be better off if those guilty of crimes against other citizens were able to admit their wrongdoing and get a 'fair' (let's leave the definition of that until later) punishment.

Posted by kathy, a resident of the Sylvan Park neighborhood, on Oct 12, 2012 at 2:39 pm

"He sped through a red light, swerved to avoid a truck entering the intersection, lost control of his car and then ran into William Ware"

Only $10,000 bail? And he was released? That is wrong. His wreckless behavior resulted in a person's death. Did he even lose his license, or is business as usual until the hearing?

This guy should do time and lose his license for life.

Posted by resident, a resident of the Old Mountain View neighborhood, on Oct 12, 2012 at 2:41 pm

If I was on his jury, I would throw the book at him. Life in state prison. He may be only charged with one crime, but he actually committed several acts of reckless driving before he killed the victim.

Posted by juniperk, a resident of the Gemello neighborhood, on Oct 12, 2012 at 2:50 pm

This guy pleading innocence is outrageous. incidents like this should never give the guilty party any such option. This guy should be behind bars for life. I understand the criminal system should be responsible to rehab people but incidents like this should send a message to everyone that deliberate and unnecessary crimes will not be tolerated and will face still life sentence.I can see this case drag for a long time and this guy will not even get 5 years prison term. Our legal system sucks.

Posted by JoyS, a resident of the Castro City neighborhood, on Oct 12, 2012 at 2:50 pm

He'll get off just as the woman from Saratoga did last year. Seems if one has enough money and no scruples, one can get away with murder in Mountain View! He intentionally ran a red light which resulted in the death of an innocent bystander who would be alive but for Pumar's actions and he is released on $10 K bail with no lost privileges? Money obviously has spoken.

Posted by sean, a resident of the Sylvan Park neighborhood, on Oct 13, 2012 at 12:36 pm
sean is a member (registered user) of Mountain View Online

"Pumar remained on the scene" wonder why? Was it because his car was in like 15 pieces and he had injuries? To the people referring to the Saratoga doctor lady who fled home after killing a pedestrian, I think this is a little different. A 22 year old kid driving his dads $60,000 car down side streets at 60 and killing someone vs. a old lady hitting an old man at a low speed on a blind corner, she did flee and deserved a harsher punishment but I bet this kid gets 1 year and serves about 4 months in a low security facility.

Note that if the charge of gross vehicular manslaughter is filed as a misdemeanor the MAX sentence is one year in jail.

Filed as a felony? MAX sentence of six years in prison.

There is also a mandatory three-year license revocation.

Posted by Otto Maddox, a resident of the Monta Loma neighborhood, on Oct 13, 2012 at 2:40 pm
Otto Maddox is a member (registered user) of Mountain View Online

Wow.. some people have no idea how our justice system works.. and why.

If the evidence is so clear and the State's case so strong why don't we welcome a trial? Let the evidence be entered and examined. That's what is so great about our country compared to lots of others.

The jury doesn't get to throw "the book" at anyone. That's the job of the DA to determine what crimes to charge a person with based on the evidence collected. I'm sure his lawyer will work out a plea bargain with the DA. Most cases never go before a jury which is a travesty but I'll save that for another rant another day.

And if you think people should enter a guilty plea when they're guilty please turn yourself in every time you speed, roll through stop sign, or doing something else illegal. March right down to the police station and ask to be written a citation. Then go to traffic court and plead guilty.

Whether this takes 5 days or 5 years (which it won't) justice will be served. This guy is in a lot of trouble and he's going to be paying for his mistakes for a long time after his sentence has been served.

Posted by sean, a resident of the Sylvan Park neighborhood, on Oct 13, 2012 at 5:43 pm
sean is a member (registered user) of Mountain View Online

Be an unbiased juror for a moment and pretend you know nothing about this accident or the people involved. Now this is presented in front of you:

Web Link

Tell me what you think? I know how my heart feels and the pictures are pretty tell tale.

Posted by Otto Maddox, a resident of the Monta Loma neighborhood, on Oct 16, 2012 at 8:55 am
Otto Maddox is a member (registered user) of Mountain View Online

A picture, all by itself, tells me little about what caused the accident.

The D.A. needs to meet a much higher burden of proof than what we see on T.V. and what is printed in the media.

Things like intent have to be considered for charges like this.

You can't determine that from the picture you linked.