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Nov 15, 2007 2:06 pm US/Eastern
Family Of Man Killed By Police Trooper Files Suit
WESTMINSTER, Md. (WJZ) ―
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Randy Rakes died last November.
CBS
The family of a Finksburg man, struck and killed by a state police cruiser, is upset after learning the trooper behind the wheel will not be charged.
Dennis Edwards reports the disillusioned mother of Randy Rakes isn't giving up. In spite of a decision not to prosecute, she presses vehicular homicide charges against the state trooper who fatally hit her son.
It's been a year since Randy Rakes was killed when Trooper Dale Derr's cruiser struck him along a stretch of Route 140. After a review, Frederick County prosecutors affirm a state police decision not to pursue criminal charges.
"I need somebody to tell me how you can say that this is justice," said Jeane Blizzard, Rakes' mother.
Blizzard is devastated. She can't understand how prosecutors can say there wasn't enough evidence to prove excessive speed played a role in her son's death. A crash team report obtained by Eyewitness News clearly says Rakes would not have died had Trooper Derr not been doing 83 in a 55-mile-per-hour zone.
"They barged into my house that night and he said `We're sorry to inform you your son is deceased. And why did he jump in front of a police cruiser?'" she said. "Their own department says everything they said was a lie."
Maryland State Police declined on-camera interviews about the decision not to charge Trooper Derr. They also aren't talking about the Rakes family's pending $15 million lawsuit.
Rakes' mother personally filed vehicular manslaughter charges against Trooper Derr. Carroll County court commissioners referred them to prosecutors. It's up to them to decide whether they'll pursue charges.
"The reason she did that is that the Carroll County State's Attorney's Office has failed to do that on their own. This is one of these instances where Mrs. Blizzard had to take the law into her own hands," said David Ellin, the family's attorney.
"I just want 'em to tell the truth. Who do they answer to? Have we created such a monster that there is no one they answer to?" Blizzard said.
Rakes' family is asking Governor Martin O''Malley to intervene. There's no word on his response and no word on how Carroll County will handle charges personally filed by Rakes' mother.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
