Snap o' the Day: First local ped crossing
Workers inspect their handiwork Monday, December 15, at what may be Charlottesville's first pedestrian-only railroad overpass. This one appears to connect what remains of the Lee Street parking deck to the UVA's new 11th Street parking garage, in a view looking west toward the old hospital from the site of what was Trax nightclub. "They need one of these over the Corner," says the photographer, Kevin Cox, no fan of the Charlottesville PD's summertime crackdown on tracks-crossing pedestrians.
30 comments
Now I'm no really super duper smart republican lawyer or anything but for an "Unapologetic" article, there are certainly a few apologies for all the screw ups made in an unapologetic career. I hope the community will be comforted when there are apologies for screwing up the serial rapist case and for not calling forward key witnesses or destroying evidence. This article seems to me to be missing a line...authorized and paid for by Jim Camblos. I've never seen so much political fluff in all my life. How about adding walks on water and freeze it over for the rest of us to follow! And for the stupid comment regarding his being re-elected so many times...well when you run unopposed..DUH!!!! Shame on the Dem party for not finding a candidate before now! And double shame on the Republicans for not finding a better candidate than Jim!! Hey Jim, is that "fair" in the Webster's Dictionary definition or "fair" in your own little world definition? In this industry, the people who are in the know realize things that the defendants don't – there is a reputation of playing favorites, practicing good old boy politics where deals are done with a wink and a nod and seeking unprofessional and personal retribution on attorneys who dare to challenge Jim are a common practice. Speaking of which....Hey Dave Heilberg..what?????? Well, one thing for sure - funny article -lots of laughs - great political grand-standing! At the end of the day, no matter how many babies he has kissed or how many times he has bragged about his wife and kids (eww), his ability as an attorney is sub-par and the County deserves better and smarter.
Jim's biggest problem has been and still is.... using testimony from police officers that he knows are being much less than truthful.
If he doesn't know they are being much less than truthful he has no business being re-elected again.
Jim's biggest problem has been and still is.... using testimony from police officers that he knows are being much less than truthful.
If he doesn't know they are being much less than truthful he has no business being re-elected again.
If Jim Camblos knows that the officers are "being less than honest" (lying) is that not against ethics?
Defendants in criminal cases would be prosecuted for lying on the stand. Why is Jim Camblos allowing testimony to be presented when he knows that it is not the truth? And why is he not prosecuting the officers who are being "less than truthful" as he would any criminal defendant?
I must call up (before somebody else does) that I am a Democrat, a supporter of Denise Lunsford, and surely part of my interest in seeing Jim Camblos removed from office is because he is a Republican.
Now, I happen to believe that my opposition to him is based on how poorly that he's done his job in many respects, and I'd like to hope that I would support a Republican to replace him as eagerly as I'm supporting the Democrat who is running against him. But no Republican has run against him, and I can't very well separate my ideals from reality, so maybe that's just something I tell myself to feel good.
Earl Washington ... need I say more?
How many reported UVA campus rapes has Mr Camblos or his staff refused to prosecute? I think the answer would be: nearly ALL of THEM. Regardless of Mr Camblos comments in this article, it is the comments that he or his staff (for he is responsible and accountable for his staff) make behind closed doors to victims that determine the integrity of his office. Having witnessed the demeaning and unprofessional comments made by an Albemarle Commonwealth Attorney to a young rape victim, I would not vote for Mr Camblos.
Wow, I did know that Camblos was really Captain America!!! . . .
how can the Hook staff take themselves seriously with such ridiculous pictures!?
WHOA!! Jim Chamblos had nothing to do with the Earl Washington case. The murder he was wrongfully convicted of and jailed for took place in Culpeper, Virginia.
So let me get this straight. If I harm anyone with my vehicle, all I have to do is carry a scary bug with me and Camblos will say I am innocent because the bug scared me??? I find it unbelievable that wreckless driving can be excused especially when lives are taken! When anyone gets behind the wheel of a vehicle, they ARE responsible JIM, get it?
TO: The Truth
You are correct, the crime occurred in Culpeper and Camblos was not the original prosecutor. But he was involved with delaying his release from prison. you can "google" the story from various sources; here's one:
After 3 years of freedom, former death row inmate Earl Washington Jr. still can't get any sleep.
The mildly retarded 43-year-old still dreams of being strapped to the electric chair. His stomach turns every time he remembers that despite a state pardon, prosecutors still believe he could have raped and murdered a woman in 1982.
Washington has learned that there's a difference between pardoned and innocent.In a final effort to clear his name, Washington's lawyers are prying open a secret police investigation that once put him within 9 days of execution. Doing so meant reopening old wounds, forcing the former inmate to re-examine the darkest moments in his life.
Police files made public at the request of The Associated Press and other news organizations show that one of the original investigating officers
may have helped Washington confess to the slaying of Rebecca Williams.
Lab tests also matched DNA from the crime scene to another man - a convicted rapist named Kenneth Tinsley who was sentenced to life in prison
a few years after Williams was stabbed to death in her apartment in Culpeper.
"There were so many opportunities for them to take Earl Washington off the suspect list," said Robert T. Hall, one of several attorneys representing
Washington in a federal lawsuit filed in Charlottesville against state prosecutors and police. "Once they had this confession from this mentally retarded man, not only did they shut down their investigation, they turned their back on any exculpatory evidence."
The news of the unsealed investigation also took Williams family members by surprise. Clifford Williams said he no longer blames Washington for his wife's rape and murder. "I spent 17 years cussing this man, thinking he was the killer," said Williams, who now believes Tinsley killed his wife. "Now that I find this out, it sucks...
"They picked up this poor black man from Bealeton and try to stick him with it, and they done a real good job of it. And coerced him--he's half retarded, anyway--so he said yes to satisfy the investigators, you know, and now the whole thing is screwed up."
Police have given him little information about the case over the years,Clifford Williams said. He talks to Washington's lawyers to learn about
new developments. Virginia State Police have resisted opening the Williams investigation to
the public and have asked U.S. District Judge Norman K. Moon to keep certain documents under seal. Police always keep ongoing investigations
secret as a protective measure, said Tim Murtaugh, a spokesman for Attorney General Jerry W. Kilgore.
"If you publicly identify a suspect, for example, you give that suspect an opportunity to destroy evidence," Murtaugh said.
Tinsley, who remains in prison on the rape conviction, is considered a suspect, said James L. Camblos III, an Albemarle County prosecutor who was appointed in August to review the case for state police. But so is Washington, he said this week, noting that he couldn't rule out that the
two may have worked together.
"There are a lot of crimes that are committed by more than one person, but you get physical evidence from only one of them," Camblos said.
Washington's lawyers dispute Camblos' theory of two attackers - before she died, Williams said she was attacked by a lone black man with a beard,
according to police records.
Hall also criticized how state police were reviewing the case. Camblos once represented Tinsley as he appealed his rape conviction in 1985.
When asked about his history with Tinsley, the prosecutor said he had no memory of it. Camblos removed himself from the case anyway, handing it
over to his deputy, Richard Moore, this past week.
http://www.prisontalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=51756
Sarah, I stand corrected. Thank You!
Tinsley and Washington worked "together" according to Camblos. What a laugh!
The more I look at the pictures with this story, why would any commonwealth's attorney want his wife's picture plastered in the headlines?
Contrary to what Jim has told your reporter, the cartridge he okayed to be destroyed was related to a case which was NOT AT ALL closed but was at that very time supposedly being investigated by the FBI. In fact, it was right around this very time, early 1998 when he okayed the destruction, that the FBI actually did anything that I know of -- which was to request that ballistics tests be run which the county had never done. It was during this precise period that Camblos allowed his secretary to sign his name okaying the destruction of one of three cartridges in the case (the other two were STILL in the evidence bin as of last year, as I recall). By the way, this is the case involving an officer shooting at Squire Hill, the Gray case. Now, why would he okay one and only one to be destroyed?
To the writer of Big Bugs Scare Me. I happen to know a bit more about that case. The bug in question flew into the women's car window and into her eye knocking out her contact lense and causing her to swevre into the car next to her. The bug and her contact lense were both found in the car. It was a terrible accident that could have happend to anyone. I don't think pursuing involuntary manslaughter would have been benefical in any way. It was tragic and horrible that 3 people lost their lives but it was an accident and destroying another person's life would not have helped. That young lady lives everyday of her life knowing how a freak accident can change your life in an instant.
To Facts,
My first reaction to an emergency such as this is not to swerve but to apply the brake and go to the shoulder. I ride a mototcycle and can tell you BIG bugs have slapped my face at 55 mph, grit has landed in my eyes and I have yet to swerve into anyone's lane or off the road. MY job as a driver is to have TOTAL control of a vehicle if it is mechanically sound. So yes, as I do sympathize with all the driver, responabilty of a vehicle remains with the driver, period!
"The bug in question flew into the women's car window and into her eye knocking out her contact lense and causing her to swevre into the car next to her. The bug and her contact lense were both found in the car."
That does nothing to explain why she skidded just over 500 feet, rear-ended another car, pushed that car around, and skidded another 200 feet before coming to a stop. Even if I had an entire bald eagle in my eye, I suspect I'd hit the brake somewhere in that 700 foot span.
Your mention of an eye and a contact lens is the first that I have ever heard, and I'm as familiar with this case as Joe Citizen could be. The story as it is understood by others involved in the matter was, quite simply, that "a bug flew into the car."
Of course, this could all be cleared up quite easily if Mr. Camblos would comment on the matter. One imagines that if it were cleared up that easily, though, Camblos would be eager to do so.
Somebody correct me if I am wrong please....
Wasn't the girl involved in the fatal crash the daughter of a U S Senator or some other high ranking government official? Did this have anything to do with charges not being pursued?
What Camblos political, no way! LMAO I don't know the driver's age or relations or any detailed 'facts' but perhaps since seatbelts were not worn by the victims, Jimmy thought they were to blame also so he excused the driver.
I hope all the people commenting go out and find 10 more people and continue the dialog. It is time for a change in the way crime is handled in Albemarle county - from the way police investigate, to the way rapes are handled, to the way plea bargains are negotiated and and cases are prosecuted. It was asked why the "wife" is in the pictures - because this story asserts that a warm, loving family man who has been in this office for years must be right for the role. Well, we the people need more. Integrity is non-negotiable.It's ok to say "It's time for a change". It's ok to bring in someone with a fresh perspective, who is not jaded, who allows cops to slack. It's ok to tell rape victims that we will support you and allow you to go to trial if you feel strong enough to testify against your attacker. It's ok to tell the UVA Campus police to do their jobs better or we will demand jurisdiction be turned over to the local police. It's ok to be consistent and fair. Unfortunately, it's not ok to re-elect Camblos.
Yes a bug may have flew in the window but I think that happened while she was on her call phone. Maybe if she had not been on the cell phone she would have been able to swat this huge bug away.
Given the crash occurred in 1998, I'm not so sure a cell phone was involved or that the young driver even had one. As I remember from viewing the police report, the other driver swerved to her left to avoid the Jeep, lost control of her Chevy Monte Carlo in the median, rolled the car over and tumbled upside down into the oncoming lanes, where her car was hit by a Nissan Altima. Unfortunately, the woman had her granddaughters, ages 10 and 4, in the car, who were completely unrestrained, ejected, and killed. The driver also was unbelted and killed. As I recall, there were two women in the Altima who were not seriously injured.
I saw photos of the Monte Carlo. The roof was crushed somewhat in the front, but the rear part of the roof was okay. There is no doubt in my mind that if the children had been properly restrained in the back seat, they would have survived, probably without serious injuries. I can't say for sure about the driver.
So in my view, even though the Jeep driver initiated the chain of events that led to the crash, the other driver was irresponsible in not properly restraining her young grandchildren, who probably would be alive today.
You must be a Camblos fan. Has he gotten you off of something too. You need to speak for him
you said:
"The bug in question flew into the women's car window and into her eye knocking out her contact lense and causing her to swevre into the car next to her. The bug and her contact lense were both found in the car."
That does nothing to explain why she skidded just over 500 feet, rear-ended another car, pushed that car around, and skidded another 200 feet before coming to a stop. Even if I had an entire bald eagle in my eye, I suspect I'd hit the brake somewhere in that 700 foot span.
I ask: How were there 500 feet of skid marks if she didn't hit the brakes??
Any of us can lose control from the tiniest of things. Even motorcycle riders who can take a brick to the face could swerve if suddenly hit IN THE EYE. Your eyes would tear up and you could misjudge your lane.
Leave the poor girl alone. She should not have been prosecuted.
Was there a bug in here eye when she was stopped for speeding????
How could the car "skid" 500 feet, and then "skid 200 feet if she didn't hit the brakes?????
Crash Test Dummy:
I did not live in the area and do not know the circumstances to this event however I do have an answer to your question. Simple physics really, if a driver "cuts" the wheel to hard without braking the vehicle still wants to go in a straight line. The weight and speed of the vehicle will usually make the rear of the vehicle swing around. In actuality the rear of the vehicle is continuing straight as the front turns. The marks left on the pavement from this action are curved and are actually refered to as "yaw marks". The markings left on the pavement after braking are "skid" marks and they are in a straight line.
I almost forgot...this would explain why the vehicle travelled the 700 feet total you described above. Without applying the brake a vehicle can cover a considerable amount of didstance. Yaw marks are normally longer than skid marks due to brakes slowing the vehicle's momentum.
Hope this answered your question
Reference the comment: "There are decisions to prosecute where a message needs to be sent-- like underage drinking," says Camblos who prosecuted the case of George and Elisa Robinson, the booze-serving parents who are now serving 27 months in jail...."
Maybe Camblos will now have the time to visit the numerous drinking establishments on a Fri and Sat night and observe how easy it is for underage UVA "adults" to be served drinks. Instead of going after one or two parents, in one night he and ABC could close every licensed facility in a 50 mile radius.....Or examine why the CAMPUS POLICE maintained jurisdiction for the investigation of the baby's death in a car at the Law School, not the local cops ....