The People v. Schiro CA6

BACKGROUND

A. Prosecution Case – The Incident On the afternoon of April 19, 2009, David Nelson and Ashley Jackson2 went on a 40-mile bicycle ride. Nelson and Jackson were competitive cyclists who typically rode for two to four hours at a time, five or six days each week. That day, they took a route that they rode about two or three times each month. Nelson rode in front of Jackson, as he usually did, because he was the stronger rider. Their route took them into Saratoga, on Highway 9, where they rode in the bicycle lane. At a point about 10 miles from their home, Nelson looked back at Jackson, who was about 100 to 200 feet behind him. Within 10 to 15 seconds after looking back at Jackson, Nelson was struck by a car and almost knocked down. The car struck Nelson‘s left arm, just above the elbow, causing a bruise. Nelson saw that the car was a silver 7- series late-model BMW. He saw that the car‘s passenger-side mirror was dangling by its wires. Nelson screamed at the car, which veered to the right and slowed down briefly, then accelerated and drove away. Nelson looked back and saw Jackson laying on the ground with her body half in the bicycle lane and half in the road. When he…