Home
News
In Focus
Business
Metro
Nation
World
Sports
Feature
Opinion
View more »Opinion Columns
Wan LixinOpinion deputy editor of Shanghai Daily
Restaurants get off to a quick start thanks to game-changing policies
High service charges on event ticket refunds call for further regulation
Sunday
- Subscribe
Related News
Drunk US student challenges taxi murder charge
By Min Lee |
July 28, 2009, Tuesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
A DRUNKEN American university student challenged a murder charge yesterday after being accused of causing the crash of a Hong Kong taxi and the death of its driver before commandeering the vehicle and slamming it into another cab.
Prosecutors said California State University, Chico student Kelsey Michael Mudd was more than three times over the legal alcohol limit when the accident occurred on June 27.
They have yet to spell out their case in court, but the murder charge suggests they believe it was Mudd who caused the accident.
The Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post newspaper reported earlier that Mudd was arguing with his driver before the crash.
Mudd's lawyer, Ian Polson, argued in court that the crash "always was and is a traffic accident," adding there was no evidence that Mudd, 22, was behind the wheel during the accident that killed the driver.
"It's been blown all out of proportion," Polson told Acting Principal Magistrate Bina Chainrai.
Mudd, who has not entered a plea, was remanded into custody after Chainrai adjourned his case to August 28 to allow more time for prosecutors to investigate. Polson said he plans to file a bail application in the coming weeks.
The South China Morning Post reported that Mudd had argued with the 58-year-old taxi driver before the accident at about 3:30am.
Local TV news footage of the scene of the crash, which has been uploaded onto YouTube, showed Mudd moving to the driver's seat when a paramedic was treating him and speeding off in the taxi and hitting another cab head-on. He appeared unsteady when he was ordered out of the taxi by police after the second crash.
If convicted, Mudd faces a mandatory life sentence.
Prosecutors said California State University, Chico student Kelsey Michael Mudd was more than three times over the legal alcohol limit when the accident occurred on June 27.
They have yet to spell out their case in court, but the murder charge suggests they believe it was Mudd who caused the accident.
The Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post newspaper reported earlier that Mudd was arguing with his driver before the crash.
Mudd's lawyer, Ian Polson, argued in court that the crash "always was and is a traffic accident," adding there was no evidence that Mudd, 22, was behind the wheel during the accident that killed the driver.
"It's been blown all out of proportion," Polson told Acting Principal Magistrate Bina Chainrai.
Mudd, who has not entered a plea, was remanded into custody after Chainrai adjourned his case to August 28 to allow more time for prosecutors to investigate. Polson said he plans to file a bail application in the coming weeks.
The South China Morning Post reported that Mudd had argued with the 58-year-old taxi driver before the accident at about 3:30am.
Local TV news footage of the scene of the crash, which has been uploaded onto YouTube, showed Mudd moving to the driver's seat when a paramedic was treating him and speeding off in the taxi and hitting another cab head-on. He appeared unsteady when he was ordered out of the taxi by police after the second crash.
If convicted, Mudd faces a mandatory life sentence.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
