Car at 100 mph is a deadly weapon

Jones v. State (Unpublished Memo): Jones was beating the female passenger in his vehicle as he drove along US 69 outside of Tyler.  Another motorist heard her screams and called it in.  A Bullard PD officer responded, as did a Tyler PD officer who was off the clock and on the way home on US 69.  A high speed chase ensued.  Jones turned off of the highway, but kept up a breakneck pace along winding county roads.  Eventually the officers cornered Jones — he abandoned his vehicle at the end of a dirt road, and was tracked down on foot.

Based on two prior felonies, and his use of the car as a deadly weapon, Jones got a 75 year sentence on an evading arrest charge.

Jones argues that the sentence is too stiff because the vehicle wasn’t a deadly weapon.

Are you kidding?  Granted, as the Tyler court notes, a car isn’t always a deadly weapon.  It depends on how the car is used.  For example, I suppose OJ’s famous slow-motion White Bronco wouldn’t qualify as a deadly weapon.  But a weaving 100 mph chase with other motorists swerving to save their lives?  That’s certainly evidence to support the jury’s deadly weapon finding.

Unfortunately, the Tyler court doesn’t identify the vehicle involved by make or model, so I’ve attached a picture of a 1974 LTD, the car I drove in high school.  The car in the picture is available from Old 66 Classics in Kingman Arizona.  The one I drove was a little different from the picture.  It was a sedan, not a coupe.  And it was Brougham.

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