Updated: Jack McCaffery Found Guilty In Fatal Pedestrian Crash

[justinjdry]

​

Jonathan McCaffery found guilty in fatal Iowa City crash

IOWA CITY, Iowa (KWWL) -- 17-year-old Jonathan McCaffery has been found guilty of failing to yield before hitting and killing a pedestrian in Iowa City.

www.kwwl.com

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Fran McCaffery's son pleads not guilty to citation in fatal crash

IOWA CITY, Iowa (KWWL) -- 16-year-old Jonathan McCaffery has pled not guilty to a citation of failure to yield to a pedestrian in a crash that resulted in the death

www.kwwl.com

https://www.kwwl.com/news/crime-cou...cle_d7bfb24c-259f-11ee-bdec-6f281393f886.html

Jonathan McCaffery cited in deadly Iowa City crash

IOWA CITY, Iowa (KWWL) -- Following an investigation by the Johnson County Attorney's Office, 16-year-old Jonathan J.F. McCaffery has been cited with failure to yield to a pedestrian in a

www.kwwl.com

IOWA CITY, Iowa (KWWL) -- Following an investigation by the Johnson County Attorney's Office, 16-year-old Jonathan J.F. McCaffery has been cited with failure to yield to a pedestrian in a crosswalk in a May accident that killed one person.​

On May 22, Iowa City Police responded to a crash involving a vehicle and a pedestrian at Melrose Avenue and Kennedy Parkway.

The pedestrian, identified as 45-year-old Corey J. Hite, was injured in the incident. Days later on June 4, Hilte died of his injuries. Hilte was an Iowa National Guard Soldier who was weeks away from retiring.

McCaffery has been charged with failure to yield to a pedestrian in a crosswalk, which is a simple misdemeanor. Under Iowa code, violation of this misdemeanor resulting in death is punishable by a $1,000 fine, a driver's license suspension of 180 days, or both.

 

[dekhawk]

The rumors are true.

 

[Rifler]

disgonbgud.gif

Not funny,. not seeing how anything good comes out of this.

 

[MitchLL]

Lawsuit judgment will be yuge!

 

[Hawkfan_08]

Youngest son of Iowa men’s basketball coach Fran McCaffery cited in fatal accident near West High

Lang 7/12/23 The youngest son of Iowa head men’s basketball coach Fran McCaffery has been cited in a fatal car accident near West High School. Iowa City Police issued a statement Wednesday morning indicating 16-year-old J.F. “Jack”

www.1630kcjj.com

I know many others on here knew this info from day 1 and it is a crappy story. His charges are posted as a failure to yeild which comes with a $1,000 fine and/or suspension of his license for about 5 months. No mention that I have seen on vehicular manslaughter.

Feel bad for everyone involved.

 

[Franisdaman]

I feel for Jack and I feel for the victim's family.

Neither will ever get over this.

Very sad, unfortunate deal.

 

[Franisdaman]

Youngest son of Iowa men’s basketball coach Fran McCaffery cited in fatal accident near West High

Lang 7/12/23 The youngest son of Iowa head men’s basketball coach Fran McCaffery has been cited in a fatal car accident near West High School. Iowa City Police issued a statement Wednesday morning indicating 16-year-old J.F. “Jack”

www.1630kcjj.com

I know many others on here knew this info from day 1 and it is a crappy story. His charges are posted as a failure to yeild which comes with a $1,000 fine and/or suspension of his license for about 5 months. No mention that I have seen on vehicular manslaughter.

Feel bad for everyone involved.

I am guessing there wasn't enough evidence to charge for involuntary manslaughter

 

[General Tso]

Not to be an ass, but wait - there's another McCaffrey?

 

[onlyTheObvious]

I would play out of state for sure.

 

[CharYoteHawk]

Not to be an ass, but wait - there's another McCaffrey?

Jack is "short" for Jon/John/Jonathan.

 

[kceasthawk]

I am guessing there wasn't enough evidence to charge for involuntary manslaughter

I guess, but it seems crazy that the guy died and he'd get a "misdemeanor" and a $1000 fine. I'm not out to "swing the axe" at Jack either, but WOW......

 

[Adam Jacobi]

This is from Joseph Moreland of Hayek, Moreland, Smith & Bergus, L.L.P.:

Fran and Margaret McCaffery have authorized the release of the Press Statement below. The family has not released any statement until now out of respect for SFC Hite’s family and to allow the Iowa City Police Department to conclude its investigation.

“On May 22nd, just after leaving school, our 16-year-old son was the driver in a vehicle/pedestrian accident. Investigators have told us that it was an unavoidable accident with no evidence to suggest distracted driving. The pedestrian, who was jogging at the time of the accident, was waved in front of our son’s passing vehicle by the driver of another vehicle. The jogger, Sgt. First Class Corey Hite, passed away two weeks after the accident from the injuries he sustained.

We are devastated by this tragedy. SFC Hite’s family has our deepest sympathies. While our family continues to process the events of the past weeks and help our son cope with this accident, we will have no further comment at this time.”

 

[BirdistheWord]

I guess, but it seems crazy that the guy died and he'd get a "misdemeanor" and a $1000 fine. I'm not out to "swing the axe" at Jack either, but WOW......

guy was pretty young too, 45? what a shame.

 

[Franisdaman]

I guess, but it seems crazy that the guy died and he'd get a "misdemeanor" and a $1000 fine. I'm not out to "swing the axe" at Jack either, but WOW......

I am no lawyer but I think that he would have had to be doing something reckless (drinking, street racing, maybe looking at his phone) in order to be charged with something more serious like involuntary manslaughter.

Neither you nor I are saying Jack got preferential treatment, of course, but you raise good questions. The victim's family probably is scratching their heads, too. Not sure who the prosecutor is but hopefully that person gets asked why a more serious charge (or charges) was not filed.

 

[coorsoriginal02]

Youngest son of Iowa men’s basketball coach Fran McCaffery cited in fatal accident near West High

Lang 7/12/23 The youngest son of Iowa head men’s basketball coach Fran McCaffery has been cited in a fatal car accident near West High School. Iowa City Police issued a statement Wednesday morning indicating 16-year-old J.F. “Jack”

www.1630kcjj.com

I know many others on here knew this info from day 1 and it is a crappy story. His charges are posted as a failure to yeild which comes with a $1,000 fine and/or suspension of his license for about 5 months. No mention that I have seen on vehicular manslaughter.

Feel bad for everyone involved.

I don’t necessarily want Jack to be punished more harshly as people make mistakes, BUT, failing to yield that resulted in a death seems…well…A Lot more serious!

 

[bdcolt45er]

I guess, but it seems crazy that the guy died and he'd get a "misdemeanor" and a $1000 fine. I'm not out to "swing the axe" at Jack either, but WOW......

I listened to a podcast last week and part of discussion was that pedestrian deaths from car accidents in the US almost never result in serious charges.

Everything about US transportation is set up to benefit the driver.

Freakonomics: Why Americans are so good at killing pedestrians

 

[WestCoastHawkI]

This is so sad. Life is precious.

 

[AuroraHawk]

I don’t necessarily want Jack to be punished more harshly as people make mistakes, BUT, failing to yield that resulted in a death seems…well…A Lot more serious!

If you are familiar with where the accident took place and factor into the equation that McCaffrey was driving in the left lane and someone driving in the right lane stopped and waved the jogger into the crosswalk. From what has been described to me, McCaffrey never saw the jogger because of how the vehicle in the right lane was positioned and the jogger failed to see McCaffrey's vehicle approaching.

A convergence of truly unfortunate circumstances but, from a criminal charging perspective, I'm not sure that charging McCaffrey with anything other than a misdemeanor failure to yield would be warranted.

 

[Franisdaman]

I don’t necessarily want Jack to be punished more harshly as people make mistakes, BUT, failing to yield that resulted in a death seems…well…A Lot more serious!

but what more serious charge would you charge him with? is there evidence to support that (those) charges? and if you did charge him, could you get a conviction? this is what prosecutors have to weigh, of course....

 

[mphawk]

but what more serious charge would you charge him with? is there evidence to support that (those) charges? and if you did charge him, could you get a conviction? this is what prosecutors have to weigh, of course....

I assume you can't charge the other driver with anything, since they were not responsible for what another driver did. They have to live with it too, maybe moreso. Fortunately for him or her, their name has never come out. Just incredibly sad.

 

[jwardelt]

Jack is "short" for Jon/John/Jonathan.

I've never heard of this...

 

[HawkHoops80]

I've never heard of this...

JFK often went by his nickname of Jack. So we have a former president to point to with how common it used to be.

 

[Old_wrestling_fan]

If you are familiar with where the accident took place and factor into the equation that McCaffrey was driving in the left lane and someone driving in the right lane stopped and waved the jogger into the crosswalk. From what has been described to me, McCaffrey never saw the jogger because of how the vehicle in the right lane was positioned and the jogger failed to see McCaffrey's vehicle approaching.

A convergence of truly unfortunate circumstances but, from a criminal charging perspective, I'm not sure that charging McCaffrey with anything other than a misdemeanor failure to yield would be warranted.

I too can only go by reports after the fact, as I was not present on the scene. BUT...my understanding is that this was in fact an accident and was not brought to bear by any recklessness, etc, on behalf of the driver.

I too would have been very vulnerable to hitting a pedestrian in that same scenario...as would virtually every other driver in the universe. Tragic outcome no doubt...but the outcome doesn't necessarily mean that the driver was overtly doing something wrong.

 

[HawkLogic]

If you are familiar with where the accident took place and factor into the equation that McCaffrey was driving in the left lane and someone driving in the right lane stopped and waved the jogger into the crosswalk. From what has been described to me, McCaffrey never saw the jogger because of how the vehicle in the right lane was positioned and the jogger failed to see McCaffrey's vehicle approaching.

A convergence of truly unfortunate circumstances but, from a criminal charging perspective, I'm not sure that charging McCaffrey with anything other than a misdemeanor failure to yield would be warranted.

There is a cross walk and another driver has slowed...that is red flag to slow down if you are in left lane. The original story was Jack was trailing the slowing/stopping car that chose to yield to the pedestrian and chose to pass---if that is true, that is even greater degree of carelessness.


Given he is only 16 years and inexperienced driver, I don't think any criminal charges are in order. However, the McCaffery parents should and will be on the hook for cvil suit for their kid killing a guy.

 

[Franisdaman]

I assume you can't charge the other driver with anything, since they were not responsible for what another driver did. They have to live with it too, maybe moreso. Fortunately for him or her, their name has never come out. Just incredibly sad.

the other driver in the far right lane did the correct thing and stopped for the pedestrian, correct? And then Jack was coming from the lane to that car's left and did not slow down, striking the jogger?

crosswalks are dangerous and cause chaos. too many times i see people at a cross walk and usually no one stops. other times, one side will stop, backing up traffic and then maybe the other side finally stops, too. and then the pedestrian takes their sweet time walking across the street.

 

[kceasthawk]

I don’t necessarily want Jack to be punished more harshly as people make mistakes, BUT, failing to yield that resulted in a death seems…well…A Lot more serious!

This was my point as well. Not out to wish the kid any harm after this terrible event, but I've seen people get way worse for accidents that didn't result in a death. I'm sure the lawyers and the court will be hashing this out for years.....

 

[kceasthawk]

JFK often went by his nickname of Jack. So we have a former president to point to with how common it used to be.

Probably the most famous one I could think of as well. I think when he was in the Navy he was known as Jack.....

 

[Franisdaman]

JFK often went by his nickname of Jack. So we have a former president to point to with how common it used to be.

 

[AuroraHawk]

There is a cross walk and another driver has slowed...that is red flag to slow down if you are in left lane. The original story was Jack was trailing the slowing/stopping car that chose to yield to the pedestrian and chose to pass---if that is true, that is even greater degree of carelessness.


Given he is only 16 years and inexperienced driver, I don't think any criminal charges are in order. However, the McCaffery parents should and will be on the hook for cvil suit for their kid killing a guy.

Iowa Code - 321.327 - Pedestrians’ right-of-way.
1. Where traffic-control signals are not in place or in operation the driver of a vehicle shall yield the right-of-way, slowing down or stopping if need be to so yield, to a pedestrian crossing the roadway within any marked crosswalk or within any unmarked crosswalk at an intersection, except as otherwise provided in this chapter.
2. A person convicted of a violation of this section is guilty of a simple misdemeanor punishable as a scheduled violation under section 805.8A, subsection 7.

Iowa Code 321.493 Liability for damages.
1. For purposes of this section:
a. “Owner” means the person to whom the certificate of title for the vehicle has been issued or assigned or to whom a manufacturer’s or importer’s certificate of origin for the vehicle has been delivered or assigned. However, if the vehicle is leased, “owner” means the person to whom the vehicle is leased, not the person to whom the certificate of title for the vehicle has been issued or assigned or to whom the manufacturer’s or importer’s certificate of origin for the vehicle has been delivered or assigned.
b. “Leased” means the transfer of the possession or right to possession of a vehicle to a lessee for a valuable consideration for a continuous period of twelve months or more, pursuant to a written agreement.
2. a. Subject to paragraph “b”, in all cases where damage is done by any motor vehicle by reason of negligence of the driver, and driven with the consent of the owner, the owner of the motor vehicle shall be liable for such damage.

If Fran and Margaret owned the vehicle being driven by Jack at the time of the accident and it was being driven with their consent, they are statutorily responsible for damage that was caused by Jack's fault. If, however, the vehicle is titled in Jack's name, Fran and Margaret are not statutorily responsible.

In a civil suit, I'm sure that there will be issues of comparative fault asserted. While a pedestrian may possess the right of way, it doesn't negate the pedestrian's obligation to keep a reasonable look out for traffic conditions. Even if one driver "waves on" the pedestrian, the pedestrian must always keep an eye out for traffic coming from all directions. And, FWIW, "waving" someone to cross an intersection may be fraught with some peril as well. In practice it may seem nice to stop and "wave on" a pedestrian who is otherwise waiting for traffic to pass, there may be other vehicles who saw the pedestrian waiting and have no idea that the other driver is waving on the passenger. For all other drivers may know, the vehicle slowing down and coming to a stop may be picking up the pedestrian (I've seen crazier things).

 

[kceasthawk]

Iowa Code - 321.327 - Pedestrians’ right-of-way.
1. Where traffic-control signals are not in place or in operation the driver of a vehicle shall yield the right-of-way, slowing down or stopping if need be to so yield, to a pedestrian crossing the roadway within any marked crosswalk or within any unmarked crosswalk at an intersection, except as otherwise provided in this chapter.
2. A person convicted of a violation of this section is guilty of a simple misdemeanor punishable as a scheduled violation under section 805.8A, subsection 7.

Iowa Code 321.493 Liability for damages.
1. For purposes of this section:
a. “Owner” means the person to whom the certificate of title for the vehicle has been issued or assigned or to whom a manufacturer’s or importer’s certificate of origin for the vehicle has been delivered or assigned. However, if the vehicle is leased, “owner” means the person to whom the vehicle is leased, not the person to whom the certificate of title for the vehicle has been issued or assigned or to whom the manufacturer’s or importer’s certificate of origin for the vehicle has been delivered or assigned.
b. “Leased” means the transfer of the possession or right to possession of a vehicle to a lessee for a valuable consideration for a continuous period of twelve months or more, pursuant to a written agreement.
2. a. Subject to paragraph “b”, in all cases where damage is done by any motor vehicle by reason of negligence of the driver, and driven with the consent of the owner, the owner of the motor vehicle shall be liable for such damage.

If Fran and Margaret owned the vehicle being driven by Jack at the time of the accident and it was being driven with their consent, they are statutorily responsible for damage that was caused by Jack's fault. If, however, the vehicle is titled in Jack's name, Fran and Margaret are not statutorily responsible.

In a civil suit, I'm sure that there will be issues of comparative fault asserted. While a pedestrian may possess the right of way, it doesn't negate the pedestrian's obligation to keep a reasonable look out for traffic conditions. Even if one driver "waves on" the pedestrian, the pedestrian must always keep an eye out for traffic coming from all directions. And, FWIW, "waving" someone to cross an intersection may be fraught with some peril as well. In practice it may seem nice to stop and "wave on" a pedestrian who is otherwise waiting for traffic to pass, there may be other vehicles who saw the pedestrian waiting and have no idea that the other driver is waving on the passenger. For all other drivers may know, the vehicle slowing down and coming to a stop may be picking up the pedestrian (I've seen crazier things).

Thanks as always for your insight AuroraHawk

 

[BondHawk]

There is a cross walk and another driver has slowed...that is red flag to slow down if you are in left lane. The original story was Jack was trailing the slowing/stopping car that chose to yield to the pedestrian and chose to pass---if that is true, that is even greater degree of carelessness.


Given he is only 16 years and inexperienced driver, I don't think any criminal charges are in order. However, the McCaffery parents should and will be on the hook for cvil suit for their kid killing a guy.

There is also an intersection there, that is probably used 100x/day more than the crosswalk. So if I came up behind a car that was slowing down in the right lane at an intersection, and there was no one in the left lane, and I didn't see a pedestrian in the crosswalk, I would go around the other driver 100% of the time as well.

 

[AuroraHawk]

Thanks as always for your insight AuroraHawk

We transferred title of the vehicle driven by our youngest daughter (no pics) right before she went to college. While we contemplated telling her and documenting that no one but her had our permission to drive the vehicle, we quickly reached the conclusion that the "cleaner" way to avoid owner liability was to transfer title to her. That way, if circumstances arose where she allows another person to drive the vehicle (not uncommon in college) and something awful happens, we aren't on the hook under the Iowa owner liability statute. Moreover, if she causes damages due to her operation of the vehicle, it's on her. The vehicle is well-insured but we don't need to worry about add'l exposure.

 

[Franisdaman]

Message for Clown and other rival fans:

 

[Franisdaman]

writer at Cyclone Fanatic

 

[millah_22]

People waving on pedestrians and traffic on a 4 lane street is dangerous AF and wish people would stop doing it. Be predictable before being polite.

 

[CAhawki]

People waving on pedestrians and traffic on a 4 lane street is dangerous AF and wish people would stop doing it. Be predictable before being polite.

Especially if the flow is in the direction of traffic. If the other car waved the pedestrian into a crosswalk when the lane/s or light was not clear, then he/she is an idiot and Jack probably got the correct “sentence”. Its a crap situation

My assumptions is that Jack and the other driver had a green light

 

[iahawks10]

Especially if the flow is in the direction of traffic. If the other car waved the pedestrian into a crosswalk when the lane/s or light was not clear, then he/she is an idiot and Jack probably got the correct “sentence”. Its a crap situation

My assumptions is that Jack and the other driver had a green light

If traffic had the green light, traffic (Jack) would have the right of way. Not familiar with this intersection, but my assumption is that it is not a lighted (traffic signals) intersection.

 

[Hawk_4shur]

This is a horrible and tragic story. Other than wishing it hadn't happened at all, I wish the story would have been published sooner.

 

[CAhawki]

If traffic had the green light, traffic (Jack) would have the right of way. Not familiar with this intersection, but my assumption is that it is not a lighted (traffic signals) intersection.

Gotcha… and would explain the failure to yield citing

 

[goodbyebobby]

the other driver in the far right lane did the correct thing and stopped for the pedestrian, correct? And then Jack was coming from the lane to that car's left and did not slow down, striking the jogger?

crosswalks are dangerous and cause chaos. too many times i see people at a cross walk and usually no one stops. other times, one side will stop, backing up traffic and then maybe the other side finally stops, too. and then the pedestrian takes their sweet time walking across the street.

That is why you don't cross the street with ANY traffic coming in either direction.
See it all the time when I run, I wave everyone on and go once they've passed.