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Crash scene in Colorado (archive image): The trucker was sentenced to 110 years in prison
Photo: David Zalubowski / AP
A trucker has been convicted of negligent homicide in the US state of Colorado after a serious traffic accident in which four people were killed - to 110 years in prison.
This decision sparked severe criticism in the United States.
After the verdict, supporters launched an online petition calling for leniency for the 26-year-old trucker.
To date, more than 4.6 million people have signed the petition on change.org.
It called on Colorado's Democratic Governor Jared Polis to pardon the convict or commute his sentence.
Other truckers in particular expressed their outrage at the verdict, using the hashtags #NoTrucksToColorado and #NoTrucksColorado on Twitter.
Fall could be resumed
The protest is apparently successful.
According to ABC News, the responsible prosecutor's office confirmed that they "filed a motion to initiate retrial on Friday afternoon."
According to the report, the authorities said the penalty was the minimum statutory penalty.
Now it is said that the law allows the court to "reconsider the sentence in an exceptional case with unusual and extenuating circumstances."
The truck driver was sentenced to 110 years in prison last October for negligent homicide and other allegations in the context of the accident on April 25, 2019.
The man had driven down a sloping road in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains in his truck loaded with timber.
The trailer's brakes are said to have failed.
The truck is said to have reached a top speed of 137 km / h, where only about 70 km / h is allowed.
The truck collided with several vehicles.
Four people were killed.
Prosecutors had argued that the trucker could have used his truck on an alternative road designed to safely stop vehicles with broken brakes.
The man testified that he had tried to avoid the traffic and shifted his truck to a lower gear to slow it down.
The petition started for the convict sees responsibility with the company for which the trucker worked.
Judge quarrels with the punishment
When the verdict was pronounced, the responsible district judge said that the 110-year imprisonment was the minimum sentence required by law.
The law stipulates that the penalties for 27 cases of, among other things, assault on the road and reckless driving must be imposed in sequence.
"If I had the discretion, I wouldn't give the verdict," the judge had said.
The convicted trucker had asked the relatives of the people killed in court for forgiveness.
"I'm not a murderer," the man had said: "I've never thought of hurting anyone in my entire life."
A victim's widow complained in the New York Times that the driver was portrayed as a victim.
"We really are the victims," she said.
The driver should spend some time in jail and think about the crime.
ptz / AP
