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Tuesday, June 14, 2005
Jurors handed down the lightest possible punishment Tuesday to a Southern Methodist University professor who they convicted a day earlier for using her car to intentionally run down a bicyclist at White Rock Lake.
The panel of nine women and three men deliberated less than an hour before fining Jane Dolkart $1,000 and sentencing her to two years in prison with a recommendation that she be given probation. The judge hearing the case sentenced her to five years' probation.
Witnesses who testified during the trial described Ms. Dolkart as an impatient and aggressive driver as she followed cyclist Tommy Thomas and another rider near White Rock Lake last May.
Ms. Dolkart's green Volkswagen Passat hit and dragged Mr. Thomas several feet, leaving him with bruises and abrasions, but only minor injuries.
In December 2003, Ms. Dolkart struck two pedestrians with her car near the SMU campus. She told police at the time that the sun had been in her eyes and that she had not seen them.
Prosecutor Danny Oliphant said he chose not to bring that case up during the punishment phase because police never charged Ms. Dolkart with a crime, and even the victims in the case believed it was an accident. Mr. Oliphant, himself a triathlete who trains at the lake, told the jury that probation was appropriate for the lake incident.
"The complainant's wishes played a big part in the decision," he said, adding that jurors indicated after the trial that such information would not have affected their decision on her punishment.
He said before making his punishment recommendation that he also weighed the fact that the jury had been split over whether Ms. Dolkart was guilty of the felony charge or a less-serious misdemeanor.
Mr. Thomas, a Dallas civil attorney, said he's pleased with the felony conviction, although he added that probation in this case was appropriate. The cyclist said he feared for his life as he was dragged under Ms. Dolkart's car.
"There was no doubt in my mind when I heard the yelling and the car accelerated that she had intended to hit me," he said after the trial Tuesday. "I hope that motorists here in Dallas would treat cyclists better from now on."
Court testimony showed that after Mr. Thomas got up from under her car, Ms. Dolkart told him that he had been in her way and drove off as he was calling police. A police officer testified that when he spoke to her where she was waiting at a nearby parking lot, she became angry and told an officer that she had only intended to "tap" Mr. Thomas.
In trial, Ms. Dolkart denied intentionally striking the cyclist and said the collision occurred because Mr. Thomas suddenly slowed down in front of her.
Mr. Thomas testified that Ms. Dolkart was following closely as he rode beside a median on West Lawther Drive, gesturing, honking the horn of her car and yelling. Ms. Dolkart followed as he made a U-turn, then accelerated and struck the rear wheel of his bike, pushing him under the car and dragging him for several feet, he said.
Jurors were initially split on whether Ms. Dolkart was guilty of the second-degree felony charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon or a less-serious misdemeanor assault charge. They were apparently swayed by the seriousness of the allegation, said Ms. Dolkart's attorney, Mike Gibson.
"They kept coming back to it was a car and there was bodily injury and she left the scene," Mr. Gibson said.
None of the jurors could be reached for comment.
Ms. Dolkart, 57, left the courtroom without commenting, but the trial's outcome was immediate fodder for Internet cycling forums, as well as motorists who share the road with what some believe are increasingly arrogant cyclists.
By law, cyclists have the same rights as motorists to use public roads provided they do not overly burden traffic conditions. That's something some drivers either don't know or refuse to acknowledge, Dallas cycling coach Richard Wharton said.
"Motorists need to know that cyclists have a right to the road," he said. "No matter how erratic the cyclist is riding, you must yield to the cyclist."
Although cyclists often bear some responsibility for riding etiquette, in this case Mr. Thomas was not at fault, Mr. Wharton said.
Pamela King, who has lived near White Rock Lake nearly 15 years, voiced thoughts of a segment of motorists, saying cyclists "push it" by pedaling two-, three- and four-abreast along roads.
"I'm not saying they deserve to get hit," she said. "But it's an attitude where you push people and you push people and sometimes they push back."
As a convicted felon, Ms. Dolkart could face professional punishment. She is a member of the Washington D.C. bar association, and an investigation is open into the incident. The bar association could suspend or revoke her license, Mr. Gibson said.
She remains a tenured professor at SMU, although she's currently teaching law as a visiting professor at American University in Washington, D.C. SMU officials said that they will conduct their own inquiry into the charge.
