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Evan Potts is being held on $5 million bond after pleading not guilty to manslaughter charges after fatally striking 34-year-old Ian Sharinn with his Nissan Altima and then driving over the victim's body. The 22-year-old defendant's lawyer, Stanley Kopilow, said he would appeal the high bail—$500,000 if paid in cash—as he told the court yesterday, "This was a tragedy that was fueled by unreasonable anger on the part of the deceased and panic on behalf of my client."
Kopilow said that it was it was a "reckless but not intentional act" that set off Sharinn, who was driving alongside Potts in his Porsche Friday morning around 10 a.m. in Long Beach. After the two exchanged words from their vehicles, Potts made a U-turn to get away, Sharinn ran a red light, blocked his way and got out of the vehicle. Witnesses say Sharinn then began pounding on Potts's Altima. Police confirmed that Potts had dialed 911 from his cell phone while Shrainn was yelling at him.
The News describes Sharinn as "a well-built six-foot-five." His sister told Newsday he was an athletic engineer who enjoyed mountain biking and volleyball. She said, "He lived life with spontaneity. And then some animal just killed him." His funeral is set for this afternoon.
Outside court yesterday, the mother of Evan Potts cried, yelling to her son that it was going to be okay. The Queens College student has been arrested previously on on charges of possession of burglar tools and marijuana, resisting arrest, third-degree criminal trespass and disorderly conduct. He arrived at his arraignment in shorts, sneakers with bright green laces and a t-shirt commemorating the rescue mission in Darfur.
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This a murder committed by a fledgling career criminal. It warrants a long prison sentence and plenty of publicity.
Uh, were you too lazy to read the second paragraph? Potts first tried to escape and then called 911, before an enraged 6'5 athlete got out of his car and started banging on his Nissan. I suspect this is a bit more complicated than you think.
There's no excusing what he did. He hit Shannin with his car and then ran over his body. The jury won't hear about his criminal record but the rest of us know it. This kid is a sociopath of the first order.
I have to agree that there was no excuse for what happened. I don't care if the other guy was a bully. He got out of his car, all the kid had to do was drive around and away. It wasn't his job to lay down what he conceived of as justice at that completely irrational moment.
So what? If you're in a locked car, you don't have much to worry about. He may put a few dents in the bodywork, but you're safe. I doubt even a 6'5" athlete can easily break through a side window and grab you.
The kid really didn't care. If he cared, he would have stopped after running over the guy. That's not the Terminator and he's not going to jump up and grab you after being run down.
Exactly!
"If you're in a locked car, you don't have much to worry about. He may put a few dents in the bodywork, but you're safe."
Hey, if a giant dude chases me down in his porsche and then get's out his car to confront me, i'm thinking of getting the fuck out of there before the fucker pulls a gun. i'm not gonna do a three-point turn to make sure he's not in my way.
My point is, it's conceivable that the kid hit a state of panic equal to the victim's road rage, and thought he was at risk of serious injury or death. It was self-defense.
"he was an athletic engineer..." What is an athletic engineer? Someone who sells roids for a living?
"He lived life with spontaneity." I guess the spontaneity is what did him in.
Isn't 5 mil a bit much? How many hit and run drivers walk away with a slap on the wrist?
Yeah, isn't that funny. If this kid was drunk and his victim was a 80 year old woman he'd spend a night in the drunk tank and pay a few grand before having his license back by July.
guess the penalties are different out on the Island,
in NYC he'll get a slap on the wrist.
I hope the kid get's off. the other driver was a bully.
On second thought, "He arrived at his arraignment in shorts, sneakers with bright green laces and a t-shirt commemorating the rescue mission in Darfur."
Now this is a person who knows how to dress to impress. Raise the bail to 10 mil to compensate for his stupidity. I guess he was taking Stupidity 101 at Queens College and scored a perfect 100.
The purpose of bail is to insure the defendant does not abscond. It was never intended by the Founding Fathers to be punitive or to amount to pre-trial detention, which is what they do under the Napoleonic Code and in dictatorships.
These ridiculously high bails really mushroomed when law-and-order Nixon introduced it in the Federal level in the late '60s - another one of Nixon's assaults on our democracy.
Requiring a $5million bail that is impossible to meet seems to violate the spirit of our Constitution: habeas corpus and innoncent till proven guilty.
The defendant has roots in the community. Has the prosecutor shown any credible evidence that he would likely flee?
If not, the bail seems excessive and unwarranted.
"It was never intended by the Founding Fathers to be punitive..." Why is it then that the mothers always show up at these events shouting how good their sons are? Shouldn't the fathers have something to say about these misfits they brought upon us?
3rd degree criminal trespass? Possession of burglary tools? Disorderly conduct and marijuana possession? These things could all add up to a kid using a wrench to cut a chain, sneak into an empty lot, smoke up and take a piss on the asphalt. He got caught and arrested. Resisting arrest? Cops love to tack this on to just about anybody that pisses them off for whatever reason. I'm not saying this kid is an angel, but come on- a career criminal? A sociopath? I wonder what the rest of you would do if some 6'5 built guy picked a fight with you, ran a red light to chase you down, blocked your route of escape, and pounded on your car. The kid called 911 and panicked. He probably pissed himself, too. He will need to pay for his crime, and should probably be convicted of manslaughter- but let's not be so quick to say that he intended to kill anyone. Did the victim deserve to die for intimidating te kid? Of course not- but lets not forget that he basically gave the kid one choice: mow him down in order to get the hell out of there, or suffer an unknown consequence at the hands of an enraged, threatening stranger.
Whenever I think I about the guy with the Porsche I can't help think about the jerk from the movie Bachelor Party.
If the kid tried already to get away from this "Incredible Hulk", and the deceased decided to keep up the running feud. Perhaps the guy was just trying to go around the dude and the deceased didn't move fast enough. Most people I believe would opt for running the beefed up dude over. And finally no way is an Altima going to outrun a Porsche.
His previous associations with the law are really minor. This is a major.
As a further observation, that is one ugly color for a Porsche.
The only tragedy is that Potts ran someone over and didn't even stop.
Obviously, the kid was wrong for what he did and has to be prosecuted for something. But let's not pretend the "victim" was innocent here. He was CLEARLY the aggressor in this situation. When you RUN A RED LIGHT to chase down someone who tried to escape from you, you're clearly looking for trouble. Looks like he found it and got more than he bargained for.
Probably the most he expected was a fistfight, more likely a shouting match. Or the other drive to speed away.
I'm sure he didn't expect the other driver to run him over and kill him, and then flee the scene.
No mercy for the guilty, it's 2009. Time for people to take responsibility for their actions.
We need more facts here mam. The facts, only the facts.
No matter what caused the incident. It appears that the victim escalated the incident. Can we get some background on the victim? It appears he's Jewish given the rapidity of his burial. Other than that what is known about him?
Can we get pictures of these two individuals?
First of all, pictures of the individuals have nothing to do with the case Snoopy. Second of all who the fuck cares what he was wearing you arrogant asshole? Third of all you need to put yourself in the situation of Potts. If a 6'5 man was coming at me enraged, I believe I would panic as well. Evan Potts would never intentionally kill someone. It was an act of panic, as well as self defense. Get a fucking brain.
Stunada. I don't know on what part of the ocean you live but come up and breath oxygen once and a while. To begin with, a picture is worth a thousand words. If the two individuals pictures would be shown then the obvious would be obvious. Is it a big goon type of guy facing a tweeb? Or is it two MIT post graduate students having a discussion about the fuel consumption of an Altima versus a 30 year old Porsche?
Secondly you idiot, a person who is going to an arraignment for a manslaughter charge shouldn't be dressed like he's going to a You Tube go see in Williamsberg.
Judges might be conservative but come on, one does not show up dressed like an asshole. You might, but most intelligent people wouldn't.
"Evan Potts would never intentionally kill someone." Do you know the guy personally? I don't. But put in his position, personally I wouldn't give it a second thought about killing the 6'5" moron. I might even back up to make sure I got him good.
Feel better now?
He was arrested immediately after the incident and held until this arraignment. That's obviously just what he was wearing at the time, not something he chose to wear to court.
It was just an arraignment. I'm sure he'll be wearing a nice suit during the trial.
In the little bits of footage of him just after he was arrested, Potts appears to be wearing a hoodie with a big patch on the back that looks like it's probably of a punk or metal band. He also seems to have in those big earrings that stretch your earlobes, but appear to have been taken out for the arraignment.
Sure, and he's wearing the same baggy black pants in both the post-arrest and post-arraignment videos. The t-shirt was probably under the hoodie and jacket that he was wearing when arrested.
My kids have known Evan for a long time and he is not the type of kid who would have just done something like that.
You all love to comment on what he was wearing for his arraignment but fail to realize that he was wearing what he was arrested in. Not like he got a chance to go and change his clothes...really, like it matters. Besides, he was wearing a SAVE DARFUR shirt! Kid doesn't sound like an activists for human rights at all.
That guy in the porsche was looking for a fight...bottom line. There was someone else who saw the initial cut-off of Evan and another car. Said the guy Ian RAN the red light and almost caused an accident then and there. Even the guy working at the AT&T store in Long Beach, and others who viewed the incident from the offices above, said that Ian was way too pissed and looked like he wanted to rip Evan out of the car. He took it way too far. The fact that Evan was on his cell calling 911 during the incident would say that he was scared and as a result panicked.
Guy Ian also has a talking on a cell phone while driving, following too closely and another thing on his driving record.
Evan didn't mean to do what happened. It is a tragic occurance and lives, on both sides, will be changed forever. Ian is not completely devoid of causing the circumstances that resulted in the accident.
And as for you MrMel a fledging career criminal? Hm please refer to Gertah's comment to knock some sense into you.
The kid's not a career criminal, but he's also not a saint. Give it up.
I'll wait for his father to make a statement. Normally when you are in a max security situation your outgoing mail is limited.
He was arrested 4 times that we know about. Was he just unlucky or is he a bad guy. I don't need you or Gertah to knock anything into me. I know what I know. Macho bullshit killed one person, and the other miscreant will most likely, deservedly, do hard time.
No Humans Involved.
Thank the Lord for small favors.
the kid clearly went into total panic mode and his foot was on the gas pedal, not that it excuses a murder. The prosecution and defense will have lots to say on both sides.
ROFL. Man I'm glad this douche got killed. Good work kid I'll send you a care package.
>> "He lived life with spontaneity. And then some animal just killed him." >>
The guy pounding on the car was completely civilized.
This kid is not a career criminal as some people have suggested. This was a scared human being reacting to the threat in front of him. Given this situation, many of you might have reacted in the same manner, God help you that you will never have to know the fright that Evan Potts felt. Mr. Sharinn lived his life spontaneously, where look where that got him. In fact from the description given I can read between the lines and see that this was probably not Mr. Sharinn first altercation. When you live your life full of anger and hate and something such as road rage can lead you to such viciousness, it will eventually end badly. Evan Potts should be set free as he will have enough pain trying to cope with what he has done.