JimmyCsays: At the juncture of journalism and daily life in KC

We all know that speed kills on the roads, but a newly released video from the Missouri Highway Patrol clearly shows that speed, combined with recklessness by a highway patrol officer on water duty at the Lake of the Ozarks, killed 20-year-old Brandon Ellingson.

Early this morning, The Kansas City Star posted a two-minute, three-second video that attempts to recreate the wild, fatal, May 31 boat ride that Trooper Anthony Piercy gave Ellingson minutes after placing Ellingson under arrest for boating while intoxicated.

To me, this video is absolutely terrifying, but I urge you to watch it. A trooper who is playing the role of Ellingson directed the re-creation, telling the driver how fast to go and where to drive the boat. The video shows that, because of the height and shallowness of the boat seat, the trooper has to half sit and half stand to the right of the driver, who has a similar, high-rise, cutout-type seat.

During the recreated ride, the driver hits speeds of more than 40 miles an hour — as Piercy did — and the trooper who is playing the role of Ellingson holds on tightly throughout the high-speed part of the ride. With his right hand, the trooper grasps a vertical metal post that supports the top of the boat. With his left hand, he holds onto a small grab bar affixed to the back of the seat.

And even though he is anchored with his right and left hands — front and back — the trooper bounces and rocks as the boat races through the water, especially when it hits rough water.

It’s unsettling enough to watch this with the trooper holding on as he did. But imagine what it would be like to be in that trooper’s position with your hands tied behind your back! That’s the way it was the day that Ellingson died in Piercy’s custody: Piercy had cuffed his hands behind his back.

As a result, Ellingson would not have been able to grab the post that the trooper held onto. Moreover, it would have been very difficult, or even impossible, for Ellingson to grasp the short grab bar behind his seat. Even if he could have reached it, he probably would have had to stand up because, like I said, the bar is behind the passenger seat.

And, again, Ellingson did not have the benefit of an anchored chair or even a low bench, which would have put him lower in the boat and enabled him to brace himself with his legs.

Tellingly, in the video, the trooper playing the role of Ellingson can be heard noting that while he is seated, his feet are dangling above the floor of the boat. It seems to me that to have any leverage whatsoever, Ellingson would have had to stand up and lean back against the seat. In any event, his position would have been precarious.

With the benefit of the video, I’m convinced, more than ever, that Piercy, while going way too fast, hit a big wave, bouncing Ellingson right out of the boat.

The trooper told one investigator that he didn’t see what happened to Ellingson — that he turned and saw Ellingson’s feet going into the water. The reason Piercy didn’t see what happened, in my opinion, is that he had his hands full trying to maintain control of the boat in rocky waters. He managed to control the boat, but he lost his passenger…and his passenger lost his life.

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At a coroner’s inquest last week — an inquest carefully orchestrated by the county coroner and perhaps other officials — the question of how fast Piercy was going did not come up. Never was mentioned. Piercy testified at length, but he was not asked, and did not offer, how fast he was going. As far as the six-member jury was concerned, he could have been going 15 to 20 miles an hour — which is about how fast he should have been going with a handcuffed, inebriated passenger who was at his mercy.

The Star has reported that records show Piercy was going 39.1 to 43.7 mph just before Ellingson went overboard. Ridiculous. Moronic.

Of course, driving too fast wasn’t Piercy’s only mistake; he also had put the wrong type of life jacket on Ellingson and put it on over his head, already buckled, when it should have gone through his arms…Predictably. the jacket came off shortly after Ellingson went into the water.

Remember, too, this is an officer whose experience was, for the most part, on the roads. He was working his second season on the lake. Plus, he was pissed off, apparently because, before he took off, one of Ellingson’s buddies jumped in the water and tossed onto the trooper’s boat a card bearing the rights of a suspect being placed under arrest.

So, what you had on May 31 was a trooper with a corn cob up his ass, driving way too fast, and seemingly not the least bit concerned about the well-being of his passenger.

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After less than eight minutes of deliberation, a jury of Ozarks residents concluded that Ellingson’s death was accidental. A special prosecutor concurred and declined to file charges. The prosecutor, Amanda Grellner, said that in her opinion Piercy was negligent but not criminally reckless. The Star’s Barbara Shelly called the whole thing a whitewash.

In light of the video, I think this case borders on involuntary manslaughter. I think Piercy was, indeed, criminally reckless. I don’t know if an involuntary manslaughter charge would stick, but it is unequivocal that Anthony Piercy’s stupidity on several fronts caused Brandon Ellingson’s death.

Nixon

There’s one other infuriating aspect to this case. Gov. Jay Nixon hasn’t had one word to say about it publicly. As far as I know, he hasn’t expressed his condolences to Brandon’s parents, Craig and Sherry Ellingson, who live in the West Des Moines area. Nixon hasn’t even said whether he will reconsider the decision a few years ago to merge the Missouri Water Patrol and the Highway Patrol.

Our governor has secreted himself in his office, just like he tried to do with the Ferguson blow-up, and has offered nothing to the public or the Ellingson family.

That is disgraceful, and, as a Missourian, I am embarrassed.

As many of you know, I am an experienced political activist. I promise you this: If Jay Nixon runs for another elective post, I will be working against him and contributing to whichever opponent I decide on.

Jay Nixon must go.