Victim Impact Statement, January 4, 2010 
Dedicated to Paul Souther's surviving family and friends, and the Motorcyclists of New Mexico
re: Paul Souther
case #: CR200803522
Filed with Clerk at 400 Lomas Rm. 119 Alb, NM

Miko
MikoArts, Albuquerque NM

The Honorable Judge Neil Candelaria

Your Honor,

I am the other motorcyclist who was at the intersection when Paul Souther was killed on April 20th, 2008. Not only was I there with him while we were making the turn on that brisk April evening, I was with him as he lay dying with no honor, except for the company of one stranger, in the middle of a cold and lifeless Menaul Boulevard. 

This morning I was interviewed by a reporter who found my name in the police reports from that night, and I learned about the process here in Albuquerque where a judge hears from the community, their individual and collective feelings regarding a matter in which a Superior such as yourself, is presiding. My writing is within that light, to inform you of yet another member of the community who was present then, and is present now - To some of the life and death of Mister Paul Souther.

So that you know, I was at the intersection, in front of Paul. My choice to cut-into-my-turn simultaneously with a large oncoming (straight-going) white truck is, what I think, saved my life. For your consideration, the light just turned green when I began turning, and Paul and I had just begun making our turn when the vehicle which struck and killed him moments after, was seconds away from ending his life.

Discovering from witnesses that a vehicle just passed was hard to believe - Whatever hit him was traveling at such speed I didn't see or hear it, though I was less than 30 feet away. Most shocking, personally, was that I didn't see it when I looked left before beginning my turn. I was a new rider and very often scared of driving at night, but most certainly cautious - In the dark, even that night, I knew it could not have had its lights on.

Everything happened very fast. I was just learning to ride my  1977 KZ 400 motorcycle, and Paul had just offered, using hand-signals, to assist me with the carburetor problems he surmised I had, even though he just drove up behind me. We met only that once, minutes before I would blow out the fire on his back and neck, and hold his weakening hand.

Right then - when I leveled my cycle into my Westbound turn, I heard the explosion. Everything at that point was a surprise, until I turned around, parked at Little Anita's, and looked for a human being somewhere on the street. The sound of the explosion made me think a terrorist attack had begun, as the air around me seemed to rip apart, and over my left shoulder I saw the biggest fireball imaginable, exploding at the intersection. I would take about 10 seconds to comprehend that since the motorcyclist behind me wasn't there anymore, it must have been he, part of it somehow.

Parking, I saw his motorcycle, on fire, close to the Village Inn restaurant. I looked further right, then back left, and saw a crumpled form laying on East side of Menaul. I ran to him, and even though he was horribly injured, he managed to signal to me with his right finger toward the flames that were on his back. I blew those flames out, and held his hand, while he died within the next minute.

Your Honor, I don't know what you perceive as you oversee the details of this matter. However, I want you to know that the incident was not sterile, nor did it have an air of law, nor order. As a law abiding citizen, I uphold your ruling, and even the rules by which you must abide. However, the tragedy and disgust of what happened to an innocent, community-helping man I hope is not ignored while you are burdened with the details of this case.

I would only learn about Paul through other people, completely by happen-chance. After I was quarantined by police for 3 hours until the appropriate investigator arrived, my life 'after Paul's death,' began. Walking to my motorcycle and deciding to be a motorcyclist from then on out, was the first impact on my life. Events in life became surreal - Within weeks I would meet a security guard who knew Paul's best friend, and I got a personal glimpse into the life of the person whose hand I held in their last moments.

The last memory of Paul was that he wanted to help me with my own bike, having not even known my name. From other stories, I've learned he was driving to help one of his own competitors - When he was struck and killed. From other stories I've learned that his life was about helping people, and today the reporter told me that his funeral was packed as if the whole of New Mexico motorcyclists attended.

Just the brief moment I knew Paul impacted my life in a positive way - Not because of the press, for I haven't kept up on the story, but rather because of his last gesture, and the shock of how he was killed. I don't know if by law I'm allowed to say, 'murdered,' but what I personally have witnessed leaves me unable to dismiss the word.

I want you to know that my life is better because of what he stood for, and how he acted to a complete stranger. He was a 'role model' to me, even in just that short moment, and that night - The horror of it, and the faint light of friendship, is everyday, in my mind. 

Thinking of doing 110% for people, even my competitors, is something that Paul helped me realize. Representing and making something good of my own life - for Albuquerque and New Mexico, was something Paul helped me realize. When I combine my memory, and what his friends say about him, I can say that I have lost someone that would have been an additional blessing in my life. I can say that a friend of the business community of Albuquerque, and a friend of the Motorcyclists of New Mexico - Did not accidentally die by a random act of chance, but was negligently, and unconscionably,  killed.

Strength and Wisdom in your ruling,

Miko

http://mikoarts.com Electrifying Art from the Land of Enchantment!