The story of the abandoned Porsche, two hit and run victims from England, and the car's jailed owner took a new turn and twist this morning when police finally revealed that the driver of the deadly vehicle was not the most likely suspect.
The public's eyes and ears and international attention had been focused on Ryan Le Vin, not just because he lived in a condo down the block from the fatal accident scene, but because he had been seen driving the car earlier that evening, and to boot, had a previous episode of hit and run with injuries. As a matter of fact, he was on probation for that hit and run, and violated the conditions thereupon. Consequently, when his name was released, he wound up getting locked up in Chicago for a VOP- lawyer slang for a violation of probation.
Newspaper articles then led a mini crusade against Le Vin, revealing his playboy lifestyle, a history of recklessness, and nearly 50 driving violations over a period of years. You could smell the blood. Based on what you read, for good reason. Turns out now that those opening scenes may simply have been scripted by the guy who writes Law and Order episodes. Police are not looking at Le Vin as the driver, but a partner of his with whom he had been partying earlier, who later got into a drag race of his own, only after Le Vin lent out his Porsche. This will be a 'ripped from the headlines' tv drama in 30 days.
The story unfolds below in today's Sentinel, and it is a drama most intriguing. For those who sit today as jurors, for those reading between the lines, what you see is the fascinating give and take of why it is so important clients find lawyers early on in a case. In Le Vin's situation, he found an able one in Keith Seltzer. In anyone's situation, having an advocate to espouse your cause can make a difference in the outcome of your case.
Mostly, as the episode slowly unravels, we see that the police had a reason for moving cautiously, and discover that there was in fact evidence they could not reveal to the public. Perhaps the families of the victims knew a little, but the police had to hold back a lot. What we do know is two lives were snuffed out viciously and senselessly on a quiet morning. What we do know is that someone is going to go to jail for that. What we are importantly learning is things are not always as they appear to be. The lesson is that the presumption of innocence is one of the things which makes American jurisprudence so special.
Le Vin, it appears from the article below, may have already been in police custody for a separate driving violation when the drag race occurred. If that turns out to be true, Le Vin should give more than his lawyer some of his millions. He ought to give it to the cop who locked him up before the fatal hit and run. That detention may have been the luckiest arrest of his life. He will never have a better alibi than those handcuffs.
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