A video featuring the story of a top UCCS student-athlete is circulating throughout Colorado.
But the video about former track star David Mueller is not about his accomplishments as the “best all-around sprinter in UCCS history,” as he was called by Coach Mark Misch after Mueller’s freshman year. Instead, the video explains a new tool in the hands of lawyers and judges called restorative justice and highlights Mueller’s family as they cope with his loss.
Mueller died in July 2009, the victim of a drunk driving accident. Mueller’s death shook the campus for months but began to fade into campus history. Misch wants UCCS to remember Mueller, a standout athlete and Colorado Springs native. He recently circulated the video to his team to remind them of Mueller’s contributions, the effects of drunk driving, and to teach about restorative justice.
The video, compiled by program advocates, features Mueller’s family describing their emotions following the high-speed Garden of the Gods crash that killed their son and brother. But the video is more than a scare tactic in the war against alcohol abuse. The video shows the challenges faced by Mueller’s family and by the car’s driver, Dylan Salazar, now serving a prison sentence for his actions. It also highlights a relatively new addition to the justice system that focuses more on mediation than determining winners and losers.
Restorative justice aims to deal with the emotions related to crimes and helps the parties move past vengeance and anger to understanding and healing. The state’s top law enforcement officer and part-time UCCS instructor, Attorney General John Suthers appeared in the video and paused during a recent criminal justice class break to comment on the process.
Suthers said he believes restorative justice often has a place in both the criminal and civil court systems, providing both parties agree to it.
“In the criminal justice system, we found in property cases – let’s say a juvenile vandalizes something – we found those cases very appropriate for restorative justice,” Suthers said. “They get a chance to find out what kind of impact they’ve had on the victim. They begin to understand the implications of behavior they didn’t think was very serious.”
In civil cases, Suthers also sees potential for the mediation-based process.
“For example, in medical malpractice sometimes a very good doctor can make a mistake that has serious consequences,” Suthers said. “It means an awful lot to the person who suffered that mistake to hear the doctor feel so remorseful. Traditionally, civil attorneys say ‘don’t you say anything about this case’ and all that sort of thing. But if we have a process that brings people together so these kinds of discussions can take place without being admissible in the trial, I think it can be very helpful in bringing about a resolution.”
In Mueller’s only season with the Mountain Lions, he set several indoor and outdoor school records and was named All-Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference in 55 meter, 200 meter and 400 meter dashes.
To see the six minute video, visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=URdw1dPI9gg
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