Found Deceased OR - Meighan Cordie, 27, Yamhill County, 18 Aug 2018

[hotsytotsy]

End of the press conference, DA SAYS “ we have information that Gia shared”

Oh man.

 

[Tracy M.]

Is the mom in police custody? Or was she just cited and having to show up in court on October 3rd when she will be arraigned?

Only cited. This is the biggest case. At the very least manslaughter. She left her daughter to bleed out & die in a ditch on the side of the road. No humanity.

 

[bradfordsleuth]

Its a miracle she was able to get the 3 year-old child home safely if she was driving that stinking drunk!
I am so angry about this!

 

[chi123]

There's no other way to put it, the mother is absolute scum. Unbelievable. What human being could possibly leave their daughter dying on the side of the road and drive away like nothing happened? Before pretending to be concerned the next morning.

All with the 3 year old in the backseat.

 

[Alethea]

PC over. Here's a recap:

The day before the wedding, JW said MC and JW argued over who was going to drive to the wedding. JW asked MC to take her own car so MC and G (3 year old) could leave if G got tired. MC did not want to, so JW drove. At the wedding, both MC and JW drank. JW was heavily intoxicated, as reported by other party goers. Around 10, G got tired and MC and JW started to leave. JW was angry that she couldn't stay at the party and argued with MC that "exactly what she said was going to happen did happen."

They left, with JW driving, MC in the front seat, and G in the back seat in a car seat. At some point close to the wedding, the car stopped and MC got out of the car. MC's phone pinged here. The women argued, and MC convinced JW to get back in the car. MC sat in the back with G. This, the DA said, was according to G. At some point MC called her boyfriend while her and her mother continued to fight. The boyfriend could hear the screaming. The DA believes JW missed a turn and was driving in the wrong direction. At the turn where MC was found, the DA believes MC opened the door either on purpose or accidentally and either fell or jumped out of the car, hitting the ground at a speed of greater than 5 mph. She then rolled down the embankment hitting rocks.

MC's autopsy found her primary cause of death was a split aorta that likely resulted from hitting a stationary object at a speed greater than 5mph. She also had significant injuries, including 2 broken vertebrae and other broken bones. The ME thought MC would have bled out from the split aorta and died shortly after. The ME said this was not consistent with being hit by a moving object like a car. There was no damage to MC's feet that would suggest she walked anywhere. She likely died right where her body was found.

JW drove off and called LE the next day. Upon questioning, JW said MC went to sleep in a field. JW cooperated with LE providing the information that was released to the press. JW was set to take a polygraph and the polygraph was inconclusive. JW cancelled the second polygraph and from that day on refused to cooperate with LE or provide any information. She currently has counsel.

LE found a clump of hair in JW's car that they believe at this time is JW's hair. They are unsure at what point the altercation between MC and JW became physical. They are sending the hair for DNA testing. Because they believe MC was in the back seat and fell out of the right rear door, they do not believe JW could have opened the door while she was driving. They think MC had to have opened it herself.

The DA sounded very frustrated and a few times said "frustratingly" and "unfortunately" the ME ruled the cause of death accidental and no criminal charges related to the death will be brought. He said he believes certain elements of different crimes have been met but all elements of a crime have not been met. JW has been cited for DUI and reckless endangerment and her arraignment will be in October. He said he has discussed any possible way to bring charges related to the death because he thinks it is clearly "wrong" but his office at this point do not see how they can make the case.

Poor Gia witnessed this whole thing and then spent the night with JW. She is currently in the custody of her father, MC's boyfriend.

 

[Alethea]

What really kills me is if this happened as the DA said it did, JW drove off with MC dying on the side of the road! What if MC could have been saved if she received immediate emergency medical attention? Many people survive car crashes and accidents and falls. Think of how many people have skiing accidents where they hit rocks or trees. To drive off never looking back at your daughter and then intentionally report her last known location wildly off so no one would find her is beyond cruel and inhumane. I'm glad the DA released this detailed information. You could tell he really wishes he was holding a different press conference. I'm surprised they didn't try to bring charges anyway.

 

[Taybor]

Oh wow. The weird behavior from the mother now makes sense.
Here's what still doesn't make sense to me: MC, a mother, pushes to leave a wedding because her daughter is sleepy. She is then so concerned about JW that she's screaming and calling her boyfriend for help. Then this mother, sitting next to her 3yr old daughter, jumps out of a swift moving car driven by a drunk driver, leaving her baby??
I'm having a hard time with the idea that she left the car voluntarily. I also understand that it would be difficult/impossible for JW to have pushed her with the given circumstances.

 

[SuziQ]

Only cited. This is the biggest ******** case. At the very least manslaughter. She left her daughter to bleed out & die in a ditch on the side of the road. No humanity.

And then played dumb and lied about it all. Because she kept her mouth shut the little girl had to fill in the blanks!

 

[Alethea]

Oh wow. The weird behavior from the mother now makes sense.
Here's what still doesn't make sense to me: MC, a mother, pushes to leave a wedding because her daughter is sleepy. She is then so concerned about JW that she's screaming and calling her boyfriend for help. Then this mother, sitting next to her 3yr old daughter, jumps out of a swift moving car driven by a drunk driver, leaving her baby??
I'm having a hard time with the idea that she left the car voluntarily. I also understand that it would be difficult/impossible for JW to have pushed her with the given circumstances.

Me too, it doesn't make sense. I thought he was going to say JW reached over and opened the front passenger door. If G puts MC in the back seat though, I don't think JW could physically reach while still keeping the car in motion at greater than 5mph.

The reporters question of whether JW could have slowed down and then sped up was a good one. It doesn't seem like MC would just get out of a moving car. They did say her toxicology reports are pending.

 

[hotsytotsy]

IMO, people don’t give kids enough credit for being observant and understanding what goes on in their presence. Sad example here.

 

[Taybor]

What really kills me is if this happened as the DA said it did, JW drove off with MC dying on the side of the road! What if MC could have been saved if she received immediate emergency medical attention? Many people survive car crashes and accidents and falls. Think of how many people have skiing accidents where they hit rocks or trees. To drive off never looking back at your daughter and then intentionally report her last known location wildly off so no one would find her is beyond cruel and inhumane. I'm glad the DA released this detailed information. You could tell he really wishes he was holding a different press conference. I'm surprised they didn't try to bring charges anyway.

It's nauseating that she left her daughter there. It doesn't sound like it would have made a difference in whether MC lived or died but the point is JW didn't try. She would have had no idea on that dark night, what state MC was in. And yet she left her there without calling for help. Makes me wonder even more about what really happened in that car. I can imagine a mother who had been drinking and fighting and behaving badly calling for help if her daughter jumped out of the car and hit a guardrail. I can't imagine a mother who directly caused her daughter's death being eager to call for help.

 

[Alethea]

It sounds like manslaughter at the very least to me.

So under the law you have to prove causation. You have to prove "cause in fact" and "proximate cause." Cause-in-fact is often called the "but for" test. But for Act A, this crime would not have happened. But for the defendant stabbing the victim, the victim would not have died.

Proximate cause is often harder to prove: it says that the act committed by A directly caused the injury to B, with no intervening superseding cause. The act must be "proximate to" the harm. That is, A's act must have really directly caused the harm to B. Here, I think the DA's concern is MC opening the door herself is an intervening superseding cause. The direct cause of MC's death is MC opening the door to a moving car and falling out.

If JW got into a car accident and MC died, I think she would be charged with manslaughter. Her reckless drunk driving directly caused MC's death with no independent act intervening as an independant cause.

In the eyes of the law, JW's seeming cruelty after the incident happened does not change the fact that JW did not directly open MC's door.

I am surprised that they didn't charge her with something related to leaving the scene of an accident and interfering with an LE investigation. But I cringed when he said MC opened the door because I knew they would have a hard time proving proximate cause if there was this independent act.

 

[Alethea]

This may be a dumb question but wouldn't the mother have had to stop to close the back door? Did she just drive home with the back door open 3 feet from her granddaughter?

 

[Taybor]

This may be a dumb question but wouldn't the mother have had to stop to close the back door? Did she just drive home with the back door open 3 feet from her granddaughter?

Not dumb, it's a great point. It may not help prove anything but you now have to imagine her stopping the car and still not calling for help.

 

[KaaBoom]

So under the law you have to prove causation. You have to prove "cause in fact" and "proximate cause." Cause-in-fact is often called the "but for" test. But for Act A, this crime would not have happened. But for the defendant stabbing the victim, the victim would not have died.

Proximate cause is often harder to prove: it says that the act committed by A directly caused the injury to B, with no intervening superseding cause. The act must be "proximate to" the harm. That is, A's act must have really directly caused the harm to B. Here, I think the DA's concern is MC opening the door herself is an intervening superseding cause. The direct cause of MC's death is MC opening the door to a moving car and falling out.

If JW got into a car accident and MC died, I think she would be charged with manslaughter. Her reckless drunk driving directly caused MC's death with no independent act intervening as an independant cause.

In the eyes of the law, JW's seeming cruelty after the incident happened does not change the fact that JW did not directly open MC's door.

I am surprised that they didn't charge her with something related to leaving the scene of an accident and interfering with an LE investigation. But I cringed when he said MC opened the door because I knew they would have a hard time proving proximate cause if there was this independent act.

Thanks for the explanation. How about somebody jumping out of your moving car and you leaving them there to die? Wouldn't that constitute manslaughter? It seems to me there should be some law against that. I agree, a charge of leaving the scene of an accident would seem like a no brainer. Somebody seems to be protecting her from being charged with a more serious crime.

 

[Alethea]

Thanks for the explanation. How about somebody jumping out of your moving car and you leaving them there to die? Wouldn't that constitute manslaughter? It seems to me there should be some law against that. I agree, a charge of leaving the scene of an accident would seem like a no brainer. Somebody seems to be protecting her from being charged with a more serious crime.

Listening to the DA and his choice of words and how he answered reporters' questions, I got the impression that he was really frustrated but felt he was limited under how Oregon's laws are written. The number of times he said "unfortunately" when explaining why charges were not brought made me think he really would have brought charges if he thought he could win the case. He might also be tied by the ME determination that the death was accidental.

The fact that he held a long press conference outlining the deception and cruelty of JW in itself said a lot to me. There's no legal requirement to explain why charges are or aren't brought. He could have made a short statement that their investigation found MC jumped out of the car for reasons they can't determine and left the public to think this was a suicide or accident, rather than outlining why JW is morally responsible even if not legally responsible.

Part of me feels like they should bring the charges any way and let a jury decide. The behavior is so cruel it seems like a severe punishment is warranted. On the other hand, the state does have limited resources and the prosecutor has to use his discretion to bring cases he believes he can win. If he doesn't think he can prove all elements beyond a reasonable doubt, he would not bring the case.

 

[Alethea]

For the record, I'm still SO mad. I think I understand the DA's reasoning but I'm still mad. Meighan did not deserve this. Even if it were an accident, her mother should have been calling EMS to try to save the poor girl's life. I hope little G's family takes her trauma seriously because she saw what no child should ever have to see.

 

[flute4peace]

DA: it is possible that JW slowed down to let MC out and sped up as she opened the door. (!) JW never disclosed that this entire event happened so she never answered questions about it.

Oh this breaks my heart, 3 year old G provided information that helped LE understand what happened to her mom.

This made me sick at my stomach.

 

[wannabe00]

Nobody mentioned, but the DA also said that JW took muscle relaxers before the first polygraph, causing it to be inconclusive.

 

[inmyhumbleopinion]

“District attorney news release in Cordie death”
KLYC