Court date set for driver accused in hit-run death

What kind of "justice" do you call this? A known criminal, David Roberts, kills an innocent human being, and is able to JUST WALK AWAY"!!!!!? I am outraged! I have family living in the South Bay myself, now, because of this horrible injustice, I have to worry about whether or not one of them will be his next victim. With his police record why was he on the street anyway? You can call it manslaughter if you chose, I call it MURDER!!!! No wonder the crime rates keep going up, pussy cat DAs and Judges (?) won't do their job(s). GRRRRRR. I am so sorry for the victims family, can you even imagine how they feel about this horrible miscarriage of "justice"? They lost a loved one, and for what? Just to throw it in our faces about our broken "justice system"? DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS OUTRAGE< PLEASE!!!!!!

If Cunha was drinking and if he stood at a distance watching Roberts burn in the vehicle, Cunha
should be tried for first degree murder. Our society is is decayed enough without having such
a person free. Roberts is dead because of Cunha and Cunha should die for he did. No excuses...no favor. I personally do not want to support all of the criminals that are in prison for life...What happened to the three strikes law? It should be three strikes, you are dead!! My tax money lets them to live...watch TV, have a telephone, clean clothes and three meals a day and they get paid for whatever work they do...all for being bad. What in the world is wrong with our court system.

jane wrote:

If Cunha was drinking and if he stood at a distance watching Roberts burn in the vehicle, Cunha
should be tried for first degree murder. Our society is is decayed enough without having such
a person free. Roberts is dead because of Cunha and Cunha should die for he did. No excuses...no favor. I personally do not want to support all of the criminals that are in prison for life...What happened to the three strikes law? It should be three strikes, you are dead!! My tax money lets them to live...watch TV, have a telephone, clean clothes and three meals a day and they get paid for whatever work they do...all for being bad. What in the world is wrong with our court system.

As happy as I am that you are commenting on the situation let's make sure that everyone understands that you have definitely mixed up some names here. BILL CUNHA is the one that has lost his life here and Roberts is the one who is accused of killing him.

Thanks.

I'am sickened to my stomach to know that someone actually watched another human indure torture in that way. Is this the same kind of person that is going to make frontline news later for a killing on school grounds, and then say we had no idea! He only got caught with a firearm on school grounds, he only watched someone die in a horrific "accident" that he caused. How many warning signs does there need to be before someone else gets hurt? For the religous people who want to talk about forgiveness, yes god does say to forgive just as he freely forgave you. But the one who commits the sin has to be repentful before he can be forgiven. I don't know if Mr. Roberts has given his heartfelt remoseful apology or not. Even if this is a one sided story the fact that I can't get over is how someone can run away, if he was able to run, he should have ran for help, dialed 911, something!

December Yoakum wrote:

My heart goes out to Mr. Cunha and his family, however I do understand accidents happen and I hope that Mr. Roberts finds peace and grace and mercy are extended upon him.

He needs to be in PRISON for the rest of his Life!

This message is for Mr. Roberts and anyone else that feels he is being abused and not treated fairly. Take a good hard look at what the circumstances are here and pray to God that YOU NEVER EVER have to endure the pain that myself and my family has had to go through. Remember that old saying "don't judge until you walk in my shoes".

None of this is going to bring my brother back but i will do everything in my power to see to it that YOU are brought to justice. The next time i see your face i will be looking at a coward. No high power attorney is ever going to take those visions out of your head as to what you did.

A real man does not run from his mistakes. A real man does not try and hide behind the system. A real man knows how to say "i'm sorry".

Determined Sister

David Roberts needs to be drenched with gas and lit on fire himself and that way he can see how it feels to be burned alive. Any coward that runs from the scene should pay and pay dearly for their crime!

Burn in hell Roberts!

Tony said:
This is more than just a story to me its about the life of a very special man.A special man that touched me and his life made me a better person. I would like to make a correction about Bill. Bill has plenty of family and Bill was not homeless my home is Bills home and Bills in a better place now. The law works it strainge ways and if you think about this story its not over yet justice will be served. And Sheila Bill is like a brother to me and I will be forever greatful you shared him with all of us

Tony

I cannot understand in our country a life is suppose to mean something. This man took a life from a family who will never be the same again, and he walks out of jail as if he got a speeding ticket. How sad is our judicial system that we put more importance on his schedule than we do on the life he took due to his decisions. VERY POOR.

80 m.p.h. hit and run...leaves a man to burn to death.........Lowlife, dirtbag deserves punishment....no conscience

This article was brought to my attention by the sister of Bill Cunha, Linda Hawkins Cunha. While I have my on opinions of the "homeless", the victims financial/living status is irrelevant. What is relevant is the apparent complete lack of interest in "Justice" provided by the involved PD's and their associated Court's.

To allow David Roberts to be released on "OR", considering his past involvements and "skirmishes" with the law is totally ludicrous. Worse are the posts to this story of those "feeling sorry", "saddened", etc. for David Roberts. Give me a break!!!

At what point are we, the law abiding, tax paying public, supposed to have anything more than contempt for people like David Roberts??? He's a scum bag that deserves to be treated just like all the other scum bags who think they don't need to take responsibility for their actions. The fact that he's 29 with prior's, and obviously hasn't yet "grown up" is good enough for me to have the justice system throw the book at him ... including nice high bail amounts that will keep the likes of him behind bars.

I'm tired of all you whiney-butts out there that continue to cut slack to those like David Roberts ... just in case he MIGHT grow up or something equally ridiculous. To me, he's nothing more then the obvious results of the liberal parenting so prevalent in todays society. He's the result of the ACLU and their attemps to "protect", to the sublime, those who choose to disobey the law and common sense.

Get a life. Recognize that there are responsibilities we ALL have to take for our action(s). David Roberts needs to take that responsibility, and you whiney-butts need to suck-it-up and start standing-tall.

If you want to get religious on the subject, the Lord will make his amends with the wronged. David Roberts can wait for that opportunity. He doesn't need it from all of us at this time. Thank God I don't live in the LA area. Were I to get on his Jury (if he's stupid enough to take that route), he would go away for a very long time!!!

Joy Felkins said:
Why is there not more of an out cry from the citizens to remove some of these spineless judges and DA's? All of you who are for gun control...do you realize that more people die at the hands of criminals behind the wheel of a vehicle each year then by a gunshot? Bill was killed 2 weeks after my precious cousin, who was 13 years old, was ripped from this world by a creepy little troll who has been charge with 52 crimes. In the past 3 years he managed to rack up 10 of those charges. Nice fellow. My cousin, The Mother, held her son as he died in her arms, his head like jello and she felt his last breath. This last week she has been made to relive every second of that day. I want to throw-up! Where is JUSTICE? SOMEBODY ANSWER! I am ready to fight. One of my best friends Tammy Hinds was killed a few years ago by a drunk driver at 6 a.m. leaving behind twin 9 year old girls. We have the death penalty but for some reason California is AFFRAID to use it. We are the "criminal friendly" state. My heart breaks for Shiela. I know her, I have worked with her and I know the only thing she can do now is to fight for justice for her brother. Lets all back her. We have to find a way to get rid of those who feel criminals deserve to live in the free world with us. Good Luck Shiela. I'm here.

April 29, 2008 2:50 PM

It has been brought to my attention of an article that came out in the DailyBreeze Court Tracker. I would like to express my opinion on the article that describes my beloved brother as a "Gardena Transient".
Their reply was they chose to use the wording on their own behalf as it was "news reporting talk".
This is not a case of sisters being "over sensitive". It's a case of poor pre-judging on the editor.

My letter to the DailyBreeze editorial.

I know you probably have already received a email from Sheila in regards to labeling our Bill Cunha in your 'court tracker" as a "Gardena transient". I personally would like you to LOOK up the definition of "transient". If you haven't done so yet prior to writing the statement in the tracker article, here is the "proper definition".

"Not lasting long"
"short lived"
"passing through a place with only a brief stay"
"a visitor"

PLEASE tell me how in God's creation does a man who has lived in the town of Gardena for the 62 years of his 62 years of life be labeled a "Gardena Transient"?

I know you are trying to do your best to "do your job" in a professional way but this is ludicrous.

Sheila and i have been working around the clock for weeks and months now to uphold our brother's good image. This improper, judgemental,unworthy description of Bill could never have been so wrong. He deserves better than that.

Please take a step back and i hope you realize what a HUGE impact this has not only to Sheila and i but to the memory of Bill who was mowed down by a well known "career felon". Not once has Mr. Roberts EVER been labeled anything that would mar his description.

I appreciate the time you have taken to read this and i hope this mistake never happens again. The sad part is this article has already gone to print and is visable for everyone to read. What a shame.

Linda Hawkins Cunha

Name Roberts, David
Next Court Date 5/13/2008
Action Preliminary Hearing Setting
Courthouse Compton
Department 2
Description David Roberts is charged with vehicular manslaughter for the Aug. 12, 2007, fatal hit-and-run of Gardena transient Bill Cunha, 62, in Carson.