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Potential Charges In Deadly SF Castro Crash Could Hinge On Video

SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) – CBS has learned that San Francisco police have obtained videotape of last month's deadly crash involving an elderly pedestrian and an allegedly speeding cyclist in the city's Castro District. The news comes as the District Attorney's Office decides whether to file charges.

District Attorney George Gascon has asked the medical examiner to expedite a report on 71-year-old Sutchi Hui, who died four days after being hit in the crosswalk.

There are a lot of businesses and a lot of buses with surveillance cameras around surrounding the busy intersection. That evidence, coupled with witnesses who say cyclist Chris Bucchere was speeding when he plowed into pedestrians in a crosswalk, will help Gascon decide if simple negligence or gross negligence are appropriate charges. The first would mean just a violation of traffic laws, and the second would characterize Bucchere as using wanton disregard.

KCBS' Holly Quan Reports:

"Eyewitnesses are a key to this because it gives us the ability to be able to see whether the bad behavior was just localized to that intersection, or was preceding the crash as well," said Gascon. "Meaning, we can see whether he was speeding prior to getting to that intersection. That is very helpful in knowing whether we had gross negligence or not."

Also under consideration, a blog post allegedly written by Bucchere that details events leading up to the crash. In a statement released by his attorney last week, Bucchere said he didn't think he broke any laws, and tried everything possible to avoid the accident.

(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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