- Joined
- Apr 11, 2004
- Messages
- 823
Hi Y'all,
I just wanted to let you know that I was called as a witness to a criminal case on Tuesday against the aggressive driver that caused our accident a few months ago. Verdict: Guilty. It was actually a stressful, but amusing trial. Here are some of the highlights.
The bad guy decided to represent himself (first indicator that this might have been a bad idea was when he had to be told the difference between trial by jury versus bench.). When asked to sign a form showing that he chose a bench trial, he “refused until he has the badge of the cop that didn’t write the other guy (that would be me) a ticket” while claiming various atrocities against the constitution (Editor’s note,he did not use the word atrocities). This could only be topped when, after thesolicitor showed him the charges and the potential penalties, he said, “Is that all? I want the maximum”. (I believe it’s fair to say that this one came back to haunt him later).
For prosecution, there was myself, another witness that was involved with the accident, and the police officer that handled the case. The police officer said that my testimony at the time of the accident, “seemed to be authentic” and basically supported our stories. The other witness testified that the aggressive driver was trying to waive me over, staying with my vehicle to less than 35 mph as I was trying to lose him, and that the driver also pulled over suddenly in front of me and slammed on his
brakes to cause the accident.
I was first to testify, then the aggressor was allowed to cross-examine me. He started to circle the stand and come to my seat. I urged him to move back around as my impression of him had been “unstable”. He said, “I respect that” and moved back around. (The two cops in the room provided additional motivation). After I answered every question, Mr.Bad Guy would say “I respect that”. He went off rambling about, “Did you ever consider that the other guy (himself, the aggressor) might have been coming from church that day?” I said, “no sir, given the demeanor, I never would have guessed that”. He said, "Did you say that his eyes (he referred to himself in third person throughout the trial) had bulging eyes???". I replied, "no sir, I said
wide, wild and angry eyes". "Oh, well..I respect that".
“Well, do you draw conclusions about the way people look?” (Judge interrupts, corrects him and we presume) I said, “I believe that I understand what he is asking and I believe that I can answer him. My family on both sides were farmers, and No, I draw no conclusions on anyone based on what they look like”. This sort of took the air out of him.
Mr.Bad Guy proceeded to dig his own hole most of the time. As mentioned earlier, the court case lasted for 5 hours and I get the impression that the judge was not happy about that. He referred to a witness one time saying “you must be a smart guy, not like me who is an evil man”, at which point the judge gave him a rather stern lecture, with several warnings. Throughout the testimony, he was fond of saying, “That’s alright, I’ve been accused of many things in my life”.
My FAVORITE highlight of the court case came when, just before closing arguments, he called on himself as a witness and presented the most rambling speech “that kid in the car with me at the time was someone without a family (could have sworn it was his son earlier in the testimony), we had just came back from his grandmother’s after church, little ol’ thang- you just wouldn’t believe it if you saw her and it took her 4 or 5 hours to make lunch because she is so old, you know I teach martial arts too, and I was telling him that don’t worry, nothing is going to happen unless that guy (that's me again) starts it. Why, he was driving all over the road and had a cell phone”. (Editor’s note again , yes, I did agree earlier that I had the cell phone open as I was calling the police, and myself and the other witness testified that I never left the right hand lane). Any way, that was the last nail in the coffin. Yes folks, you did read that right, the aggressor was toting himself as a martial arts instructor in the courtroom (little did he or anyone else in the courtroom know…
)
So, here’s the best part: The sentencing $920 fine: $300 fine, $120 court room fees, and $500 restitution to me that I may
never see.
2 restraining orders for both witnesses and our families
50 hours of community service
Psychiatric evaluation, including some form of “anger evaluation”
Defensive Driving Course
& last but not least, 12 months probation.
Of course, he interrupted the sentencing saying that, “I can’t process this, if
you don’t mind I would just like to go home now and call up all my relatives because this ain’t right”. The judge didn't like that one either.
In the final analysis, There is a God and God is Good. Take the high road, it does pay off.
I just wanted to let you know that I was called as a witness to a criminal case on Tuesday against the aggressive driver that caused our accident a few months ago. Verdict: Guilty. It was actually a stressful, but amusing trial. Here are some of the highlights.
The bad guy decided to represent himself (first indicator that this might have been a bad idea was when he had to be told the difference between trial by jury versus bench.). When asked to sign a form showing that he chose a bench trial, he “refused until he has the badge of the cop that didn’t write the other guy (that would be me) a ticket” while claiming various atrocities against the constitution (Editor’s note,he did not use the word atrocities). This could only be topped when, after thesolicitor showed him the charges and the potential penalties, he said, “Is that all? I want the maximum”. (I believe it’s fair to say that this one came back to haunt him later).
For prosecution, there was myself, another witness that was involved with the accident, and the police officer that handled the case. The police officer said that my testimony at the time of the accident, “seemed to be authentic” and basically supported our stories. The other witness testified that the aggressive driver was trying to waive me over, staying with my vehicle to less than 35 mph as I was trying to lose him, and that the driver also pulled over suddenly in front of me and slammed on his
brakes to cause the accident.
I was first to testify, then the aggressor was allowed to cross-examine me. He started to circle the stand and come to my seat. I urged him to move back around as my impression of him had been “unstable”. He said, “I respect that” and moved back around. (The two cops in the room provided additional motivation). After I answered every question, Mr.Bad Guy would say “I respect that”. He went off rambling about, “Did you ever consider that the other guy (himself, the aggressor) might have been coming from church that day?” I said, “no sir, given the demeanor, I never would have guessed that”. He said, "Did you say that his eyes (he referred to himself in third person throughout the trial) had bulging eyes???". I replied, "no sir, I said
wide, wild and angry eyes". "Oh, well..I respect that".
“Well, do you draw conclusions about the way people look?” (Judge interrupts, corrects him and we presume) I said, “I believe that I understand what he is asking and I believe that I can answer him. My family on both sides were farmers, and No, I draw no conclusions on anyone based on what they look like”. This sort of took the air out of him.
Mr.Bad Guy proceeded to dig his own hole most of the time. As mentioned earlier, the court case lasted for 5 hours and I get the impression that the judge was not happy about that. He referred to a witness one time saying “you must be a smart guy, not like me who is an evil man”, at which point the judge gave him a rather stern lecture, with several warnings. Throughout the testimony, he was fond of saying, “That’s alright, I’ve been accused of many things in my life”.
My FAVORITE highlight of the court case came when, just before closing arguments, he called on himself as a witness and presented the most rambling speech “that kid in the car with me at the time was someone without a family (could have sworn it was his son earlier in the testimony), we had just came back from his grandmother’s after church, little ol’ thang- you just wouldn’t believe it if you saw her and it took her 4 or 5 hours to make lunch because she is so old, you know I teach martial arts too, and I was telling him that don’t worry, nothing is going to happen unless that guy (that's me again) starts it. Why, he was driving all over the road and had a cell phone”. (Editor’s note again , yes, I did agree earlier that I had the cell phone open as I was calling the police, and myself and the other witness testified that I never left the right hand lane). Any way, that was the last nail in the coffin. Yes folks, you did read that right, the aggressor was toting himself as a martial arts instructor in the courtroom (little did he or anyone else in the courtroom know…
) So, here’s the best part: The sentencing $920 fine: $300 fine, $120 court room fees, and $500 restitution to me that I may
never see.
2 restraining orders for both witnesses and our families
50 hours of community service
Psychiatric evaluation, including some form of “anger evaluation”
Defensive Driving Course
& last but not least, 12 months probation.
Of course, he interrupted the sentencing saying that, “I can’t process this, if
you don’t mind I would just like to go home now and call up all my relatives because this ain’t right”. The judge didn't like that one either.
In the final analysis, There is a God and God is Good. Take the high road, it does pay off.
:thumbup:
