Tom and I went to traffic court this morning with Kevin and Tracey. It was kind of interesting watching the cases that went before the judge while we waited for Kevin's turn. Primarily this trip was only an opportunity to tell the judge what the plea would be. The options were guilty, not guilty, or no contest. Some came with an attorney who would say something like, their client would be standing silent, and then entered their plea. When the person came without an attorney the judge offered them the opportunity to stand silent in which case the court would enter a not guilty plea for them and the status/pretrial hearing date would be set. Sometimes they would ask to get their money back from their cash bond and the judge would let them have a signature bond instead. Once a person said he didn't want an attorney so the judge went through a long series of questions to ascertain whether he really understood what he was saying. Then the judge ruled that he knowingly, voluntarily, and intelligently waived his right to an attorney but told him that he could still change his mind.
Kevin asked his father to go to the Sheriff's office and obtain a copy of the accident report. So off he went on a 45 minute round trip so Kevin could see his accident report, which turned out not to say very much. Kevin decided to plead not guilty though as he believes there must have been something wrong with his car for it to skid and turn into the other lane so abruptly when he slowed down on the curve. Someone told him it might have been a broken tie rod. So now he has to return July 31st for the status hearing. However, I have no idea about what that actually is or what happens in one. After the court we went to the Sheriff's office to obtain copies of the pictures taken of the crash site with view of the skid marks, etc.
We stopped at a McDonald's so that Kevin could phone the auto body place that his car had been towed to on the off chance that they still had it a month after the car accicent. It turned out that they still had it (though he gave it to them for a discount on the towing bill). Tom tried to examine it for mechanical failures but really couldn't see much so he suggested having a mechanic look at it. If the mechanic finds something and he gets out of the ticket he will have saved money. Also he won't be liable for the costs of the other party. Now we just have to wait and see what the mechanic finds, if anything.
Copyright © 2000 Kyril Oakwind