Wednesday, June 29, 2005

Inattentive Driving - the conclusion

So last week was really busy. Like I said before, I had a wacky trial where a drunken bachelor-party participant poked a totally nude stripper in the taco. He actually penetrated up to the first knuckle. She was really traumatized and quit stripping right after the incident. So anyway, we had the trial.. Surprisingly, the guy's "I was pointing the stripper out to my friends (cuz they wouldn't have known there was a stripper on stage otherwise) and she backed into my finger" defense didn't work. He was found guilty. I still considered it a loss though b/c the guy was only fined $1000 dollars. That's what we give for meth or for trespassing around here. I understand the guy wasn't exactly a rapist, but still.. I think a little jail would have instilled in him the seriousness of his mistake. Any thoughts?

Another big case I put on last week was the one I blogged about before - with the guy who was driving without a license, and was eating breakfast on the way to work and then slammed into a pedestrian. The crash severed both of the pedestrian's legs. We pled the case out for guilty pleas on full time and attention to driving and driving without a valid operator's license and then argued sentencing. The sentencing hearing was hard. The victim and his family all testified as to what they've had to go through since the victim lost his legs. Everyone, including the bailiffs, the judge, and me, was crying. This victim was actually awake and remembers picking up his severed leg at the scene.

In the end, the driver got 10 months (out of a possible 12). The judge gave him brownie points for not leaving the scene. I was not happy with the ruling at first because the victim's family didn't feel that they got justice. Now that I've had time to reflect though, I think it was a good ruling. I keep thinking back to two things: First, something the judge said... this family is never going to be happy. Nothing will make them feel better about what happened. That is true. They are understandably angry and are out for vengeance. Another thing is something someone told me they heard in a recent movie - that vengeance is a coward's way of mourning. I think that's what's going on here. As long as the family is focusing its energy on "getting the guy who did this," they're avoiding having to accept what's happened. Any thoughts on this one?

I have more trials today.. we'll see if they're as interesting as last week's.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Women shouldn't be engaging in that type of work anyway. It is degrading and they are only putting themselves in a dangerous situation by doing it.

Sweet Coalminer said...

I agree $1000 wasn't nearly enough to drive home to him how badly he violated that woman. What was the sentencing range the judge could have ordered? I agree with jail time.

If the dude had left the scene in the second case, wouldn't the judge have been able to tack on time for leaving the scene of the accident - no license, not paying attention... That's about as bad as it gets.

I am happy the guy lived though, but when you're doing law other than corporate law, it's just hard to look at people's problems every day. No one ever gets justice. I told the parents of the minor I'm counsel for that the best result would make everyone *just a little* unhappy. No one ever gets what they really deserve. I think, anyway.

Cladeedah said...

Doc - that's easy for you to say. I'm sure you've never been in a position where your body was all you had to offer an employer.

Ally - why'd you give your doctor the link to my blog????

SCM - The max fine was $1,000 and the max jail sentence was 6 months.

qqflyboy said...

I agreed with the sentence for the guy that crashed his car into the pedestrian... as I recall seeing it on the news, the judge commented on how this was a terrible lesson for all of us. How many of us do something while driving, like eating? Nearly everyone of us. This is just a terrible example of the consequences of a distracted driver. A tough lesson, indeed.

Anonymous said...

whatever happened to an eye for an eye, a leg for a leg, a poke in the hole for a poke in the hole? seems better than cash or a a walk in the park sentence.