How to Stop Never Ending Summon to Constantly Cancelled Trial?
October 14, 2014 7:18 PM Subscribe
How to Stop Never Ending Summon to Constantly Cancelled Trial?
OK Green,
I need your advice again. Earlier in the year I was involved in a car accident with an uninsured driver with driver license under suspension. Total damage to my car was $4700 of which I paid $1000 as deductible and my insurance paid $3700. Both my insurance company and I have given up trying to recover the economic losses from the at-fault uninsured driver.
The state has opened up a criminal case against that driver. I was subpoena as a witness in the case. I showed up to the court three separate times for trial but the defendant attorney always asked for trail reschedule at last time. On the last occasion that occurred the prosecutor told me she won't bother me again. In the mean time I have moved 200 miles away.
Lo and behold, last week I've got another summon to the trial.
How do I make it stop? Please advise the best course of action. I'm angry enough the situation that I'm perfectly willing to spend money on a civil case to make the defendant suffer.
OK Green,
I need your advice again. Earlier in the year I was involved in a car accident with an uninsured driver with driver license under suspension. Total damage to my car was $4700 of which I paid $1000 as deductible and my insurance paid $3700. Both my insurance company and I have given up trying to recover the economic losses from the at-fault uninsured driver.
The state has opened up a criminal case against that driver. I was subpoena as a witness in the case. I showed up to the court three separate times for trial but the defendant attorney always asked for trail reschedule at last time. On the last occasion that occurred the prosecutor told me she won't bother me again. In the mean time I have moved 200 miles away.
Lo and behold, last week I've got another summon to the trial.
How do I make it stop? Please advise the best course of action. I'm angry enough the situation that I'm perfectly willing to spend money on a civil case to make the defendant suffer.
This is not legal advice but is something for you to check. In some jurisdictions there may be a limitation on the state's right to subpoena you if you live 200 miles away, or special accommodations you may be entitled to.
I can't research this since I have no information about the case or about your location.
posted by JimN2TAW at 7:23 PM on October 14, 2014 [1 favorite]
I can't research this since I have no information about the case or about your location.
posted by JimN2TAW at 7:23 PM on October 14, 2014 [1 favorite]
Best answer: defense counsel's strategy is working, he's trying to run out the clock on this, knowing that at some point you will cease to be available. the prosecutor is a weak sister for permitting him to do this, and she lied to you to boot. i am not your lawyer, and this is not legal advice...
how did you receive the subpoena (a summons is something else)? in california where i practiced, they have to be personally served. have you been claiming witness fees (typically, a fixed sum plus mileage) for the first three no-trials? you want to make the defendant suffer by filing a civil case, but the defendant is judgment-proof and i assure you that he will suffer very little on account of you suing him. he won't even suffer very much from a conviction of driving while suspended; they keep right on doing it like the energizer bunny.
what you really want to do is make the prosecutor and the judge suffer (defense counsel is out of reach, he's grinnin' like a pig in shit). you do this by crafting a brilliant, crystalline, adamantine op-ed for publication in the leading papers where the courthouse is, sharing your story of the broken justice system, which mentions the prosecutor's name prominently and disparagingly several times, so that it enters the permanent record of google, and you tell her in advance, so that she has the opportunity to do right by you.
further measures: you could hire a lawyer to move to quash the subpoena, or (and this is definitely not legal advice), if you have the legal and social formidability, you could just blow it off. i wouldn't recommend the latter unless you have white male hetero lawyer/judge privilege, which is a real thing, and if it were me i would at least let the court know in advance, so it could efficiently manage its calendar.
posted by bruce at 8:10 PM on October 14, 2014 [2 favorites]
how did you receive the subpoena (a summons is something else)? in california where i practiced, they have to be personally served. have you been claiming witness fees (typically, a fixed sum plus mileage) for the first three no-trials? you want to make the defendant suffer by filing a civil case, but the defendant is judgment-proof and i assure you that he will suffer very little on account of you suing him. he won't even suffer very much from a conviction of driving while suspended; they keep right on doing it like the energizer bunny.
what you really want to do is make the prosecutor and the judge suffer (defense counsel is out of reach, he's grinnin' like a pig in shit). you do this by crafting a brilliant, crystalline, adamantine op-ed for publication in the leading papers where the courthouse is, sharing your story of the broken justice system, which mentions the prosecutor's name prominently and disparagingly several times, so that it enters the permanent record of google, and you tell her in advance, so that she has the opportunity to do right by you.
further measures: you could hire a lawyer to move to quash the subpoena, or (and this is definitely not legal advice), if you have the legal and social formidability, you could just blow it off. i wouldn't recommend the latter unless you have white male hetero lawyer/judge privilege, which is a real thing, and if it were me i would at least let the court know in advance, so it could efficiently manage its calendar.
posted by bruce at 8:10 PM on October 14, 2014 [2 favorites]
Best answer: IANAL, but I agree that the Defense is using the time-honored technique of "delay" here.
So the other guy wouldn't pay for insurance, but now he's got a defense attorney? (I'm assuming a public defender would go for a plea bargain and wouldn't put the effort into delaying the trial again and again and again)(I could be wrong). You might want to look up the attorney and try to figure out how much this defense has been costing the defendant. That might make you feel better.
If it was me - I'd try the direct route: call the prosecutor. Be nice. Ask what's going on. At the very least, you'll get to commiserate with someone else who doesn't like the defendant much. And / or: I seem to recall that the court clerk is sometimes a good person to talk to.
Are the police involved? The one time I've ever been involved in anything like this (Vehicular Manslaughter, some idiot killed a couple of my relatives), the prosecutor was quite happy to arrange for me to speak to the cop who had been on-hand at the incident. He was very frank about what was going on. My point being: if there's some kind of back-story to what is going on with all of these continuances, he might be able to clue you in.
I'm sorry I can't be of much real help. I really wish I could be.
posted by doctor tough love at 9:45 PM on October 14, 2014
So the other guy wouldn't pay for insurance, but now he's got a defense attorney? (I'm assuming a public defender would go for a plea bargain and wouldn't put the effort into delaying the trial again and again and again)(I could be wrong). You might want to look up the attorney and try to figure out how much this defense has been costing the defendant. That might make you feel better.
If it was me - I'd try the direct route: call the prosecutor. Be nice. Ask what's going on. At the very least, you'll get to commiserate with someone else who doesn't like the defendant much. And / or: I seem to recall that the court clerk is sometimes a good person to talk to.
Are the police involved? The one time I've ever been involved in anything like this (Vehicular Manslaughter, some idiot killed a couple of my relatives), the prosecutor was quite happy to arrange for me to speak to the cop who had been on-hand at the incident. He was very frank about what was going on. My point being: if there's some kind of back-story to what is going on with all of these continuances, he might be able to clue you in.
I'm sorry I can't be of much real help. I really wish I could be.
posted by doctor tough love at 9:45 PM on October 14, 2014
« Older Help me learn the Korg Gadget iOS app | How accurate are the Kentucky accents on the show... Newer »
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by charmcityblues at 7:21 PM on October 14, 2014 [2 favorites]