[ale] OT: Court tomorrow

[Greg]

You are in a land that has 2 different systems - criminal and civil law.
Under civil law (torts) you are responsible to the victim for damages and
under civil law (contract) your insurer has to pay for the bills (note - be
sure to ask for "diminishment of value" from your insurer).  Under criminal
law you pay the courts for this misdeed (under whatever the cop writes up or
the judge decides), which represents the people.  Yes, it seems you are
being dinged twice - just like OJ was 1-1 and Klaus Bulow (?) got hit by the
in-laws and the insurance company in a civil suit without any criminal
trial.  Is it fair ?  Well, I dunno.  Seems to me you have already paid your
debt to society, but no one cares what I think.  Besides, what do we do
about those who run red lights but don't cause accidents ?  Wait until they
run over a kid and expect the civil suit to mete out punishment ?  The "no
blood no foul" rule on the basketball court/school yard/soccer pitch seems a
little ... hummm "risky" to use in modern society.  This dual system has
been in place since the beginning and shows no end in sight.

I wasn't aware that you couldn't plead nolo contendre only once every 5
yrs - sounds kinda crazy to me, but again, no one asked me.  Yes, you are in
a bind and I don't wish you any ill will.  I guess that's just the system
and you can only minimize your exposure.  Personally I would pay the fine
(knowing that in court I am going to lose) and thus at least saving myself
the cost of court.

... and BTW, yes, hitting someone in GA *does* warrant a citation - every
single time - that's the law.  The people want it that way and the cop's job
is to enforce it - without prejudice.  And as this isn't Mexico I kinda
think the cop isn't getting "his piece of the action" out of it.  To him/her
it's just another part of the job.  AFAIK cops in GA are not paid on
commission.   When you violate the law you must expect to be called on it,
unless you subscribe to being above it.  Your payment of the civil costs is
only what is expected and fair under civil law and nothing done under civil
law gets you out of the criminal law's prosecution.  Don't confuse the two.

Kudo's to accepting your responsibilities under civil law but ... yes ...
the people now want you to answer for your crimes ... (and no, I don't blame
you for trying to avoid paying (more)) ... that's your right here in the US,
but this *is* pretty ho hum every day stuff to the DA, the courts, and the
cop and I really feel you have no case.  But to paraphrase Voltaire - I will
fight for your right to be heard.

... and if you need more time you need to file a continuance errr ...
"should have" filed a continuance. I know Cobb county has a huge website on
court matters with lots of stuff for do-it-yourselfers.  Including a 25
minute video.  Don't know about Gwinnett.

G'day,

Greg

-----Original Message-----
From: ale-bounces at ale.org [mailto:ale-bounces at ale.org]On Behalf Of
Christopher Fowler
Sent: Monday, November 15, 2004 3:04 PM
To: Atlanta Linux Enthusiasts
Subject: RE: [ale] OT: Court tomorrow


On Mon, 2004-11-15 at 14:40, Greg wrote:
> I would suggest that the most obvious/simple explanation is the actual
> explanation - that traffic court is to punish those who violate traffic
> laws.  Fault (unless it's a no-fault state) must be determined because
they
> who commit the crime shall pay for all expenses and need to be punished
for
> justice's sake.  Having a car presently in the shop due to an idiot's
> driving I'm glad of the present system as opposed to *me* the victim
having
> to go to court to prove the obvious.  In my case he lost control and
skidded
> across 2 lanes and the median to hit me while I was stationary at light.
> The idiot then tried to blame it on the recent rain and slick road
> conditions rather then either saying nothing or taking responsibility for
> his actions.  Insurance companies as well as justice require a person
whose
> fault caused the incident.  While in some places it is a "money making
> scheme" I would suggest that it is not that way in all places.
>
> In this instance we have nothing more than a person who is trying to avoid
> his responsibility for causing an accident by trying to play jail house
> lawyer (lots of folks like to do this and it makes them look pretty funny
> when they go up against a real lawyer in court) and looking for a
> technicality rather than being a stand up guy and saying "It's my fault
and
> I will pay the consequences - no need to cause the public further expense
> and inconvenience".  The deal to plead nolo contendre and avoid the fine
was
> a hell of a good thing for the people's attorney (DA ?  in VA they are the
> "commonwealth's attorney) to offer the original poster.  That in itself
> seems to void the advice of your jaded lawyer friend.  I would advise
taking
> the "gift".

WTF?  I fixed their car and I took blame for hitting them.  That does
not warrant a citation.  I do not appreciate you making a general
statement as if I was trying to get out of the whole thing including
fixing their car.  It hit the person I fixed their car.  That's not good
enough for the cop.  He wants his piece of the action.

NOLO can only be used once every 5 years.  Save it on something that is
big like speeding.


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