1 month later we were supposed to have Zoom Court a 3rd time.
The night before prosecutor called me to ask me to show up on person. He felt the defense attorney was going to ask for a jury trial, and I should show up dressed appropriately for court.
Next morning I showed up over 2 hours before the court time so that the prosecutors could prepare to testify. The detective showed up as well but we were in separate rooms so as to not taint our testimonies.
The prosecution team put the A139Pro videos onto a DVD disc and I had to sign the disc with a sharpie to certify that it is a true copy.
The prosecutor showed me a mug shot of the driver. This was the first time I had seen his face. He was arrested for a crime in the past, and he was acquitted by a jury, so he doesn't have a conviction or a record, but he does have a mug shot.
This just added the "character" of this guy.
Abot 90 minutes we were all court to the court room early, the defense said they were going plea. When we got to the court room, the prosecution team confirmed the defense was going to plead "no contest" (not guilty, but not completely innocent either). Based on this plea, any victims (me) would be given the opportunity to go on witness stand and tell the judge all of the hardship this has caused me over the past 6 months..no car for 5 months while it was being replied, $6100 in repair costs, injured son, late to my appointment on the day of the accident, etc.. This was my opportunity to just lay it on thick with all my issues basically "play the victim" in all honesty.
After being tested and grilled to prepare to testify lal morning, now I had to switch what I was going to say. So I started to prepare for my "speech"
About 30 minutes of waiting and the prosecutors came to me and said he was going to plead guilty and I will not need to testify.
I was confused what happened?
He was charged with a crime this time, not just a fine.
He was convicted with the crime of Hit and Run, but no jail time, $400 court fees and a 12 week driving course, and the judge dismissed the associate charges of No Insurance and Careless Driving
This was the most severe penalty that was recommended thus far. This crime will be on his permanent record. He will be scrutinized when applying jobs, he will be scrutinized when entering a foreign country. If he ever gets convicted for anything else they will take this prior conviction into consideration and the penalties be more severe.
So why did it change within 30 minutes?
This is the part the Viofo team will like...
The prosecutor reviewed the video with the defense lawyer while me the defendant and 5he detective were waiting in the court room. The defense said "It's not that bad", but then the prosecutor pointed out the unbuckled child in the front see. That's when the defense lawyer.folded his card. The defense realized that if they push for a jury trial this could turn into a parenting issue, possible loss of custody of the child, or the defendant having to work with a social worker to prove that they are a responsible parent.
The defense decided a guilt plea and a permanent conviction would be better than all of that.
Now, one may think, why did this guy leave? Well as you can see in this case, if nobody was able to identify his face, it didn't matter if we got his plate, or the video of the car, or finding the physical car. None of that matters. Since we didn't have a face there was a 50% chance that at jury would acquit him because of reasonable doubt, and since head good luck with a jury before he was willing to take that chance.
Another reason that I speculate is that he was either under the influence or had a gun or drugs in the car. A conviction for a hit and run is aot better than a conviction for any of the above so staying at the scene was not an option for him. This is only my hypothesis, I have no proof of this.
Since the driver had no insurance at the time, I did not use my insurance to pay for the damages because my "non-insured motorist" would have covered it and my insurance would essentially take the hit. I don't want my insurance to go up, so I paid $6100 for the repairs.
The prosecutor said since we have a guilty plea and a conviction, and can file a civil suit against him to get this money. However I am scared to do so. I believe this person is into some really bad stuff and I fear my family or me could be harmed if I sue him.
So that's it, I'll just live either expense. I only have the satisfaction that he was convicted.
The prosecutor confirmed that he has had over 100 hot and run cases this year, this is the first one with a dash cam video. Without the video it would have been dismissed which is what happens to nearly every hit and run case.
Based on this, this is yet another reason why it was worth it for the driver to take a chance and run away. Not to mention if the victim can't see his face through his tinted windows he can't really get prosecuted, the usual fines are not that big(only $250????) and if he had other bad stuff in the car, running away was the best option for him.
In my opinion he had clearly premeditated leaving the scene if he was ever in an accident.