can I have a ride to court?

[Mike Barskey]

Their trial for me for running a red light is this Monday, November 30 in Courtroom 1 at the Merrimack District Court at 9:30a. I do not expect anyone to be there - it's just a traffic violation that I am unwilling to pay. I presume they'll find me guilty, but you never know what government will do. I also do not know whether Burke ever issued an arrest warrant for me for not paying their last citation in Swanzey; if so, this may trigger that arrest/jail time. There is also the slight possibility that some of this may trigger my 40 day suspended sentence from much earlier this year.

Whatever happens, could someone please check up on me, say at noon, and keep track of me if I do end up in jail (i.e., let Kellie know so she can add me to Mail-to-Jail {if I'll be in jail long enough} and put out a Porc411 announcing the details of my imprisonment)?

Thanks!

Even though I'm not expecting anyone to be in court Monday morning, is anyone willing to drive me there? If I do get jailed, I don't want to abandon my car in the court parking lot or on the street, where it will likely get ticketed or towed while I'm in jail. Or I could pick you up (if you're somewhere near Derry/Manch/Merrimack/Nashua) and you could simply drive my car home if I get jailed (it's a stick-shift).

[dalebert]

If you can't get a ride all the way here, you can come to my place and park and I'll drive the rest of the way.

[Jim Johnson]

It's in Merrimack.

[Mike Barskey]

Thanks, Dale. I think I have it covered now, either with a ride or a place to park my car if I'm jailed.

[dalebert]

It's in Merrimack.

OOooooooohhh. I should pull my head from my ass or somethin'.

[Russell Kanning]

Barskey is free to roam about the country right now
they dropped their charges or something similar .... after he bothered to show up

[K. Darien Freeheart]

The cop is in Iraq now. They knew this last weekend, but they've checked their humanity at the door, so they didn't tell him.

Null pross.

Barskey is still free, so win!

[Mike Barskey]

Indeed. After a 2-hour drive this morning (thanks, Rich, for accompanying me and caring for my car should I have been jailed), and waiting in the courtroom for 20 minutes, the prosecutor told me they null-proc-ed (dropped) their charges because the cop was on active duty in Iraq. I asked when the cop went on duty and he said last Monday. I asked when he knew about it, he said last Friday. I told him I would have appreciated being called because I drove 2 hours that morning to be there, then I left.

Russell suggested that they don't call you to tell you your charges are dropped because if you don't show up they'll probably charge you anyway (even without the cop, or without whatever was missing to make them null-proc your charges) so they can get money, so their not calling you is a last ditch attempt at getting money. Makes sense to me that that's what they might do.

Story about the metal detector at the court today: I went through and got wanded, and as the guy was looking through Rich's dayplanner, a cop walked through and beeped and kept walking; she never looked at the guy and the guy never looked up. So I said, "Excuse me, you forgot to check your metal items and guns before going through the metal detector." The cop told me she didn't have to because she was an on-duty cop and needed her gun. I asked, "So I can go through with my gun and not get stopped?" She said "No, I can because I'm an on-duty officer." I said something like, "But you didn't even check in with the guy." She said "I know him." I asked, "So if he and I were friends I could just walk in without getting checked?" She said no. I asked, "So cops have special privileges?" She said "I'm not going to stand here and debate this with you." I said, "OK" and stood there continuing to smile at her until she turned and walked away.

So I'm not in jail. Yay. But the govt. still fucked me (4.5 hours of my time, 140 miles of wear on my car and gasoline, etc.). Sigh. I'm considering sending the prosecutor a bill for my losses.

[Fluff and Stuff]

Fantastic news!  Good work on standing up for yourself.

[Kat Kanning]

Story about the metal detector at the court today: I went through and got wanded, and as the guy was looking through Rich's dayplanner, a cop walked through and beeped and kept walking; she never looked at the guy and the guy never looked up. So I said, "Excuse me, you forgot to check your metal items and guns before going through the metal detector." The cop told me she didn't have to because she was an on-duty cop and needed her gun. I asked, "So I can go through with my gun and not get stopped?" She said "No, I can because I'm an on-duty officer." I said something like, "But you didn't even check in with the guy." She said "I know him." I asked, "So if he and I were friends I could just walk in without getting checked?" She said no. I asked, "So cops have special privileges?" She said "I'm not going to stand here and debate this with you." I said, "OK" and stood there continuing to smile at her until she turned and walked away.

Hilarious!    At least you got to hassle them for your trouble.

[Ogre]

Excellent to hear that you're not in jail.

I'm considering sending the prosecutor a bill for my losses.

You know, there might be something there. After all, even if it is "procedure" to NOT call someone so they can convict you in your absence, it seems awful clear that they knew that you were not going to be charged. Heck, if the guy went on active duty "last Monday," they knew months in advance that the policeman shouldn't have been writing tickets or scheduling court dates for that date. They had plenty of time to send you a letter indicating that they would be dropping the charges.

Of course, then again, you'll be complaining to the very system that supports itself by NOT sending such notifications and declaring people guilty when they're not there...

[Lloyd Danforth]

If someone with 'standing', like Barskey doesn't go after them for this, they will continue to do it to people.

[jzacker]

Excellent to hear that you're not in jail.

I'm considering sending the prosecutor a bill for my losses.

You know, there might be something there. After all, even if it is "procedure" to NOT call someone so they can convict you in your absence, it seems awful clear that they knew that you were not going to be charged. Heck, if the guy went on active duty "last Monday," they knew months in advance that the policeman shouldn't have been writing tickets or scheduling court dates for that date. They had plenty of time to send you a letter indicating that they would be dropping the charges.

Of course, then again, you'll be complaining to the very system that supports itself by NOT sending such notifications and declaring people guilty when they're not there...

Who would you bill, the town or the prosecutor?  Whomever you bill, what do you do when they don't respond?  Do you sue?  Do you place a lien on their property?  Well if you want money, you'd have to sue them.  Under what legal theory would you seek damages and/or compensation?  This might be an interesting strategy but I'm unsure of the legal theory that would apply.  But I bet there's an action here.

[Jim Johnson]

They won't except a bill... that's not part of their procedures.

First you would have to file a claim, which would include actual loses and/or damages.
Then you can appeal the denial of your claim.
When they reject your appeal then you can file a law suit.
If you don't have a lawyer they have set up hundreds of little legal hurtles for you to stumble over that prevent non lawyers from bringing a law suit.

Don't let that prevent you from trying.   

[Mike Barskey]

If I send a bill, it will not be a serious attempt to collect money. I know the government wouldn't pay it, and even if they did I wouldn't accept it (it's stolen money). I might send the prosecutor a "bill" just to make the point, in a cute way, that he wasted my time and I don't appreciate it.