Originally Posted by
Clovis
So on Tuesday I made the two hour drive to Fairplay, CO to make my arranment with the Park County Court system.
The court was small compared to Colorado Springs, with roughly a dozen defendents in there for a variety of offences.
Oddly enough one guy was there for speeding 104 in a 65 on the same stretch of road.
Their method is a tad different - the judge calls you up, you either plead guilty, not guilty or request to speak with the D.A. - The guy who was going 104 immediately plead guilty which supprised me and at the Judge's recommendation ended up speaking with the DA.
The DA offered to dismiss the additional charges which were tacked on if he plead guilty to the speeding of 104 and took the 6 points with a $200 fine. (39 over = 6 points, 40 or more, 12 points... so I got it by 1 mph, great). The DA also pushed for "a few weekends of jail time" however the defendent argued that was excessive for speeding, lucky for him the judge agreed.
Another guy was there for harrassment and when he wanted to speak with the DA (this was at the front of the court, infront of everyone there) he looked like one of those old hells angel's harley bikers - he asked the DA to give his side of the story and when I heard the DA respond with "I don't need to hear your side of the story, I have the police report which tells me everything that happened" I thought to myself "oh great, I'm doomed with this guy... because police reports are always 100% accurate..." - His case was set for jury trial at a later date.
When I was finally called up, last the DA offered to dismiss the Careless driving and Reckless endandgerment charges but wanted me to plead guilty to the speeding, take 12 points, lose my lisencse and spend "a few days" in the county jail, I started to tell him that I wasn't going 105, that the bike was incapable of that speed due to the weight of 2 riders, gear and 10,000 altitutde, ect. The DA's response was "The officer scientifically proved you were going 105" (apparnetly by simply writing it down) and that I was trying to "catch up to the rest rest of the group" when I was infact being passed. Basically our conversation lasted for about 20 seconds and Mr. Sulivan (The DA) just came off as jaded lawyer, perhaps not happy with his current assignment?
I polietly refused his "deal" and requested a continience for a future date so I can obtain a lawyer. I also contacted his office and they were actually very friendly and are mailing me the discovery package for $5.00, hopefully I'll recieve it by the end of this week.
Honestly though, I'm hesitate to spend the $1200 - $3000 for a lawyer, for one we really do not have the money avaliable and secondly I don't think they (the DA) could prove me guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a jury trial.
We'll see what happens from here.
-Clovis