Michael Sean Quinn, Ph.D, J.D., C.P.C.U., Etc., Author
1300 West Lynn St. 78703-3877
Austin, Texas
78703
(o) 512-296-2594
(c) 512-656-9759
In
October of this year, Mother (“M”), now 43, and Daughter (“D”), now 21, each had pleaded guilty to criminal mischief in Maine after having several auto collisions in
quick succession in a cemetery.
At first, at least, D was thought to have deliberately
run into M’s car in order to prevent her mother from leaving the premises,
since she, that is, M, was dead drunk. Later M changed the story. M’s second
story was that her daughter had run into her because her, that is D’s, foot got
stuck somehow on/in/with/etc. D’s accelerator. Nothing has been reported about
how M happened to know this, if—indeed—she did.
According
to the first story M deliberately ran into D, after D ran into her. How many times this kept going is not
discussed in the media, and neither is how a relatively simple collision broke
up at least several of tomb stones. (A photograph in the local paper is not
clerk how much breakage there was rather than mere turnings over, but the
amount of damages the cemetery sought suggests t least one actual destruction.)
The
press stories are full of silences. D
and M were apparently at the cemetery because, it is said, D’s father (“F”) is
buried there. There is, however, no discussion of the relationship between M
and F.
Press
stories stated that apparently right the two guilty pleas wer entered, insurance money was paid to the cemetery for
damages M and D had caused the property. Upon the payment of the $25,000
insurance money, the cemetery dismissed its case that was seeking a tort
recovery of $35,000±. Interestingly, the
settlement closed the case before M and D were served.
With
regard to insurance, nothing has been said to the public about how many
insurers were involved. One for M and another for D? Or was there just one that
insured them both?
What is said is that M and D each had their own
criminal defense attorney. Why? We shall see.
So, Why
did the Carrier(s) Pay?
I
am assuming without knowing that there was one carrier. I’ll come back to that assumption.
Of course, it could be that the insurer
didn’t want to spend any more money fooling around with the case. That could
easily cost more than $25K. That’s
reasonable insurance company thinking, except for one thing. The drivers were
charged with crimes—possibly even felonies since criminal mischief just by
itself is a misdemeanor, but aggravated criminal mischief is a felony. Frequently,
insurers are hesitant, to say the least, to pay claims where charges of crimes
is involved—drunk driving an exception.
Here is my speculation
as to what might have happened.
D’s foot did not get tangled up with the accelerator in her car somehow.
I have heard this story a number of times, and I believe it is bullshit. That
account is very unlikely to be true. Accelerators are flat levers and the foot
is on top. If it gets underneath it, the driver just draws his foot toward him
to end the problem, if there is one.
D ran into M quite
deliberately. The reason she did this doesn’t matter: Mommy was drunk? She
cursed the father I loved? She called me worthless little bitch? None of these
matters, of course. D ran into M deliberately-- quite intentionally. (I must
conceive that the punishment of M does not make it clear how M felt about F.)
Nothing is said in the press
about why M thereafter ran into D. Assume
the implausible: M’s story about D’s tangle with the accelerator was true. Why
would M run into D quite deliberately? Well, she might think D hit her
deliberately, and responded accordingly. But then, M is guilty of aggravated criminal
mischief though D would not be of that or the weaker charge, mere mischief. But
both pleaded guilty to the lesser charge.
So, here’s what happened.
D deliberately ran into M, and it pissed mommy off so badly that she rammed daughter
back. There may have been more than two collisions. They may have happened several times. At
first both M and D were charged with aggravated criminal mischief, but a deal
was struck.
An insurance claim was
made, and the insurer explained why it would be denied, unless a “clearer”
explanation were provided.
Since D was guilty of aggravated
criminal mischief and she was facing up to 5 years in the pokey, where it can
get very chilly, indeed. D must keep her mouth shut. Mother tells a different
story. “I don’t care what my daughter said first, she wouldn’t run into me
intentionally, she’s a good girl. And besides she said that she could get her
foot loose from the pedal.”
And M might continue this
way, “The truth is, were both a little tipsy.” So long as daughter doesn’t
speak, the insurer is stuck. What we
have then is two drunken driving cases, and insurers pay those accidents. Some
of the collisions are accidents, the insurer might say to itself.
The real problem would be
M’s running into D. Granted she was
drunk, but even drunken people can form deliberate intent and go forward. The
key then is to get the charges—and any chance of any other charges—reduced to misdemeanors—and
that’s all criminal mischief is, so long as there is no aggravation element.
And this is where having
two lawyers come it. If both of them are
trying cases, they might get split into two cases. Each lawyer will argue that the other person
broke up the grave stones, if—indeed—either of them did.
Better all, including DA
and Judge, agree, reduce the charges from aggravated criminal mischief and do
two guilty pleas at the same time. The DA even said part of the state’s problem
was proving who did which damage. (This is probably not so. Proof of property
damage is required, but if it were provable that each did some, then. . . . See
why there are two criminal defense counsel?)
One small sliver of
evidence supports my speculation—or something like it—and that is because D got
a slightly more severe sentence that M did.
M’s punishment was 180
days in the slammer, all suspended, and one year of probation. The probation
banned her from entering the cemetery without getting permission from the
judge, in effect, functioning as a cemetery warden. (No doubt the judge would
have asked the cemetery association manager whether M’s coming on the grounds
was OK with the association.) M also had to pay $100 fine, though D didn’t.
D’s punishment was 180
days in the can, all suspended, and one year “administrative release,” during
which she would have to perform 50 hours of community service work, all to be
done during the first 10 month of the year period. Granted D didn’t have to pay
the fine M did, but she might have regarded 50 hours of community service as
more severe, that a hundred bucks. I certainly would. The sentences and the
insurance payment were all made in October 2014. So far as D’s sentence is concerned that
means she has 50 hours service to perform starting right then.
So from the point of view
of the liability carrier, what happened? A plan was constructed amongst the
criminal defense lawyers. This deal was constructed by two officers of the
court, the DA, an elected official, and a judge, also an official of the state. The
substance of the deal is quite simple: M
and D would get their wrists slapped and the cemetery would get a little money,
possible a bit more than it actually needed to fix the rocks, but not
much. All this happened, of course,
without the carriers’ (or, carrier’s) actual participation or consent.
Tell me, good reader, was
justice served? Was democracy or representative government undermined? Is the
question made any easier, if the insurer(s) knew what was going on, implicitly
consented to it, so long as its name was kept out of the deal?
From a philosophical
standpoint, it does not matter in the slightest that only a few dollars were
involved in the arrangement.
