Parker Goes To Jail!

As I wrote previously Christopher Parker was taken to jail on Friday April 27, 2007 when judge Tobey Mooney revoked Parker's bail. A BIG "Thank You!" to Cape Cod Times reporter George Brennan for posting an article about Parker being sent to the House of Correction so quickly on the Cape Cod Times website. You will find that article in the post before this one (below).

The weather this morning was horrible with wind and torrential rains. The sky was dark grey and fog had settled along the coast as I drove over the Bourne Bridge on my way to the Falmouth District Courthouse. I had been waiting for this day, hoping and even praying that today would find a bit of justice for my mother by having Christopher G. Parker's bail revoked.

If you have been following along on this blog you may have seen that Parker had been arrested yet again on charges of driving under the influence of drugs in October of 2006 in Bourne, MA. The day, March 5, that he allegedly drove his car into the back of my mother's Chevrolet Tracker he was not only out on bail for the Oct offense but was also driving on a revoked and suspended license. His license having been revoked after the Oct. OUI when he was found to be a danger to other drivers by the Registry and then suspended due to an unpaid speeding ticket.

I arrived at the courthouse and met up with George Brennan. Neither of us had seen Parker and it was 9am, the time the court session was slated to start. We checked the trial list and saw Parker's name so we waited for the announcement that would call people to the appropraite courtroom. At about 9:05 we see Parker enter the courthouse alone. He is dressed in a dark suit and tie and wearing a long black trenchcoat. He has a black baseball hat on and is wearing glasses. In his hands he is holding an umbrella and a wooden cane. He looks around and then sits down on one of the benches to await the call. At 9:10am the announcement comes for all adults having business in the trial court to go to the 2nd Session Courtroom. George and I followed Parker up the few stairs and down the hall toward the courtroom, Geoge telling me that it was a small room. He wasn't kidding! I think this courtroom was about the size of my master bedroom. Because it was so small most people stood outside in the narrow hallway. I stood just outside the open door of the courtroom on one side and George stood with his reporter's notepad on the other side of the doorway. As the Judge would call a case the defendants would go into the courtroom and stand in front of the large Judge's desk.

Finally I hear the clerk announce "The Commonwealth vs. Christopher Parker" and I moved to stand in the doorway so that I could see clearly. The clerk swore Parker in (although he didn't say anything) and at that point the Assistant District Attorney Chris Shea stood and said "Your Honor we request that bail be revoked in this matter". He then explained to Judge Tobey Mooney that while Parker was out on bail for this case he drove on a revoked license and has been charged with vehicular homicide in the death of Diane Carhart. I was surprised that they asked for the bail revokation so quickly, but I certainly was pleased! The Judge read briefly through Parker's file, made a comment on the number of his past convictions and charges and then she asked if Parker's Attorney, Arnold Lett, had anything to say. Atty Lett stated that Diane's death had been a tragic accident and involuntary on the part of his client, Parker. He also stated to the Judge that Parker has always appeared in court so he certainly wasn't a flight risk.

I have a problem with both facts that Atty Lett spoke too. First, my mother's death was not an involuntary accident. Parker was driving on a revoked and suspended license. He voluntarily got behind the wheel of that car. If he had been following the law he wouldn't have gotten into that driver's seat on Monday March 5, 2007. Secondly Parker had failed to appear on the date of his last court appointment, April 4, 2007. On that day there was to have been a Magistrate's Hearing at the Barnstable District Courthouse on the charges Parker is facing in Diane's death. Parker had even requested this hearing, but he failed to show up.

I found it interesting that Parker's face turned white when they asked for his bail to be revoked. He actually looked surprised that he might go to jail. He started slowly shaking his head back and forth as if he was saying no. He looked at the floor and then at the judge, then back at the floor. When Atty Lett was finished the Judge stated that Parker was a "danger to the community" and asked one of the two baliffs in the room to take Parker into custody. The baliff took Parker by the arm and left the room walking right past me as I stood there in the doorway. I had to fight the urge not to stick my foot out and trip him as they walked by! I stayed in the doorway watching as A.D.A. Shea and Atty Lett worked out a date for the next pre-trial hearing that they will meet on the Oct. 2006 OUI. That date will be May 18, 2007.

When they were done I left the courtroom and spoke briefly to George Brennan on how we felt to finally have Parker behind bars. Then I jumped into the car to drive home so that I could let everyone in my family know that he was in jail. My brother has been sick with a stomach flu and I hope this news will make him feel a little bit better. As of today Chistopher Parker is going to spend at least the next 60 days at the Barnstable County House of Correction in Bourne, MA and I couldn't be happier.