June 28th Pre-Trial Hearing in Falmouth

Today, at the Falmouth District Courthouse, Christopher G. Parker was to appear for a Pre-Trial Hearing. Since he is still in custody at the Barnstable County Correctional Facility I'm not sure if he actually was brought to the Courthouse by the Sheriff as he didn't appear in the courtroom.

I met up with George Brennan from the Cape Cod Times after checking in with the Victim/Witness Advocate's office and we proceeded into the first session courtroom. Once again I was surprised at how small the courtrooms in Falmouth are. The first session room was about twice the size of the second session room which I have previously mentioned - still very small, with all seats taken.

We listened to the arraignments and probation matters and eventually Denise from the Victim/Witness office came to let me know that the case has been continued yet again, this time to July 18, 2007 at 9:ooam.

I'm getting the idea that Parker's two attorneys (Arnold Lett for the DWI in Oct. 2006 and Woodrow Brown for the Vehicular Homicide and Driving With a Revoked License in regards to Diane's death) are not too sure which case they would like to go to trial or disposition first. Would it be worse for Parker if he was convicted of his fifth or sixth DWI before going up on the charges resulting from Diane's death or would it be worse if he had a charge of Vehicular Homicide and driving on a revoked license before going up on the DWI?

To me it seems that it wouldn't make much difference, either way these are serious charges. Additionaly it is my hope that the two cases will be tried seperately with the punishments being served consecutively and not concurrantly. I'm getting the feeling that the delay tactics that Parker's Attorneys have been using are because they want the possible sentences in each case to be as lenient as possible and that they be served concurrantly.

While the job of the defense attorney is to make sure that the defendant's rights are upheld it seems that they take that even further in a type of game in which they are the winner if they can get as little as possible or no jail time for their clients. They hit the jackpot if they can get the case dismissed. I have more that I'd like to say but will save it for a later topic. As an eye opener try searching the internet for the terms DWI, DUI, OUI, or drunk driving. You will find a mulitude of defense lawyers and their websites which tell you how they can help you either get the charges dismissed, what to do when you are pulled over and the police suspect that you are under the influence of alchohol or drugs, and in the event that you are found guilty they state that they will get you the least possible sentence. In my personal opinion these lawyers are as much to blame as the defendants themselves for the repeat offenders that are epidemic on our roadways.

Parker Being held on $10,000 Bail

Today is the last day of Christopher G. Parker's sixty day sentence for violating his bail by being charged with Vehicular Homicide and Driving on a Revoked License. Boy, sixty days went by quickly!

Parker won't be getting out of jail however until he posts a $10,000 cash bail. If he is able to make bail I will be notifed by Kathleen Finnegan at the Barnstable County District Court's Victim Witness office.

Plea hearing put off for driver accused in fatal March crash

The following article appears in the Cape Cod Times today (Thanks George!). I didn't have much time this morning to post it here because I had to be at Brigham & Women's Hospital fairly early this morning for my 3 month MRI to check for any tumors where I'd had the craniotomy last August, and then I had an appointment with my Neurosurgeon Dr. Black at 3:15pm. After the MRI I walked around Boston a bit and then ate lunch. I got to Dr Black's office at B&W around 1:30pm. I knew I was about two hours early but I had no where else I wanted to go at that point. Thankfully I had brought a good book and my Ipod which I had a couple of movies stored on. After I finished my book I sat in the waiting room and watched Pirate of the Caribbean on the Ipod. The women sitting on either side of me thought that was great and I set the Ipod where they could also see it...they just didn't have sound since I was using my earphones. They seemed to enjoy watching it anyway since Dr Black was about 2.5 hours behind schedule.

While I was waiting I noticed a woman reading the Cape Cod Times. When she had finished with it and put it on the table I asked if it was her paper. She said no it was there when she had come in so I picked up the first section and found the article below. I finally was taken to an exam room at 5:15pm where I sat and watched the rest of the movie while waiting for Dr Black to come in to see me. He is such a great guy and he is so nice that you just don't mind the wait.

I had brought the paper in the exam room with me and since Dr Black knew my Mom (she had gone to all my previous appointments with me) I showed the paper to him. He said for me to keep it so I will add that to my collection of other articles. It's so strange for there to be a Cape Cod Times there, I've never seen any newspapers in the waiting room on any of my other visits...and this is the paper that I was wishing I could find but hadn't had time this morning.

Anyway, that is probably too much info , but I just wanted to explain why it was taking me so long to post this here today. The bumper to bumper traffic all the way home from Boston didn't help much either.

Plea hearing put off for driver accused in fatal March crash

By George Brennan STAFF WRITER
June 22, 2007
BARNSTABLE — Christopher Parker, 50, the man accused of causing a three-car crash that killed a Forestdale grandmother, was prepared to plead guilty yesterday, until his lawyer in an unrelated case advised against it.

After the brief court hearing, there was a touching moment outside Barnstable District Court where Susan Linhares and Francine Abbott met for the first time and embraced.

Linhares is the daughter of Diane Carhart, 63, who was killed in the Route 130 crash. Abbott, 48, the forgotten victim of the March 5 crash, was the driver of an NStar pickup that smashed into the side of Carhart's Chevrolet Tracker when it was pushed into her lane by Parker's car.
"I told her I don't hold any animosity whatsoever," Linhares said.

Abbott, who still walks with the aid of a cane because of an ankle injury suffered in the crash, wiped away tears after the brief exchange. "I'm so glad she stopped," Abbott said. "I've wanted to call her, but lawyers don't want you to talk."

Parker was expected to plead guilty to vehicular homicide, which carries a maximum sentence of 2½ years in jail.

Parker is charged with driving under the influence of drugs in an unrelated Bourne case. That is scheduled for disposition next Thursday in Falmouth District Court and is the reason his plea agreement was put off until 2 p.m. July 10 in Barnstable District Court.

If he's convicted in the Bourne case, it would be Parker's fifth conviction for operating under the influence. At the time of the Sandwich crash, his license had been revoked because he was considered an "immediate threat".

Parker remains in custody. In April, a judge revoked his bail in the Bourne case because of the Sandwich charge. He was given a 60-day sentence, which expires next week.

Once that's up, Parker would have to post $10,000 cash bail or $1,000 surety to be released from the Barnstable County Correctional Facility.
George Brennan can be reached at gbrennan@capecodonline.com.

No Guilty Plea today :-(

Well there you have it, Parker didn't take responsibility for his actions and plead guilty to charges of vehicular homicide and driving on a revoked license.

Since it was Thursday, a day when the weekend travel to the Cape begins I left early, giving myself two hours to make the normally forty-five minutes drive from Mattapoisett to Barnstable. I brought a book along with me because I thought I'd be getting there early...I was wrong. It started off with thick extremely slow traffic on Route 25 due to an accident just before the Bourne Bridge. I was finally able to slip around the traffic and take the exit where I could get to the Sagamore Bridge and onto Cape Cod. Everything was going smoothly up until I had just passed exit 4. Then the two lanes of traffic all but stopped. I had used up a good deal of my time already back in the traffic at the Bourne Bridge . I normally take exit 6 on the Mid-Cape Highway and now I had to inch along for a few miles until I could get off at exit 5 to try to get around the gridlock. As I took the exit and turned left I was hoping that this road would connect with route 6A, which I could then take into Barnstable. After about a mile I said "Hooray!" for right in front of me was the intersection with 6A. It was 2:00 by now, when I was due at the courthouse. Of course my "Murphy's Law" luck continued when an elderly woman pulled out in front of me and proceeded down the road at 20 MPH, braking at even the slightest curve in the road and every time a car passed going the other direction.

Finally I made it to the Barnstable District Courthouse and hurried in. I was fifteen minutes late and I was afraid that I might miss it. Thankfully they hadn't started yet and I met George Brennan and the Sandwich Police Chief right in front of the first session courtroom doors. Shortly after that Kathleen Finnegan our Victim/Witness advocate and A.D.A. Brian Shea walked up. I talked with Kathleen and Brian briefly and then we entered the courtroom. Being told I can sit anywhere that I would be comfortable I chose the front row. Kathleen came to sit with me and I showed her the Victim Impact Statements that Johnny and I had written. As she was reading the Judge came in and they brought the prisoners in. She handed the papers to me so that we could listen to what was going to happen. The clerk called "Commonwealth vs. Christopher G. Parker" and Parker stood up. He was wearing prison issue blue pants and blue shirt. His hands were cuffed in front of him. His hair had grown back a small amount and was in a crew cut style.

Unfortunately Parker did not plead guilty and so they scheduled the date of July 10, 2007 at 2:oopm for his next appearance in court. While I was a little disappointed I did realize that there was the chance for at least one continuance. Hey, at least we had our Victim Impact Statements done. Thinking about what I've learned about Christopher G. Parker it doesn't surprise me that he would not accept his guilt. I'm trying to be informative here and not voice a personal vendetta so I won't elaborate on that thought.

On the way out of the courthouse I noticed a woman with her right leg in a cast and walking with a cane. Since I had been informed that Francine Abbott, the driver of the NStar truck, also wanted to give an impact statement, and knowing that she had suffered some sort of injury to at least one of her legs during the crash I took a chance and approached her as she sat outside in the sun after the hearing. I asked if she was Francine Abbott and she said yes. I introduced myself and we hugged. She told me that her right ankle was "blown out", severly broken, during the crash and she has had a couple of surgeries on it already. After a few moments talking with her I left to walk to my car, being glad that I'd had the chance to meet Francine. I know my mother would have like that.

So another court date is done and next up is Parker appearing in Falmouth District Court on the October DWI charges Thursday June 28, 2007 at 9am. I'll be there and will have an update as to what happens there. I'm sure it is too much to hope for that Parker would plead guilty to that charge either, but I guess I can always hope......

Tomorrows Pre-Trial Hearing & Impact Statements

Tomorrow, June 21, 2007 at 2pm Christopher G Parker is due in the Barnstable District Courthouse for a pre-trial hearing. On the chance that Parker does the right thing and pleads guilty to vehicular Homicide and driving on a revoked license my brother Johnny and I have decided to put together victim impact statements that will be read before the court after he pleads guilty but before the judge passes the sentence.

At first I was almost looking forward to having a chance to address the loss of my mother. I enjoy writing and felt that it would be very easy to put a few words together...my problem is that if I put everything that I feel and the effects Mom's death has had not only on myself but on her whole family I end up with what I consider much more then I think I'm allowed. How can you sum up what your mother means to you in a few short minutes? I did call the D.A.'s office today and found that I could include a bit of Mom's autobiography so that the Judge and everyone else in the courtroom knows a bit about who Diane was. I included a portion of her autobiography in the eulogy that I gave during her funeral. You can read it yourself HERE.

Since the hearing is a 2pm in Barnstable it won't be until several hours later that I will be able to post regarding what happens. If we are given the chance tomorrow to read the victim impact statements I will also include them here. Otherwise I won't post them until after we have a chance to read them in front of the court.

The information below is from Mothers Against Drunk Driving's website - http://madd.com/victims/7068. I think it gives a good summary as to what the Victim Impact Statement is.....

A VIS is an open letter to the judge from the victim or their loved one describing the physical, financial and emotional loss caused by a drunk driving crash. It is also the only opportunity victims have to address the judge and to tell him or her the impact the crime has had on their lives.

But the two most important aspects of a VIS are that they allow victims to be heard and to take part in the criminal justice system. All too often, victims feel isolated and powerless. By being allowed to write a VIS, and in some states read it aloud in court, the victim becomes part of the process. In doing so, the victims' emotions are validated. In short, a VIS empowers victims.

All states allow the presentation of a written impact statement to the judge or to the court. And most victims find that just the act of writing a VIS is therapeutic.

While it takes immense courage and fortitude to put one's feelings on paper, writing a VIS is effective in providing victims focus and perspective on the impact the crime has had in their lives and on their grief. That clarity helps victims embrace their pain by seeing in black and white that their feelings of sorrow and anguish are appropriate and understandable.

Victims should, however, be patient in writing their statement because it can take several attempts to get the words just right. But a VIS is not about writing the perfect essay, it is about writing from the heart.

Another level of healing for victims is the opportunity to verbally express feelings of pain and loss. Many victims who are allowed to read their VIS in the courtroom feel it's cleansing and cathartic because they are able to speak out about the devastation they've experienced.
It also helps victims to give further meaning to their loved one's life because their words are potentially influencing how the offender will be punished. And regardless of the sentence, victims know that they did all that they could do to see that justice was served.

Despite the fact that victims are not allowed to directly address the offender, reading their statement in court helps to guarantee that the offender will have the opportunity to hear the tragic consequences of his or her actions. For victims, this helps take back some of the control the offender unjustly and abruptly took.

A Good Victim Impact Statement:

• Can be read in three to five minutes.
• Does not repeat evidence already presented.
• Focuses on what the crime means to the victim emotionally, physically and/or financially.
• Is simple and descriptive
• Communicates how the victim's life is different due to the crash.

Moment of impact: Lessons learned too late for many drunken drivers

This past week we have been moving all of Diane and Llyod's belongings out of their home so that it can be put up for sale. One of the days we were in Forestdale Brian Fraga, reporter for the New Bedford Standard Times, came out to talk with us. I had spoken to Brian previously in regards to Diane's death and he was now doing a larger article on repeat DWI offenders. The article appeared today in the Sunday edition and while I haven't seen the paper yet today I was told it is most of the front page of the paper and continues on page four, taking up the whole of that page also. I did find the article on the standard times website www.s-t.com.

Moment of impact: Lessons learned too late for many drunken drivers

By Brian Fraga -Standard-Times staff writer
June 10, 2007 6:00 AM

Diane Kelsey Carhart, a New Bedford native who lived most of her life in Mattapoisett, was driving on Route 130 near her Forestdale home the morning of March 5.

Driving carefully in her Chevrolet Tracker, Ms. Carhart stopped to make a left turn into a shopping plaza. Ten minutes earlier, she had spoken to her daughter, Susan Linhares, who said her mother was probably getting a cup of coffee at the time.

Ms. Carhart did not see him, but coming up behind her was Christopher Parker, a Sandwich man with four previous convictions for impaired driving. He was driving with a revoked license and speeding down Route 130, police said. It is not known whether he was driving impaired, because a blood alcohol content test was never conducted.

Mr. Parker hit Ms. Carhart's car from behind, and sent her into the path of an oncoming NStar truck, which crashed into her at more than 50 miles per hour. Ms. Carhart, 63, a grandmother, was killed instantly. Mr. Parker is charged with vehicular homicide due to negligence and driving with a revoked license.

Ms. Carhart's death illustrates the reality that repeat drunken driving offenders are still on the road almost two years after the passage of Melanie's Law.

"These repeat offenders have no respect for the law," said Ms. Linhares, who lives in Mattapoisett.

Ms. Linhares and her brother, John Everett, packed up their late mother's home last week. They moved boxes containing decades of memories into a 28-foot trailer. On Saturday, they interred the ashes of their mother and her husband, Lloyd Carhart, who died in December after a long illness, at Riverside Cemetery in Fairhaven.

"I had just talked to my mom 10 minutes before she died," Ms. Linhares said. "She was just coming out of the funk from losing her husband. She was getting ready to fix up the house, and then this."

Ms. Linhares was visibly frustrated that a man with Mr. Parker's record could still get behind the wheel of a car and endanger lives.

"Two times is bad enough, but three, four, five times?" she said. "Especially those caught on an additional offense, and they're still driving on a revoked or suspended license? Nothing is going to stop these people. It's an addiction."

The passage of Melanie's Law in 2005 raised hopes that imposing mandatory minimum sentences for repeat offenders, revoking their licenses and requiring they use ignition interlock devices would keep them off the roads.

But police continue to arrest motorists with prior offenses who still drive under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

Sheila Martines Pina, the former president of the Southeastern Massachusetts Convention and Visitors Bureau, was arrested May 29 on her fifth drunken driving charge. Mrs. Pina, who is now in jail awaiting trial, already had two pending cases for drunk driving and a suspended license when she was arrested.

That behavior is not unique among alcoholics or addicts.

Richard Arnold, 56, a Swansea man who is serving a 150-day sentence at the Dartmouth House of Corrections for his third impaired driving conviction, said he drove numerous times drunk and never got caught by police. He figured he could get away with it most of the time.

"You think you can get away with it. That's the illness of alcoholism," he said. "It's a game you play, but you will get caught eventually."

Law enforcement authorities and Mothers Against Drunk Driving say tactics such as sobriety checkpoints, ignition interlocks, revoking licenses and seizing vehicles help. But some offenders often find ways around the law, such as borrowing a car from someone who does not have an ignition interlock, or they just ignore the law and drive on a revoked license.

The state "can take away licenses, but even then, they're gonna drive if they want," said Walter Duquette, 62, a Taunton man serving a 150-day sentence for his third drunken driving offense.

State lawmakers sought to toughen Massachusetts' operating-under-the-influence statutes by passing Melanie's Law in 2005. The law, named for a 13-year-old girl killed by a repeat drunken driver, set longer mandatory minimum sentences for repeat offenders, allowed prosecutors to use certified court records to prove prior drunk driving incidents and mandated repeat offenders eligible for a license reinstatement to have ignition interlock devices in their cars.

But Melanie's Law does not punish repeat offenders the way a murder conviction can. And physically preventing someone with a tendency to drink and drive is another matter.

About one-third of all drivers arrested or convicted of operating under the influence of alcohol are repeat offenders, according to MADD. Fatally injured drivers with a blood alcohol content above the legal .08 limit are nine times as likely to have a prior drunken driving conviction.
Repeat offenders "pose a very serious threat to everyone's public safety on the highways," said David DeIuliis, a Massachusetts MADD spokesman.

"These are people with problems with alcohol. They continue to go out and make this very bad decision," Mr. DeIuliis said. "It's something I think all the provisions of Melanie's Law are targeted at, but it's still too early determine what the law's impact has been."

Under Massachusetts state law, a first-time offender receives a one-year probation and undergoes a driver alcohol education program.

A second offense results in a 12-day confined alcohol treatment program, two-year probation and license suspension for two years. An interlock device must be installed as a condition of any license reinstatement.

After a third offense, a defendant faces a 150-day mandatory jail sentence, a fine up to $25,000 and a suspended license for eight years. A district attorney may also seize, keep or sell the offender's vehicle.

Those who are arrested for a fourth or fifth offense face respective mandatory minimum jail sentences of one and two years, and can be sentenced up to five years in state prison.

A motorist's license is revoked for life with no possibility of a hardship license after a fifth offense.

Bristol County District Attorney C. Samuel Sutter said his office is committed to enforcing the minimum sentences for repeat offenders. He said prosecutors consider longer sentences when there are "aggravating circumstances," such as speeding, reckless driving and serious injuries.

"In those cases, such as an accident that is particularly troubling with respect to the defendant's behavior, we may well ask for something more than the mandatory minimum," Mr. Sutter said.

However, Ms. Linhares is not satisfied with that approach. She wants prosecutors to aggressively seek longer sentences as often as possible. "A good start would be to enforce the laws that we have," she said. "I think there's a lackadaisical attitude among prosecutors. It seems they don't want to do the extra work involved."

Law enforcement officials point to additional measures besides prison sentences to keep drunk drivers off the road, such as sobriety checkpoints. New Bedford Police Chief Ronald Teachman said local police will be conducting a roadside checkpoint with state police troopers in the near future.

Chief Teachman said police will monitor the impact that ignition interlock devices have on deterring repeat offenders. He also suggested the state's current criminal records law could be amended to allow for public notification of repeat drunken driving offenders.

"We should also consider the vehicle impoundment when there is a violation subsequent to the ignition interlock device requirement," he said.

In addition to license suspensions, jail sentences and restitution, MADD recommends repeat offenders be assessed and receive treatment at a licensed substance abuse treatment agency. MADD also suggests they meet with a case officer during probation and attend a victim impact panel.

"You're not going to keep them in jail forever," Mr. DeIuliis said. "When they get out, if you haven't done anything to address their problem, they're going to continue their past behaviors."
Ms. Linhares said that many repeat offenders have an "illness," but said she is perturbed that many of them do not spend enough time behind bars.

"I think what they did with (Melanie's Law) was wonderful, but we need to pick up where they left off," she said Wednesday while moving another box of her mother's belongings to her car.

Ms. Linhares has spoken with state lawmakers to lobby them to pass even tougher penalties than Melanie's Law. She also set up a Web site, JusticeForDiane.com, to highlight the problem of repeat offenders in the hope that people like Christopher Parker are never allowed on the road again.

"This is something I was never aware of before because nobody in my family drinks," she said. "And then this happened. ... It's just appalling."

Contact Brian Fraga at bfraga@s-t.com

Internment at Riverside Cemetary, Fairhaven, MA

Today we buried the ashes of both Diane and her husband Lloyd Carhart. Lloyd had died no too long before Diane passed and she haden't been able to get Lloyd's children to settle on a time when they could get together to bury Lloyd's ashes. Not too long before Christopher Parker took Diane from us she had told me that she felt badly that she hadn't buried Lloyd's ashes yet, but there must be a reason for that. Now we know the reason - It was so they could be buried together.

The weather report promised rain but thankfully we only had a couple of short bouts of passing drizzle. The rain held off while we were at the cemetary. Bette McClure, Minister at the First Congegational Church in Fairhaven met us at our family gravesite. She was very eloquent as she spoke of Diane and Lloyd and also led us in prayer. It was a shame that none of Llyod's four children were able to attend.......

After the service we went back to my Grandmother, Louise Kelsey's, house in Mattapoisett. We had about 25 people there and I enjoyed putting together the cookout that we had, it was just like years ago when we would have cookouts at Gramma & Grampa Kelsey's each summer. The weather even cleared up a bit and I think everyone had a nice time and left stuffed full of linguica, hot dogs, hamburgers and a variety of salads, fruit and potato chips.

Parker's Pre-Trial Hearing

On Monday, June 4th Christopher Parker was due back at the Barnstable District Courthouse for a pre-trial hearing on the charges he received in connection to Diane's death. I was not able to attend but my brother Johnny and my dad, Dr John Everett did go. I was told that Parker's defense attorney and Brian Shea the prosecuting District Attorney met and seem to be reaching an aggreement on Parker pleading out in exchange for a lessor sentence. Parker's next court appearence will be June 21, 2007 at 2PM where he is expected to act on that aggreement.

This is not acceptable to me! When the maximum sentence that Parker will receive is only 2.5 years how can you allow him to plead out to a lessor amount of jail time? Isn't Diane's life worth more then that? If you kill someone you should go to jail...period! No chance to get a lessor sentence, or time off for good behavior. It seems like these attorneys find it too difificult to do there jobs to the fullest extent and so they do the easy thing and jump at the first offer either side could come up with. There is much more I could say but I will wait a bit and see what transpires on June 21.