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.