Parker pleads guilty to motor vehicle homicide

I still have to make a few more phone calls to family and friends so I will post more about Parker pleading guilty in an hour or so. In the meantime I noticed that the Cape Cod Times has a brief article on their website with a picture of Parker in court today. If more is printed tomorrow I will update this post.


Christopher Parker, 50, receives his sentence today in Barnstable District Court.
Photo by Paul Blackmore/Cape Cod Times

By Stephanie Vosk Cape Cod Times
July 25, 2007

Christopher Parker was sentenced to two and a half years in the Barnstable County Correctional Facility after pleading guilty to motor vehicle homicide today in Barnstable District Court.
The last six months of his sentence will be suspended, and he will submit to two years of probation upon his release.

Parker was charged in the March 5 death of Diane Carhart, 63, of Forestdale.
He will also serve 10 days in prison, concurrently, for driving with a suspended license at the time of the accident.

Parker was traveling southbound down Route 130 in Sandwich when his Honda Accord slammed into the back of Carhart’s Chevy Tracker, sending her careening into an oncoming NStar truck. She was taken to the Forestdale School to await flight to Boston when it was determined she had died.

Parker’s inattention as he bent down to adjust a portable radio caused the crash, police determined.

Carhart’s daughter, Susan Linhares of Mattapoisett, read impact statements from herself and her brother, John Everett of Williams, Ariz., in court yesterday.

Francine Abbott, who was driving the NStar truck, also read a statement.

“Because of you, my life and my family’s life has been altered. Since that day, I’ve lived in pain and fear,” Abbott read to Parker. “What should have been a typical work day for me turned into a nightmare.”

Parker has a lengthy driving infraction record, which includes four drunken driving convictions, dating back to 1982. He also has a case pending in Falmouth District Court on a charge of operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of drugs in October in Bourne.

Read more on this story in tomorrow’s Cape Cod Times.

Parker Pleads Guilty!!!

I just returned from the Barnstable District Courthouse on the Cape and need to make a few phone calls but since a number of people are checking the site today for news I thought I'd at least let you know that the criminal case against Christopher G. Parker is finished.

I will be back in an hour or so to post the full story and copies of our victim impact statements.

Parker is in jail where he can't hurt anyone for at least two years!

Is Today the Day???

I feel almost like a little kid waiting for Santa on Christmas Eve or trying to sleep the day before a birthday, the anticipation that I have had for today to come has been great.

Could today be the day that Parker accepts guilt for killing my Mom, Diane? Will I finally be able to read the impact statements that my brother and I have written? Will Francine Abbott be there with a victim impact statement? How will Parker act while we are reading the statements? Will he show any remorse at all or just stare ahead blankly like he has done in his other court appearences? Will the Judge sentence him to the full sentence? Basically, what will happen?

I've had my clothes picked out and ironed for days, wanting to look respectable in front of the Judge. I have been surprized at what some of the people who appear before the Judges (either defendant or plaintiff) wear, anything from dirty jeans and stained, ripped tee-shirts to short mini skirts with half tank tops.

Well I guess I'll go shower and get ready. I want to leave an extra hour early incase of Cape Cod traffic or road work.

Possible Disposition Tomorrow on Charges Against Parker in Diane Carhart's Death

As the title of this entry suggests, tomorrow there is a good chance that Christopher G. Parker will be pleading guilty to charges of Vehicular Homicide and Driving With A Revoked License in connection with Diane's death on March 5, 2007.

He is due in Barnstable District Court tomorrow, July 25, 2007 at 2:00pm 3195 Main St. Barnstable, MA. Since Parker is still in custody he will be brought to the courthouse by the Sheriff and should appear in the courthouse in handcuffs.

If Parker does plead guilty I will be able to read the Victim Impact Statements that my brother Johnny and I have written. The statements are to be addressed to the Judge and not to Parker, he will be able to hear me read them. I have been waiting for a chance to let Parker know what his irresponsible, selfish acts have done to our family.

I will post what happens at court tomorrow as soon as I get home. Well, actually I have to call my brother and other family members first...but I can type while I talk! Please send prayers and thoughts that Parker will receive the maximum penalty allowed (only 2.5 years!) so that he won't be able to harm anyone else for at least a little while.

Parker's October DUI Charges Postponed Again

On Wednesday, July 18 at 9:00am I was once again at the Falmouth District Courthouse in Falmouth, MA in order to hear what would transpire with the DUI charges that Christopher G. Parker is facing when he was arrested last October in Bourne.

A different Judge was now presiding on the case due to the health of the original Judge. Judge Nagler is now assigned to the case. When "Commonwealth vs. Christopher G. Parker" was called A.D.A. Ilene Connors as well as Parker's Attorney Arnold Lett requested a side bar with the judge. The three of them spoke for several minutes and then a Disposition date of July 27, 2007 at 9:00am was announced. It is hoped that Parker will either plead or be found guilty of the DUI charge on that date.

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.