I'm disgusted...

[berencam]

So you all know the legal battles I've been fighting with this drunk driver stuff. Well, I get a call from the prosecuting attorney, and she informs me that they have determined that David Argo(The drunkard that hit me) is now too incapable of daily living to stand trial for 2 deg assault, attempted manslaughter with a deadly weapon (his car) and a whole slew of other charges. She went on to tell me that they are dropping all charges and ending the case. I was and still am speechless.
Now to back up a bit before i go on. I met in person with this guy back in January ( 2 weeks after he got out of the hospital). The only reason i decided to contact him was a friend of a friend several times over knew him and told him (David) that i found his $600 cell phone in the wreckage. Well David asked for it back down the line of friends. Now i wasn’t about to give someone i didn’t know a $600 cell phone in the hopes that i would make it back to the rightful owner, so i told him that if he wanted it i would bring it to him. I arranged a time to meet up with him and i handed the cell to him, and he OPOLIGIESED. He said he doesn’t remember much of the accident but he did remember drinking, and he had all of the previous memory. Furthermore, he was walking, and using his computer( he added me on myspace).
Now to have this prosecuting attorney tell me he is incapable of standing trial leaves me utterly disgusted at the judicial system. Not only am i going to be stuck with the majority of the hospital bills, but now i have no chance of getting restitution of any kind. And he walks away scott free.
I guess this has nothing to do with 67-72 trucks but I feel its appropriate to this forum as this is the forum I posted my accident on. Sorry for the rant.

[70rs/ss]

Get on the phone with the State's Attorney General and voice you're opinion. This dude had to have undergone some testing to render him incompetant and from what you describe he isn't in the least. Do not give in, fight for your rights. Take that anger and disgust and turn it into a mission for justice. BTW civil lawsuits do not hinge on criminal charges so you can still sue him for resitution, med bills, etc, etc

[Billla]

Where is YOUR attorney in this discussion? If you don't have one, you need to make a call to see what your options are. Dropping criminal charges doesn't bar you from a civil suite.

[72freak]

Originally Posted by Billla

Where is YOUR attorney in this discussion? If you don't have one, you need to make a call to see what your options are. Dropping criminal charges doesn't bar you from a civil suite.

Have your sttorney start calling higher goverment officials and press on the the civil suit!!!

[berencam]

I have a call out to my attorney and i will see what he says. My attorney however has never expressed any intrest in getting a restitution charge on him, so i wasnt aware that they had athority to do so. 70rs, i intend to follow up on that note, i was just speechless when they told me that i just got off the phone as quick as i could(plus i was at work).

[Billla]

Originally Posted by berencam

My attorney however has never expressed any intrest in getting a restitution

Get a different attorney :/ A good attorney should be hungry!

[streetstar]

Did he have liability insurance at all? I remember your wreck, it would have tapped out a small liability policy, but if he had a semi-responsible policy (like a 100-300-100 policy) then there would be 100k there

[berencam]

Originally Posted by streetstar

Did he have liability insurance at all? I remember your wreck, it would have tapped out a small liability policy, but if he had a semi-responsible policy (like a 100-300-100 policy) then there would be 100k there

Only a state minimum coverage 25k policy, same as mine. Currently my medical bills are 67k to date.

[streetstar]

Originally Posted by berencam

Only a state minimum coverage 25k policy, same as mine. Currently my medical bills are 67k to date.

ouch --- leaving you 42k in the hole (on paper that is) --- does your policy have anything for uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage? Most do, but it can vary state to state

[berencam]

Originally Posted by streetstar

ouch --- leaving you 42k in the hole (on paper that is) --- does your policy have anything for uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage? Most do, but it can vary state to state

i have uninsured, but the attorney i have is hoping to be able to interprit the uninsured as underinsured using some kind of statute. so that only leaves me 17k + 34.5% of 50k, or another 17k because thats what the attorney gets, so far.

[PanelDeland]

I believe I would call the local TV station and discuss it with their consumer advocate.I doubt the AG's office would want it aired on the Nightly News.They may rethink their decision.Keep in mind that a judgement just means he will not be able to own anything unless the restitution is paid,which means he will likely put it in wifeys or moms name.

[Gray Ghost]

Originally Posted by PanelDeland

I believe I would call the local TV station and discuss it with their consumer advocate.I doubt the AG's office would want it aired on the Nightly News.They may rethink their decision.Keep in mind that a judgement just means he will not be able to own anything unless the restitution is paid,which means he will likely put it in wifeys or moms name.

YES and do it soon!!!

[Billla]

It's a criminal matter - so the consumer advocate isn't going to touch it IMHO. Not suggesting that you don't take every opportunity, but ultimately if the criminal route is closed then civil is your only real recourse.

Again, you really need to get an attorney that's going to look at both the criminal and civil side. My understanding of the two aspects of competency are 1) a mental condition that prevents understanding of the nature of the proceedings or 2) inability to participate in their own defense. My further understanding is that a hearing must be held. If there was no hearing, there's a valid approach to further criminal pursuit.

Not an attorney, not provding any type of advice...just my thoughts on the situation.

[steelhorse]

What a bunch of BS I would pursue this till hell freezes over.But then again Im not a very forgiving type of person.

[67_C-30]

Originally Posted by steelhorse

What a bunch of BS I would pursue this till hell freezes over.But then again Im not a very forgiving type of person.

Ditto. A situation like this would prompt me to spend money if I had to get him prosecuted. The idiot could have killed you, and no matter what, you will feel the injuries that you suffered later in life. Trust me on that one. I have never been a sue-happy person, but someone endangering my life due to his drunken stupidity is something I would not let go.

[Fatherflash]

Here is something else to possibly consider...go after his insurance. Pain, suffering, hospital bills, lost wages, everything. They will then go after him for payment through subrogation.

You seriously need to contact a lawyer and discuss this further. You have every right to go what you lost, pain and suffering, lost wages. Your present lawyer is probably not a civil lawyer. You will need to search for a specialist in this type of action.

Though your local DA is refusing to pursue further, you can still go after rewards through civil court, especially if he was at fault.

[Longhorn Man]

Originally Posted by Fatherflash

Here is something else to possibly consider...go after his insurance. Pain, suffering, hospital bills, lost wages, everything. They will then go after him for payment through subrogation.

Not true. The drunk's insurance is only liable to pay what the drunk was insured for. So if the policy is already tapped out, then that's it. Now, on the other hand... if berencam has uninsured/underinsured, then he needs to talk to his own insurance company, have them take over, then berencam's insurance company will file charges against the drunk. That is exactly how it went down when I was the underinsured driver that was cited for an accident. My insurance company was there to represent me, but the other driver's insurance company had filed suit against ME.

Originally Posted by Fatherflash

You seriously need to contact a lawyer and discuss this further. You have every right to go what you lost, pain and suffering, lost wages. Your present lawyer is probably not a civil lawyer. You will need to search for a specialist in this type of action.

Though your local DA is refusing to pursue further, you can still go after rewards through civil court, especially if he was at fault.

The bottom line, berencam needs to speak to other lawyers in HIS area... laws differ from state to state, and the info we give may or may not be aplical to his state.

[tcb-1]

Originally Posted by steelhorse

What a bunch of BS I would pursue this till hell freezes over.But then again Im not a very forgiving type of person.

x3!!! Man, I HATE hearing this kind of news. There you are left holding the bag for something you never wanted to happen!!!!!!!!!!!! GRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!

[Boog]

I wonder if this cats got some family pull in high places resulting in the DA dropping all charges. Also knowing this is a low profile case a DA wouldn't see any personal gain by spending any tax payers money on it, so why bother.
Cory, you were done wrong here and if you can afford to fight it I suggest you do. Many years ago here in Arkansas a guy ran a stop sign hitting me and knocking me into 2 newer cars. Told the owners of the 2 newer cars he would take care of theirs and when he got to me he gave me a sob story of how he didn't have any money, sick wife and didn't own anything and couldn't fix my old truck. I was just a 20 yr old kid to him with an old truck. I had a smart dad though who called a lawyer friend and filled him in. He filed I believe it was a form SR22 with the state which meant the old guys drivers license and car tags would be pulled and suspended until the debt was settled. I had 2 damage estimates and received payment for my repair and my attorney's fee in less than 10 days. There wasn't any question who was at fault there. I had no injurys though.
Oh and giving the guy his phone back was a nice gesture on your part but I believe I would have hung onto it until settlement. It's just business.

[72BlckButy]

There's our full proof judicial system hard at work.... oh wait... hardly at work.

Sorry to hear about the situation berencam, I wouldn't give up until they give in.

[jeffspower]

I'm disgusted right with ya. I have far more questions than answers:

- What is this guy doing today? Working, recovering, drawing disability? Driving again?

- He has a $600 cell phone- is he loaded, or blows money he doesn't have?

-What does he own? If it's next to nothing, and likely will remain that way, a civil judgement is worthless. All it will amount to is an IOU if he ever aquires any assets you can go after.

Unfortunately, even if you do get cash out of him that will pay off your medical bills, your credit will be tanked long before it happens. Medical debt collectors are relentless wolves. You would have to work out an agreement NOW to pay them yourself for now to avoid nasty scars on your credit report.

[berencam]

Originally Posted by jeffspower

I'm disgusted right with ya. I have far more questions than answers:

- What is this guy doing today? Working, recovering, drawing disability? Driving again?

- He has a $600 cell phone- is he loaded, or blows money he doesn't have?

-What does he own? If it's next to nothing, and likely will remain that way, a civil judgement is worthless. All it will amount to is an IOU if he ever aquires any assets you can go after.

Unfortunately, even if you do get cash out of him that will pay off your medical bills, your credit will be tanked long before it happens. Medical debt collectors are relentless wolves. You would have to work out an agreement NOW to pay them yourself for now to avoid nasty scars on your credit report.

not sure about the first two but on the second i would guess its the latter. As for the medical debt i have a total of 7 medical bills, from the hospital to the docters. I have made arangements to keep 3/7 in good standing by doing a $50 a month payment, the other 4 i offerered $25 a month due to the fact that i am only making $10 a hour or 1200 a month(600 for regular bills, 175 for the new car payment 110 for insurance 150 for medical bills and the other 165 for gas and food for a month) leaves not much for any other minimum payment. So the other 4 decliened the $25 a month.

[jeffspower]

I could be wrong, but I would think that if they decline your payments (even though they are smaller than what they want) it should work in your favor if they take you to court. I think I would send them $25 a month regularly anyway, even if they don't cash them. Just make sure the money is there in case they let them pile up & try to cash a bunch of them at once. Keep good records, and it will show that you are making a valid effort. They don't want you to do that so they can take you to court. They would rather win in court, or write it off if you file bankruptcy.

I know this worked for my grandmother 30 years ago anyway. I think it took her 10 years to pay off an $8000 bill- but they couldn't (or at least didn't) do anything because she made small payments every month.

[erikrcks]

can you put a lien on his house? Or car/truck?

[HoupPhotography]

If he files a civil case, wins and is awarded a judgement he can place liens on his personal property, but this can take a while.

Berencam, dude you need to find another lawyer ASAP, like tomorrow! Something is fishy here, if your represented by an attorney they should of contact him then contacted you, it sounds like your attorney is lazy, useless or both!