So for all of those of you who have been asking about why I ended up in court yesterday or why I have to go to trial, here it goes…
On April 1st, 2007 Craig, Kayte, and I went to go see a man named Steve who was selling a 1988 Cadillac Brougham. The car’s craigslist ad cought my eye and I wanted to check it out. So I called him on March 31st and he said Sunday the 1st would be better. So that’s what we did, went out there and looked at it on the 1st. I took the car for a drive and loved it, and decided to purchase it. I didn’t know in advance that I would be purchasing this car, but after driving it, I couldn’t not buy it.
So we take care of the formalities, he signs and dates the title, I give him a mixture of cash and a check, and since Kayte was already late for work, off we went. The plan was to get the car from JMJ Motors (keep in mind that Steve works for JMJ Motors, but as a car painter. He does not sell cars and this car was not purchased from a dealer, just from a guy who works for a dealer) on 24 mile and Van Dyke and get it to Craig’s house in Mount Clemens where we could work on it (standard tune up and such).
As soon as we cross the road into Sterling Heights I get pulled over. “What’s this for? Why would they pull me over?” I exclaimed, only to have Craig answer me “Well, probably because you don’t have a license plate”. Apparently in the time between when we had taken the test drive (it had a plate then) and when I went to the ATM to get out some cash, it was removed. They neglected to mention this to me, or I would have taken the plate off my Jimmy before driving it home (then put the plate back on the Jimmy when I went to retreive it later)
So for about a half hour we sit there with our hands on the dash/backseat while the cop tries to trick me into “admitting” that I stole this car. Things like “Where’s your sales receipt” and “why was the dealer open on a Sunday”. So either he didn’t comprehend what I was saying or he was just being a total dick about it. Could be either or. After calling in 2 more cars for backup and hearing them laugh and tell jokes for a while, i’m written a ticket for driving with no plates or insurance. Which is a misdemeanor and mandatory court. Fantastic. So now we’re all pissed off, Kayte’s hungry and late for work, and I’m ready to kill someone.
So I get the car to Craig’s and call my brother to take me up and get the Jimmy. For the time being all is OK and I figure this all can be relatively painless. The next day (April 2nd) I have my dad put the new Cadillac in his name and get insurance transfered. So within 24 hours it’s all transferred, dealt with, and legal. No problems at this point and at that time the car becomes my primary source of transportation.
On April 3rd, I go back and see Steve and he writes me up saying something a long the lines of “Yes I sold him this car”. So that’s all well and good. A few weeks later, I get a few notices telling me when my date is for my pre-trial Arraignment: May 15th at 1:30. It also tells me what I’m charged with: 1 misdemeanor count of driving without registration and 1 misdemeanor count of driving with no insurance. In that time between when I got the notices and I went to court, I did my homework. First thing I did was look into the Michigan registration law for newly purchased vehicles. This is what the Michigan Vehicle Code, Section 216 section l has to say on the matter:
For 3 days immediately following the date of a properly assigned title or signed lease agreement from any person other than a vehicle dealer, a registration need not be obtained for a vehicle driven or moved upon the highway for the sole purpose of transporting the vehicle in the most direct route from the place of purchase or lease to a place of storage if the driver has in his or her possession the assigned title showing the date of sale or lease agreement showing the date of the lease.
So score one for me. No crime was committed on the registration front. However, the Statue on driving without insurance is a little more tricky and where I may run into problems. It basically says if you drive in michigan without insurance it’s up to a $1,000 fine and up to a year in jail. Not fun. But we’ll see what happens at court…
So May 15th rolls around. I’m at the court at 1:15 where I’m told to have a seat and a city attourney will be with me. I have all my documents in my briefcase and I wait around for all this to go into action. Some time around 2:30 I’m called back. The prosecutor says she can give me a deal if I plead guilty to both counts. Up to $500 for each offense, no points, and she’ll be nice enough to recommend no jail time. Fuck that. I’d already known that at least 1 thing I was being charged with was nothing, so there was no way I was going to be railroaded into up to $1000 in fines. Despite the fact that the security guards thought I was an attourney, this woman apparently thought I was born yesterday. She said my options were only to admit guilt today or get a court appointed attourney, get my own, or represent myself at trial. To be on the safe side, I told her I wanted a city appointled lawyer. At least until I call my lawyer and see what he thinks about all this.
So I fill out the paperwork and hand it over to the girl at the counter, i’m told that my name will be called to the appropriate courtroom soon. Then after a few minutes i’m called to go before the honerable Judge Maceroni. It’s quick and painless. He tells me that he will grant my request for legal counsel and that I will receive my trial date in the mail sometime soon. I head back out to the desk to tell them that there’s a week I will be out of town, so make sure my trial isn’t set for those dates. They are happy to oblige. I also ask about getting my own attourney and if that will be a problem if I requested a court appointed one, i’m told everything will be fine as far as that goes.
At this point, I call my lawyer. Who is also Craig’s uncle and he says I can go meet him at his Mount Clemens office. So off I go. Craig’s already there by the time I get there and the rain in The Clem is pouring. I sit down with Rick and explain the situation. Not going to go into details here, but I’ll have my own representation at the trial. We chat for abit about the usual stuff, DNS servers and the importation of egyptian furnature and whatnot. Then off we go. I get a 6 pack of Sam Adams Cherry Wheat and mellow out at Craigs before I had to go to my brother’s honors convication.
I call my folks so they’re privy to the situation. A shred of light shines out of this vastly suck-ass day. The people have accepted our offer on the house! Now we just have to go through the appraisal, inspection, and of course (most importantly), the Mortgage process which I may or may not be a part of. So that’s exciting, but there’s so very much on my mind right now it’s unreal.
And now you’re all up to speed on the situation. Email john at cruzweb dot net with any questions or just call the cell.
