And the Verdict Is:

As I mentioned in a previous post, Ben received a subpoena to appear in court at the trial for the drunk guy that rear-ended him in January. It was kinda interesting to be there! They called witnesses, had a judge, and everything (well, no jury though). Ben was the first witness called and the prosecuter for the City of Springville basically asked questions to get Ben to tell what happened and what he noticed about the guy (Eric McCann). Ben said that he could smell alcohol, watched him struggle to keep balance, and when they moved their cars to the side of the road, Eric made an extremely wide U-turn and ran over a snow bank (which Ben easily avoided). Then the defense lawyer cross-examined him and only asked a few easy, basic questions. One of the questions was if Ben had actually seen Eric behind the wheel driving before/as he was hit, to which Ben answered 'no'. The police officer that first arrived on the scene was called as the next witness and both lawyers proceeded to ask him questions as well. One other officer was called as a witness by the prosecuter before the defense rested.

We found out through the testimony of the others that Eric, when asked to move his car, not only made that wide U-turn Ben saw but also first got into the passenger side of the car and sat for a few seconds before realizing it and then moved. Eric also was wearing a pair of sunglasses with a lens missing. The officer asked him what was up with his sunglasses, and he didn't seem to think anything was wrong until the officer pointed out that the lens was missing! AND...the best part...the breathalizer test determined his blood alcohol level to be .226!! The legal limit is .08, so he was three times over that! Ha!

I guess the point of the trial was that Eric and his lawyer were trying to say there wasn't enough evidence to convict him of a DUI and to sentence him. They tried to say that it wasn't proven that Eric was actually driving the car (thus the question they asked Ben), that the field sobriety tests were done inaccurately, and that there were other reasons for his behavior (overweight and unable to walk a line because of it, tired from working all night, etc.). Ha! Right!

And the verdict, of course, was that he was guilty of driving under the influence. Eric chose to recieve his sentencing at a later date, so we don't know what it will be.

Anyway, my first experience in a courtroom for a trial was really interesting and kinda fun. Ben really liked it too, especially since he has a strong interest in police work and was majoring in criminal justice for a while.

Here's hoping Eric gets fined and has to spend some time in jail! Maybe that'll teach him!