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2 defendants with minor traffic violations separately approached the judge early in the session, only to be handed a sheet of paper by the public defender and told by Judge Roberts to follow the instructions on the sheet. She sounded apologetic, explaining to the first defendant that "the DA's office has changed the process. We can no longer handle plea bargains in court, so if you want a reduced charge you will have to contact their office by email." Judge Roberts was about to set a new court date one month hence when County Public Defender Michael Howard spoke up, saying to the judge: "It usually takes more than a month for the DA's office to determine a plea deal or not." And so, Judge Roberts adjourned the defendant's case for two months.
Roberts welcomed the second defendant with this: "I know you were given a date to come in today, but the DA no long offers reduced charges in court. So, you will have to go online to do that." Again, it was essentially an apology. She might as well have said "I am sorry you had to come here today to waste your time and get nothing accomplished, but here's a piece of paper for you to take home and read. That should help you get things taken care of." As the first defendant had done, this poor guy left the court with instructions in hand to attempt to get his speeding ticket taken care of elsewhere and by someone else, knowing he had to be back in City Court in 60 days to hopefully be done with the ticket.
Over the course of the next 20 minutes or so, 4 Spanish-speaking defendants with traffic violations separately approached the bench. The court knew in advance that these people spoke little to no English, so there was a translator present in the court. The adjudication of their tickets took place right then and there, with the Assistant DA Carl Whitbeck OFFERING PLEA DEALS to the court for each of them.
With the help of the translator, Judge Roberts offered the plea deals to each of the defendants. The first defendant had a Speeding In Zone ticket, as well as an Unlicensed Operator ticket. Swiftly, both of them were reduced to one 201A Parking On The Pavement violation, totaling $125, which the defendant was given 30 days to pay. The defendant heard the translation, pled guilty, thanked the judge and left the court. He was not holding a white sheet of paper detailing instructions on how to apply for a reduced charge from the County DA's office, nor was he required to return for an adjourned court date, because all the necessary work was taken care of in about 2 minutes with the help of Cheryl, Carl, Michael, and the translator. It was the same simple and short process with the 3 subsequent Spanish-speaking defendants needing a translator. They all walked out of the court having pled guilty to the reduced charges they were offered in court. Their tickets were essentially taken care of, only needing to be paid.
So, if you don't speak the English language, the Columbia County DA's office, in the presence of a paid translator, will offer you a reduced charge in court. But if you do speak the English language, you will not be offered one. Instead, you will be sent home to do all sorts of things online required by the DA's Office, only to wait at home for a month or more while they CONSIDER if you deserve a reduced charge. 2 of those requirements include submitting a copy of the traffic ticket and your DMV abstract via the online form you must fill out. You will be taking pictures and uploading them to the form, hoping the DA's office gets them and can read them. Good luck obtaining your DMV abstract, if you even know what one is.
If you don't speak the English language you won't have to worry about getting a hold of your DMV abstract and somehow submitting it to the DA's Office. That will not be necessary. You get a pass for not speaking English.
How on earth is this possible? Whose idea was this?
I can't imagine that Judge Roberts or Judge Connor think that any of the DA's new "process" makes any sense or is one bit helpful.
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