Larry’s Log

Well, the long awaited court date came and went on March 1. I’m just now having an opportunity to sit down and write about it. It did not conclude to my satisfaction.

For those of you who don’t know, in August of 2002 my eldest son was involved in a traffic accident in a 1995 Chevrolet Blazer that was registered in my name. He was sitting at the traffic light at the exit of Hwy 153 and Amnicola Hwy awaiting to proceed straight across Amnicola Hwy and onto South Access Rd. in Chattanooga, TN. When the light changed green he proceeded into the intersection where he met a Ms. Dorothy Simmons. Ms. Simmons was making a left hand turn from South Access road onto Amnicola Hwy.

Ms. Simmons and my son were both transported to the hospital via ambulance. My son was going due to having a cut along with some swelling on his forehead. Ms Simmons was going because she was sore. My son’s car was totaled and undrivable. Ms Simmons car was somewhat drivable.

Information was exchanged…. sort of. I had her name and that was about it. At the scene she told my son she had insurance with State Farm, the same company we had insurance with. I thought this would be simple to settle, it wasn’t.

I found a Dorthy Simmons living within two miles of the accident. I called her number and was told by Ms. Simmons that she wasn’t talking to me, that she did have insurance with State Farm and not to call her again. I obliged and called State Farm. Her insurance with them had been dropped two years earlier due to non payment of premiums. I turned the claim over to State Farm as an uninsured motorist claim.

Ms. Simmons was issued a ticket for failing to yield the right of way. I was at the hearing in City Court in front of Judge Russell Bean. She had a witness. Another woman had made a left turn in front of my son prior to his meeting Ms. Simmons. Ms. Simmons was claiming that my son had almost hit the other woman because he was driving so fast and that is why she hit him. The traffic officer, who I can’t recall his name right now, was asked by Judge Bean about this witness and why she wasn’t on the police report. He told Judge Bean that since the woman had substantiated what the evidence at the scene had told him he didn’t see a need in adding her name to the police report. Judge Bean dismissed the ticket, I think as a means of punishing this officer for not writing down the witness’s name.

I asked Judge Bean about her not having insurance. She claimed again in front of him that she did have insurance he told us to exchange information in the clerks office. She wasn’t carrying a card but gave me the name of another insurance company. I checked. She was insured with them. Coverage began two weeks after the accident.

So far I’ve had contact with this woman twice, once by phone and once in person. Both times she has lied to me.

I forget about it. My insurance pays off on through my uninsured motorist coverage. My son buys another car with the money and we put it in his name. Life goes on.

About four months later my insurance company’s lawyer contacts me. They are trying to subrogate the damages I suffered against Ms. Simmons. That’s fine with me. I’ll help all I can.

About two months after that I got a letter in the mail. I had moved to Georgia so it was to me at my old address and forwarded by the post office. This letter was from a law firm representing Ms. Simmons. I called the lawyer and found out that Ms. Simmons was looking to recover her damages from me. I gave the lawyer the name of my insurance company and told him I could see no liability on my son’s part to contact my insurance company if he felt differntly. I then called the lawyer who I had spoken with to tell them what was happening.

To speed things up a bit Ms. Simmons somewhere along the line obtained a new attorney, Ms. Melanie Snipes, and I got passed along to two other attorneys. I was told I was going to be sued. Tentative trial dates were set, I never got a summons. Six months later after a judged reprimanded Ms. Snipes for not summonsing me I got my summons and was on my way to court… I thought.

Ms. Snipes didn’t show up because she was too close to childbirth. Court date was reset, the police officer didn’t show up, he was having shoulder surgery. The Court date was reset again. Ms. Snipes had a murder trial that conflicted with the date. Court date was reset again, my son had a work conflict. They made us wait, I wasn’t going to have him screw up his work schedule when we had accomodated them. Court date was reset to March 1, 2004.

We all showed up… almost.

A special judge was presiding over the case. The police officer, who had been subpenoed this time, could not be found. The judge decided to go ahead and start the trial and hope the officer could be located and could get to the court on time. He was a local attorney acting as the special judge. Flieschman was his last name. I don’t recall his first name. He asked us if any of us, other than the two attorneys, knew him we all said, “No.”

My son took the stand and told what happened. I took the stand and told what the car was worth. Ms. Simmons took the stand and stated that my son was on a cell phone, my son denied it, she stated that my son had tried to dodge the car that had turn left in front of him prior to her left turn and that he had crossed into her lane and hit him head on. She stated that my son was speeding through the intersection. She also stated that she saw him prior to his entering the intersection.

After we all said our pieces the police officer still had not shown up. The judge wanted to talk to him before passing judgement. We all left, not knowing what the outcome would be but thinking this was all behind us now. My insurance had already paid me and wasn’t going to be asking for the money back. In the unlikely event that the judge found against me my insurance would cover it, no sweat. I left not quite satisfied but ready to put that all behind me.

That was about 10:30am Tuesday morning. Around 12:45pm my lawyer called me to tell me that the officer still had not been found and the chances of finding him to testify today were right at zero. He also told me that Ms. Snipes had contacted him to inform him that Ms. Simmons suddenly remembered that this special judge had “sued her one time.” We might have to do this all over again.

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