Boston Criminal Lawyer Blog
In a way, I suppose it is the fault of this Boston criminal lawyer. In all my blogs telling you how to react when approached by law enforcement, I have apparently been incomplete. I told you not to try to out-run, out-fight or out-talk the officer who stops you. I have neglected to mention that you should also not try to out-hex him.
Vivencia Bellegarde, 25, of Everett (hereinafter, the “Defendant”) could have used that advice according to a state trooper.
According to reports, the Defendant was pulled over in her Cadillac. She was apparently suspected of Massachusetts Operating Under The Influence and running a Boston Globe delivery truck off Route 93 and onto the Leverett Connector. Surveillance video of the crash shows a car slamming into the Globe truck, forcing it off the roadway and into a frightening 40-foot free fall. The truck came apart on impact with the Leverett Connector on-ramp below.
The criminal justice fireworks began, however, when the trooper came to her vehicle. The trooper noted that she was carrying three electronics benefit transfer (EBT) cards – her own and those of two other people. Upon questioning, the Defendant decided to make rather interesting statements. According to the trooper, she called him a “dumb (expletive)”, mocked him “for paying for food when she gets it for free” and threatened to put a voodoo curse on him.
In his report, the trooper said that “She repeatedly called me a racist and told me she was from Haiti and she was gonna ‘put voodoo on my white (expletive)… (She) told me to Google her name and find out who I was ‘(expletive) with’. She further explained that her name translated means ‘give life take life’ and she emphasized ‘Take life‘. She then shouted that she was ‘coming for all you white (expletives).'”
A spokesman for the state Department of Transitional Assistance, which administers welfare, said in a statement the agency has been notified of the EBT cards “and will take appropriate action.” “DTA investigates every tip that it receives from members of the public or law enforcement, and refers cases to the auditor’s Bureau of Special Investigations for further action, which has the power to investigate potential criminal matters,” the statement said.
The Defendant was held on $10,000 bail and charged with drunk driving and causing serious injury. No word of charges in connection with the EBT cards or the threat to commit a crime…assuming that placing a voodoo hex is a crime in the Commonwealth.
The injured truck driver, Paul Healy Jr., 35, of Brockton, was taken to Massachusetts General Hospital, where he was in fair condition yesterday. He declined to comment yesterday through a family member.
In the meantime, on a quasi-confessionary roll, the Defendant explained to law enforcement that she’d left a party prior to the crash, and “didn’t care about the guy she hit because he isn’t dead and that all she cares about is smoking a cigarette.” The police report says also indicates that her mood fluctuated greatly during booking, the report says, and at one point she began crying about her 5-year-old child.
Earlier, she first denied driving the heavily damaged 2006 Cadillac DTS sedan, which the trooper spotted while on his way to the Globe truck crash, police said. Now, however, she has a lawyer and has finally stopped talking. Her attorney says that she “has no comment. She’s looking forward to her day in court.”
As are we all, I am sure.
By the way, the Defendant’s driving record indicates that she is not exactly new to this type of situation. It includes 10 suspensions, many for failing to pay citations. Last year, her license was suspended for 30 days in connection with a first-offense drunken-driving charge in Lincoln from September 2011. Her license will now be suspended for three years because she refused a Breathalyzer test in this week’s crash, according to the Registry of Motor Vehicles.
The Lincoln arrest report says she had reeked of booze and had front-end damage on her car when she called cops to ask them for help with her tires on a 5 a.m. trek home from a Boston club. She failed sobriety tests but was “polite and cooperative,” the reporting officer wrote.
Attorney Sam’s Take On Interaction With Law Enforcement When Stopped For Motor Vehicle Crimes
I do not know what, if any, evidence law enforcement had against the Defendant prior to their approach of her car. I can promise you, though, she would have been in less trouble had she handled the car stop differently.
Let’s pretend that the Defendant remained courteous and quiet during the stop, only presenting the information she had to provide. Now, we know that she was suspected of being involved with the vehicular accident. However, the evidence against her would have been limited to the observations (probably only of the driver of the truck who may not have had much time to see her) and any damage on her vehicle. Perhaps the video, although we do not know how detailed it is. Not necessarily the weakest case in the world…but far from the strongest. Further, she would have presented no consciousness of guilt and no reason to believe she would flee. Likely, her bail would have been much lower. In fact, she may not have even been placed under arrest.
In fact, her alcohol intake may not have even been realized.
The more the Defendant talked, of course, the more reason she was giving to the officers to suspect that she had been drinking. This is true not only because of the continued observations and nonstop flow of the smell of alcohol, but also the content of her words.
Of course, the more discourse she had with the trooper…the more he could observe. Such as the EBT cards. Naturally, her inclination to make her alleged verbal attack on the officer in response to questions about the cards should not have taken place. Instead, she gave an admission on that potential criminal charge as well.
The sum total is that from what may have been a simple automobile stop and misdemeanor case, the Defendant talked herself into admitting to the accident, admitting to driving while intoxicated and, basically, confessed to her brilliant method of avoiding paying for food. Finally, the observations that ended up being made by the trooper helps the case(s) against the Defendant in terms of consciousness of guilt as well as a very unattractive attitude.
Now, the best thing she can do to help her plight is to retain the services of a very talented and experienced criminal defense attorney in a much more complicated (and so expensive) matter than this one probably had to be.
To read the original story upon this blog is based, please go http://bostonherald.com/news_opinion/local_coverage/2013/08/what_the_hex_oui_suspect_charged_in_wild_crash_threatened_cop
