JM: Tell us about the pre-sentencing process: Clark: Two attorney meetings with public defender. One
for the initial appearance and one for the plea
agreement. There was a pre-sentence
investigation (PSI) completed by the probation
dept. I did not meet with probation dept. I
completed an application and returned it and then
they compiled it. It was approximately 80%
accurate.
JM: Did you have police stop by your house for questioning? If not please give us details on how you came to be arrested. Clark: I was traveling for work and I just happened to
be leaving to go and get a cup of coffee before
work and there was a ruckus outside in the
parking lot and the police were just trying to
collect details about what was going on. It was a
fluke. If I would have just waiting til it was
time to leave I would never have ran into the
officers by accident
JM: What was court like? Please give as many details as you recall. Clark: Brief. I never spent more than a few minutes
engaged with the judge, defense attorney and
prosecutor each time. The judge was somewhat
harsh with most defendants I was witness to.
Court was always crowded and busy. Mostly drug
cases and some robberies and assaults. It seemed
like mostly drugs.
JM: What were your original charges? What did you end up being convicted of? Clark: I was charged with a DUI and Failure to Appear as
I missed a court date that my attorney was
supposed to have changed. The DUI was a
misdemeanor and the FTA was made a felony because
I guess they rescheduled me to be in court the
following day as well and I missed both dates.