throwing my coffee at another car

[BIGTEX3421@MSN.]

california
i was recently charged with a felony for throwing my coffee at another car and they also got me with a misdemeanor assault and battery because the victim said the window was down and some got in the car and hit her although the police officer did not say the victim was injured. The situation was i was driving westbound on a four lane road in the #1 lane early in the morning speed limit 35 .As i passed through an intersection the victim took a right turn into my lane without even stopping to see me i slammed on my brakes to avoid hitting her and in my panic i spilled out some of my coffee onto my lap .I then rolled down my window to get rid of it and it hit her car . Do you think i have a chance of getting off or is there anything that can be done ????? this is my first ever arrest and i would like to avoid more jail time .
please helpWhat is the name of your state?

 

[gawm]

i spilled out some of my coffee onto my lap .I then rolled down my window to get rid of it and it hit her car . Do you think i have a chance of getting off or is there anything that can be done ????? this is my first ever arrest and i would like to avoid more jail time .
QUOTE]

What a coincidence, the car that cut you off is the car you hit with the coffee. Why didn't you drink the rest of it? Not a smart thing to do. Your lucky they didn't return the favor with some hot lead flying your way. Road rage is out of control nowadays, best thing to do when someone does something stupid is to let it go. It's not worth getting shot over or being charged with a felony, is it? I don't know how much California is cracking down on these incidents, but it will be better for you to accept responsibility and act remorseful than it would to insult everyone's intelligence and claim it was an accident.

 

[ibeatakidup]

i spilled out some of my coffee onto my lap .I then rolled down my window to get rid of it and it hit her car . Do you think i have a chance of getting off or is there anything that can be done ????? this is my first ever arrest and i would like to avoid more jail time .
QUOTE]

What a coincidence, the car that cut you off is the car you hit with the coffee. Why didn't you drink the rest of it? Not a smart thing to do. Your lucky they didn't return the favor with some hot lead flying your way. Road rage is out of control nowadays, best thing to do when someone does something stupid is to let it go. It's not worth getting shot over or being charged with a felony, is it? I don't know how much California is cracking down on these incidents, but it will be better for you to accept responsibility and act remorseful than it would to insult everyone's intelligence and claim it was an accident.

And your legal advice is what???

 

[gawm]

And your legal advice is what???

My legal advice would be for you not to beat up any more ten year olds!

 

[CdwJava]

california
i was recently charged with a felony for throwing my coffee at another car and they also got me with a misdemeanor assault and battery because the victim said the window was down and some got in the car and hit her although the police officer did not say the victim was injured. The situation was i was driving westbound on a four lane road in the #1 lane early in the morning speed limit 35 .As i passed through an intersection the victim took a right turn into my lane without even stopping to see me i slammed on my brakes to avoid hitting her and in my panic i spilled out some of my coffee onto my lap .I then rolled down my window to get rid of it and it hit her car . Do you think i have a chance of getting off or is there anything that can be done ????? this is my first ever arrest and i would like to avoid more jail time .
please helpWhat is the name of your state?

What was the specific code section(s) you have been charged with?

Throwing an object at a car is a misdemanor unless inujury resulted or the object was likely to cause great bodily injury. That must have been a heck of a dangerous cup to have resulted in a felony.

CVC 23110. (a) Any person who throws any substance at a vehicle or any
occupant thereof on a highway is guilty of a misdemeanor.
(b) Any person who with intent to do great bodily injury
maliciously and willfully throws or projects any rock, brick, bottle,
metal or other missile, or projects any other substance capable of
doing serious bodily harm at such vehicle or occupant thereof is
guilty of a felony and upon conviction shall be punished by
imprisonment in the state prison.


- Carl

 

[gawm]

What was the specific code section(s) you have been charged with?

Th That must have been a heck of a dangerous cup to have resulted in a felony.

CVC 23110.
(b) Any person who with intent to do great bodily injury
maliciously and willfully throws or projects any rock, brick, bottle,
metal or other missile, or projects any other substance capable of
doing serious bodily harm at such vehicle or occupant thereof is
guilty of a felony and upon conviction shall be punished by
imprisonment in the state prison.


- Carl

I think it is foreseeable that if you throw a hot cup of coffee at someones head it would cause serious bodily harm.

 

[CdwJava]

I think it is foreseeable that if you throw a hot cup of coffee at someones head it would cause serious bodily harm.

Proving intent is tough. Proving that they were aiming at someone's head in a moving vehicle is even tougher! Could you hit an moving object that size with a non-aeordynamic cupo of coffee?

If I had to guess, I'd say the police aimed a tad high on the initial charges. Unless there was injury, or the suspect admits aiming for the head, I'd say you'll see this dropped to a misdemeanor.

- Carl

 

[Bretagne]

If this is your first arrest and you have a clean criminal record, I think you have a good chance at getting some type of alternate disposition that will keep a conviction off your record. I do agree that the felony charge seems to be "aiming a little high", and the purpose of over-charging is to get you to agree to plead to the misdemeanor in exchange for having the felony dismissed.

You should retain an attorney to help you work out a good plea deal, if you're committed to protecting your criminal record. You can maybe do an anger management class or a road-rage seminar, whatever they offer out there. Maybe you'll have to write an apology letter to the "victim" or do a little community service or pay a fine. But your goal is to either get the prosecutor to agree to a continuance for dismissal, a straight-up dismissal, or a stay of adjudication of guilt. You should get an attorney to help you with this b/c you don't want to make any admissions to the DA. You've kept quiet so far, good job with that, so you need an attorney to speak for you.

 

[Shay-Pari'e]

Carl,

Maybe I'm not fully awake,.....but how do you see that coffee ending up through their window if the victim is in front of them, and they were moving?

Sounds like there is more to the story.

 

[gawm]

victim said the window was down and some got in the car and hit her

I bet they pulled up right next to the car and threw it in the open window, in which case the head and shoulders is really the only place you would be aiming for.

this is my first ever arrest and i would like to avoid more jail time

I don't think they would of arrested him and taken him to jail if this wasn't the case.

Although this is his first arrest, I bet this isn't the first time he did something like this. Just the first time he got caught. Get an attorney, in all likelihood they will probably let you plea it down. Those anger management classes will do you good.

 

[Shay-Pari'e]

I bet they pulled up right next to the car and threw it in the open window, in which case the head and shoulders is really the only place you would be aiming for.



I don't think they would of arrested him and taken him to jail if this wasn't the case.

Although this is his first arrest, I bet this isn't the first time he did something like this. Just the first time he got caught. Get an attorney, in all likelihood they will probably let you plea it down. Those anger management classes will do you good.

Yep, that's what I was thinking. That liquid isn't going forward when your driving, it is going behind you.

 

[gawm]

OP is just lucky SIGguy wasn't in that other car.

 

[CdwJava]

I still fail to see how a styrofoam coffee cup is going to equate to a deadly weapon. There must be something more to the story to qualify for a felony. If not, then the officers really stretched 23110 to the breaking point.

- Carl

 

[gawm]

QUOTE]I still fail to see how a styrofoam coffee cup is going to equate to a deadly weapon. [/QUOTE] .


Wow Carl, You really are old. I don't remember the last time I seen coffee sold in a styrofoam cup. It is a wax paper type, 12-24 oz, with a spill proof lid. You can launch one about 10-15 feet, definitely the length of a car lane into somebody's open window with pretty good force.

 

[HappyHusband]

Wow Carl, You really are old. I don't remember the last time I seen coffee sold in a styrofoam cup. It is a wax paper type, 12-24 oz, with a spill proof lid. You can launch one about 10-15 feet, definitely the length of a car lane into somebody's open window with pretty good force.

You're lecturing a police officer on coffee cups?