I attended the sentencing hearing yesterday for the motorist who struck Casey. The hearing had been scheduled and postponed many times and that itself took a toll so we agreed to the plea bargain on one of the two traffic violations. That is really all that was available under New Jersey law. I did talk about Casey and how good hearted she was and how she would have liked to have seen a kinder and gentler world and how those who knew her, and even strangers ,were trying to do service or just be kinder to others in her memory. It had been troubling to us that the motorist and his family had not reached out to us and even sent a sympathy card. I had been informed that was due to the advice of the motorist's lawyer. I had thought about that advice quite a bit before the hearing.After the hearing the motorist's wife came up to me and spoke with me about how they had wanted to reach out but kept being told by the lawyer that they should not. the wife of the motorist told me that she looks at Casey's site often and has had us in her prayers. I was deeply moved . As a result I sent a letter to the editor of The Atlantic City Press hoping that it would be published and perhaps that lawyers could think before giving the advice not to reach out to the victim's family.
Related Links:
Lawyers, let clients express sympathy to victims, by Joel Feldman, published in the Press of Atlatic City,3-26-2010
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