Plea bargain - felony reduced

Last year I reported an incident in which a driver collected 13 tickets (without passing "Go") one night, including a felony charge for destroying government-supported property.

The case involved alleged driving while intoxicated and the breaking of handcuffs that had been put on him. I guess if your name was Charles Atlas or Arnold Schwarzenegger, you might be able to bust out of some handcuffs but, if you have been skipping regular sessions at Gold's Gym, the normal guy is going to break his wrists a long time before he breaks the cuffs, and there will be plenty of noise while he is trying.

The driver was loaded up with 12 traffic tickets. After all, the cop did follow him for three blocks. The cuffs broke while he was sitting at the police station, while the cop wrote up the 12 tickets. The driver was trying to relieve pressure on his arms because the cuffs were too tight, and the cuffs broke apart when he wiggled his arms. After they broke, he held out his arms toward the cop and said, "Look."

And what did the cop do? He cited him for felony destruction of government-supported property. Was there a contest that week for felony arrests?

Judge Condon's court started shortly after 9:00AM. After a few attorneys approached the bench, Judge Condon called a recess at 9:12AM. Court did not reconvene until 9:52AM. Where did the judge go for 40 minutes???

A dozen people in the courtroom and ten attorneys cooled their heels for 40 minutes. Why don't judges inform their "customers" how long the delay will be and even the reason? After all, you don't want not to be there when court resumes!

Even though this was a plea bargain (after all, how many days can you be late for work and just how much can you really afford to pay an attorney to fight charges?), the prosecutor read a lengthy statement to the judge before Judge Condon pronounced the sentence: one year of probation, a $1,000 fine, court costs and restitution.

Will he have to pay the actual cash value of a pair of worn-out, faulty, defective handcuffs ($5.00?) or pay for a new set (Peerless, with two keys: $22.49)?