Opinion ID: 76122
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Reckless Driving Citation

Text: 7 Trooper Kesler's traffic citations set plaintiff Wood's initial court appearance for May 4, 1998. Wood appeared in court, pled not guilty, and requested a trial date, which was set for July 8, 1998. Later, Wood, pro se, filed a document request for Kesler's records. On the advice of his superiors and the district attorney's office, Kesler did not provide the documents or respond. 8 At trial on July 8, 1998, plaintiff Wood refused to accept a plea bargain and decided to defend against the charges. 3 At that time, Assistant District Attorney Brian Jones spoke with both plaintiff Wood and Trooper Kesler about the circumstances surrounding the speeding and log book citations. Kesler advised prosecutor Jones that Wood had lost control of his vehicle due to Wood's locking his brakes, but that Kesler had decided not to issue a reckless driving citation to Wood. After speaking with Trooper Kesler, prosecutor Jones instructed Kesler to issue Wood a citation for violation of the reckless driving statute. 4 9 Trooper Kesler complied with Jones's instruction, back-dating the reckless driving citation to March 30, 1998, the date of the speeding charge. 5 Kesler also obtained an arrest warrant on the reckless driving charge. Kesler did not believe that he could refuse when prosecutor Jones told him to write the reckless driving citation. Kesler felt that Jones was his superior.