Guilty as charged

MUNICIPAL COURT

ESSEX COUNTY

BLOOMFIELD, NEW JERSEY

DOCKET NO. SP4-874971

STATE OF NEW JERSEY, Plaintiff, vs. MOHAMED F. EL - HEWIE, Defendant.

TRANSCRIPT • OF • TRIAL

Place: Bloomfield Municipal Court

Law Enforcement Building

Bloomfield, N.J. 07003

Date: August 31, 2010

BEFORE: HONORABLE JOHN A. PAPARAZZO, J.M.C.
APPEARANCES: PAUL SANT' AMBROGIO, ESQ.,
Municipal Prosecutor for the Township of Bloomfield, Attorney for the State.

MOHAMED F. EL-HEWIE, Pro Se, Defendant,
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METRO TRANSCRIPTS, L.L.C.
Kelly Ford
316 Ann Street
Randolph, New Jersey 07869
(973) 659-9494
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INDEX
8/31/10
WITNESS
FOR THE STATE
TROOPER RICHARD ALAM
By Mr. Sant'Ambrogio
By Mr. El-Hewie
FOR THE DEFENDANT
MR. MOHAMED F. EL-HEWIE
By the Court
By Mr. Sant'Ambrogio
COURT DECISION
COURT SENTENCE 19

Colloquy 3
MR. SANT'AMBROGIO: Mohamed El-Hewie. That's a trial, Judge. And it's your first. He's here. He's
ready to go. Are you okay?

THE COURT: Sir, you're Mohamed El-Hewie?
MR. EL-HEWIE: Yes.

THE COURT: You're charged with a State Police Complaint 971, careless driving. Sir, in regard to this matter, it says it was an accident. You have the right to be represented by an attorney. Judge Connelly advised you of that on July 28th. Do you wish to speak to a lawyer before you proceed?

MR. EL-HEWIE: No, Your Honor. I will represent myself.
THE COURT: Okay. You're pleading not guilty. Is that correct?

MR. EL-HEWIE: Correct.
THE COURT: Is the State ready?

MR. SANT'AMBROGIO: It is.
THE COURT: Call your first witness.
MR. SANT'AMBROGIO: Trooper Alam.
THE COURT: Trooper, just raise --
MR. SANT'AMBROGIO: Could you put your left hand on the Bible and raise --
THE COURT: Raise your right hand, please.

TROOPER R I C H A R D A L A M, STATE'S WITNESS,

DIRECT CROSS REDIRECT RECROSS 4
Alam - Direct/Sant'Ambrogio SWORN.

THE COURT: All right. Sir, please state
your full name and spell your last name.

THE WITNESS: Richard Alam, A-1-a-m, Badge
No. 6342 with the New Jersey State Police.

THE COURT: Your witness, Mr. Prosecutor.




DIRECT EXAMINATION BY MR. SANT'AMBROCIO: 5
Q Trooper Alam, you were on duty and working on July 9, 2010?
A Yes.

Q And on that date did you have occasion to become in the company of the defendant here, Mr. Mohamed El-Hewie?
A Yes.

Q And what were the circumstances under which you observed him on that occasion?
A It was a motor-vehicle accident that I responded to and investigated.

Q And what was the location?

A It was on the Garden State Parkway, northbound at Milepost 149.1.

Q Is that here in Bloomfield?
A Yes. Yes.

Q Did you actually see Mr. El-Hewie operate his vehicle?












Alam - Direct/Sant'Ambrogio 5
A No.
Q When you got to the -- that location, what did you observe?
A I observed the defendant's vehicle. It had impact with a vehicle directly in front of it in the left lane. That's a three-lane highway at this point.
Q Did you have a conversation with Mr. El-Hewie how it is that his vehicle came into contact with the vehicle in front of it?
A Yes. He -- he stated, and I have the report in front of me, and I quote, "He stopped short and stopped, but it was not" -- "it" -- "but it was wet out."
Q Now when it says he stopped short, who -- who -- who is Mr. El-Hewie referring to?
A He was referring to -- to the vehicle in front of him.
Q Okay.
A Directly in front of him.
Q So it was clear it was a rear-end accident.
A Yes.
Q And could you describe the weather conditions?
A It was wet, raining, and traffic was moderate.
Q Would you describe the extent of the damage











Alam - Direct/Sant'Ambrogio 6
to either the leading vehicle or Mr. El-Hewie's vehicle.
A There was damage on the rear portion of the vehicle that was in front of the defendant's vehicle. It was minor - -
Q And just to provide that --
A -- minor - -
Q -- okay. Minor. Okay.
A -- minor damage, but defendant's vehicle suffered moderate damage, and it was subsequently towed from the scene. It was not driveable.
Q It was not operable as a result of this impact?
A Correct.
Q Okay. Now did you have a conversation with Driver No. 1 concerning this?
A Yes. Yes.
Q And what did Driver No. 1 articulate?
A Again, I'll quote from the report. "We were in traffic, and he hit me."
Q Referring to Mr. El-Hewie.
A Correct.
Q Okay. Did you have any further conversation with the defendant about this?
A Not that I could recall.

Alam - Direct/Sant'Ambrogio 7

1 Q And how long have you been a trooper?
2 A Six years.
3 Q And in that time, how many accident cases
4 have you been involved with as an investigating officer
5 or in your tour of duty?

6 A I would estimate over 500.
7 Q Okay. And what do you ascribe the cause of
8 the collision to?
9 A Just driver inattention. The defendant wasn't
10 paying attention.
11 Q Under those weather conditions --
12 A You're -- you're supposed to drive adequate to the
13 weather and traffic conditions and road conditions.
14 And if the defendant would have paid attention, he
15 would have stopped in time.
16 MR. SANT'AMBROGIO: I have no other
17 questions, Your Honor.
18 THE COURT: Sir, any questions you have of
19 the trooper? Any questions you want to ask the
20 trooper?
21 MR. EL-HEWIE: Yeah, sure.
22 CROSS-EXAMINATION BY MR. EL-HEWIE:
23 Q Did you witness the accident?
24 A No. No.
25 Q Did you make an investigation to see if the











Alam - Cross/El-Hewie 8

car in front of me has brake light working or not?
A Has --
Q Brake lights working or not.
A Brake lights working or not.
Q Was the brake light of this car, did you
inspect the brake light?
A No, I don't -- did not inspect it.
Q Did you ask the driver where did he come from
in front of me?
A I may have. I generally do, but I do not recall
asking him.
Q Do you have any idea how was it happened --
the accident happened?
A Yes. Based on the investigation on the scene and
your statement and the -- the other driver's statement.
Q So you did not see the -- the cars collide
into each other.
A No, I did not see the cars.
Q So you came after the -- you were called
after the accident, correct?
A Correct.
Q And do you remember how much time it took you
to arrive?
A I don't recall.
MR. EL-HEWIE: Your Honor, I -- I --

Colloquy 9

1 MR. SANT'AMBROGIO: Any other questions?
2 THE COURT: Yes, any questions you have.
3 It's direct questions.
4 MR. EL-HEWIE: No, I don't have any.
5 THE COURT: Okay.
6 Mr. Prosecutor, any other evidence you have?
7 MR. SANT'AMBROGIO: No, Your Honor.
8 THE COURT: Okay. The State rests?
9 MR. SANT'AMBROGIO: It does.
10 THE COURT: Mr. El-Hewie, the State has
11 rested, which means we're in your case. You have a
12 right to remain silent. Your silence cannot be used
against you. You could produce evidence, produce
14 witnesses. We're in your case. Whatever you'd like to
15 do we will do.
16 What would you like to do at this time?
17 MR. EL-HEWIE: Your Honor, I will proceed.
18 THE COURT: Okay. Raise your right hand,
19 sir.
20 M O H A M E D F. EL-HEWIE, DEFENDANT, SWORN.
21 THE COURT: Put your hand down.
22 QUESTIONS BY THE COURT:
23 Q You're Mohamed El-Hewie of West Paterson, New
24 Jersey?
25 A Correct.

El - Hewie - Questions/Court 10

Q All right. Sir, I'll direct your attention
to July 9th, 2010, Garden State Parkway northbound,
Bloomfield in Essex County, approximately 2:46 in the
afternoon. Tell me -- 12:46. I'm sorry. Tell me what
happened?
A Your Honor, we -- I was driving in the heavy rain,
heavy traffic. We were driving very slow. Suddenly
the rain just poured from the sky. Everybody tried to
manage to slow down see what happen. I don't know what
exactly, where's the car in front of me came from, but
it seems like the -- the driver took suddenly in the
left lane. I hit the brake pretty hard. By the time I
get to his car, slightly collided with him. There was
not much -- the reason why I got my car towed was my --
a plastic piece came in front and I don't want to drive
my car. As soon as I got my car out of the road, I
drove it back home. There was no permanent damage.
There was no loss. The State lose -- lose nothing.
I -- Your Honor, I don't think this case should
have never came to court. I think it's a bunch of - -
Q Well, we're here now, so we might as well
proceed.
A Yeah, this is -- this is not a reckless driving.
It is not -- it's an act of God. I exercise all the
caution I have. The weather was extreme. An accident

El-Hewie - Questions/Court 11
doesn't mean a person -- an accident doesn't mean a
person did not exercise --
Q You're charged with careless, not reckless.
A Yeah, whatever the situation, Your Honor, I never
have an accident. This is the first accident in my
entire life, and I'm 68 years old. I -- I don't think
your other guy's -- the argument of the State is -- is
objective. I think it's most guessing. If -- if you
exercise all the -- the caution that you want, the --
the weather -- the machine does not perform in extreme
weather.
Your Honor, there was no damage whatsoever. Just
(indiscernible) of punishment the State is going to
punish me. And I just ask the Court to dismiss the
case.
Q Okay. Thank you.
THE COURT: Mr. Prosecutor, any questions you
have of Mr. E1-Hewie?
CROSS-EXAMINATION BY MR. SANT'AMBROGIO: 12
Q Isn't it true, sir, that you were involved in
an accident prior to this one on July 9th?
A I never had an accident in my life.
Q Back on December 27th, 2008 weren't you
involved in an accident and the police reported?
A No, sir. I have no idea what kind of accident.

El-Hewie - Cross/Sant'Ambrogio 12

I've never had an accident.
Q Okay. That's your answer. That's your
answer.
A It's not an accident I -- I (indiscernible) be
guilty.
Q Okay.
THE COURT: Go ahead. I'm sorry. Go ahead.
Q Isn't it true that prior to the impact you
were actually traveling at too great a speed to stop in
terms of anything that might occur --
A No, there's people --
Q -- the vehicle in front of you stopping as
vehicles tend to do?
A No, the speed was never over two miles an hour.
At that type of traffic we were driving pretty slow.
Q Isn't it true that you actually didn't keep
enough distance between the front of your vehicle and
the rear of the front -- of the other -- the rear of
the other vehicle in order to stop in time were a
vehicle such as this one to put on -- apply its brakes?
A No. Of course if I was very close I would have
hit him hard. I was not very -- I was not close at
all. I have it -- the distance -- the weather was too
slippery for anybody --
Q Yeah, but it rains -- when it rains we all

El-Hewie - Questions/Court 13

slow down, right, and allow for -- okay.
MR. SANT'AMBROGIO: I have no other
questions.
I do have evidence to the contrary on his statement about prior accident. I can introduce that through a rebuttal?
THE COURT: One more second.
QUESTIONS BY THE COURT:
Q Mr. El-Hewie, you made a -- and I may have misunderstood, I apologize -- but you said there was no damage to your vehicle or the other vehicle?
A Your Honor, there was not -- nobody did damage. My --
Q No. No. No. I'm not saying it clearly. But did after the accident, whether it was at the scene or the day later, did you look at your car? There was no damage?
A No, my car has -- my car has damage. Just not significant.
Q Oh. Okay. Well, no, significant, unfortunately in today's world, is very small scratch is significant.
A I not --
Q You had damage to your vehicle, correct?
A But I did not give him damage, Your Honor.

El-Hewie - Questions/Court 14

Q How about the back of your vehicle? Any damage to that vehicle?
A Your Honor, (indiscernible).
Q You have -- you have to answer my question.  Was there -- forget any claims. I don't care about insurance companies. I don't care about police officers. I care about was there damage. Was there damage to the vehicle?
A You'll have to ask the other driver. I'm not sure. So I can't --
Q But did you look at his car?
A Yes, I did.
Q Did you see any damage?
A I do -- Your Honor, I do have a picture for his car. (Indiscernible).
Q I don't need a picture. I'm just asking you did you see damage on his vehicle?
A I do see minor damage, Your Honor.
Q Okay. All right. Thank you.
THE COURT: Mr. Prosecutor, you indicated you had a rebuttal?
MR. SANT'AMBROGIO: Yes.
THE COURT: Go ahead.
TROOPER R I C H A R D A L A M, STATE'S WITNESS,
PREVIOUSLY SWORN.

Alam - Direct/Sant'Ambrogio 15
DIRECT EXAMINATION BY MR. SANT'AMBROGIO:
Q Trooper, are you familiar with the certified driving abstract of the defendant?
A Yes, sir.
Q And did you cause our office to procure a copy for today?
A Yes, sir. Correct.
Q Okay. And directing -- is that what I'm holding in my hand?
A Yes, sir, it is.
Q And it speaks for itself, but it does demonstrate a prior accident in the one --
A On December 27th, it does indicate. Yes.
MR. SANT'AMBROGIO: Thank you, Your Honor. If Your Honor would like to see that, I can submit it
as S-1.
THE COURT: Okay. Thank you.
Mr. El-Hewie, anything further you want me to hear before I address the decision in this case?
MR. EL-HEWIE: No, Your Honor, I just want to know exactly what kind of accident --
THE COURT: It's okay. Don't worry about that. Anything else you want to tell me about the
-- the facts of this case?

Court Decision 16
1 MR. EL-HEWIE: No, Your Honor. The facts are clear.
THE COURT: With regard to this matter, the State called Trooper Alam with regard to the investigation on July 9th, 2010, Garden State Parkway northbound in Bloomfield in Essex County at about 12:46 p.m. Indicated he's been a trooper for six years. He has investigated over 500 -- 500 motor-vehicle accidents.
He was traveling on the Garden State Parkway northbound. He went to a location in Bloomfield to investigate a motor-vehicle accident. Upon investigation, he determined that a motor vehicle -- two motor vehicles were traveling in the left lane, it's a three-lane highway in that location. That one vehicle impacted the rear of another vehicle, causing damage to the front of the second vehicle and damage to the rear of the first vehicle. This all occurred in the left lane of the Garden State Parkway. He also took statements from both parties involved in the accident. The one statement was from Mr. El-Hewie who indicated that the vehicle in front of him stopped abruptly or short, and he also stopped -- it was wet out, it was wet, rainy and moderate traffic, and Mr. El-Hewie hit the back or rear of the first

Court Decision 17
1 vehicle.
2 The trooper did indicate that the damage was
3 minor and that Mr. El-Hewie also said minor damage, but
4 he said his vehicle was not operable at that time.
5 On cross-examination the trooper indicated
6 that he did not witness the happening of the accident.
7 He did not inspect brake lights on the first vehicle.
8 And he had no idea where the first vehicle that was
9 involved in the accident came from.
10 Mr. El-Hewie testified that he was driving
11 slowly. It was heavy traffic. He said the skies
12 opened up, it was pouring. He says he has no idea
13 where the car in front of him came from, but he hit his
14 brakes hard, and he collided with the vehicle in front
15 of him. He indicated the damage was minor to both
16 vehicles.
17 A 39:4-97, careless driving, which is the
18 offense charged by the trooper indicates as follows. "A person who drives a vehicle carelessly or without
due caution and circumspection in a manner so as to endanger or be likely to endanger a person or property shall be guilty of careless driving." There's the old famous case that indicates that the mere happening of an accident is not careless driving. If a trooper came upon a scene and just saw an accident, it may not be Court Decision  careless driving because there'd be other factors that caused the accident. But in this case the trooper not only made the observations of a rear-end accident, but he took testimony or statements, I'm sorry, from both -- both operators of the vehicles and clearly there was bad weather. Clearly Mr. El-Hewie did not have enough distance from the vehicle in front of him to come to a complete stop.
As the Prosecutor questioned in cross examination, on clear weather, maybe speed can be a little bit higher. On poor weather, snowy days, icy days, rainy days, you have to drive sometimes on the Parkway, you know, two miles and hour if the weather is so bad. But you have to keep a proper distance. Careless driving also incorporates other Title 39 statutes, which state that you must keep a proper distance from a vehicle in front of you. You must operate your vehicle based upon the conditions. I find, based upon the conditions, that this
defendant did not keep a proper distance, did not have control of his vehicle, and did not stop his vehicle in
sufficient time to avoid an accident. I must enter a finding of guilty. Mr. El-Hewie, I do have your abstract here. Is there anything you want to tell me, sir, before I
Court Sentence 19
impose sentence?
MR. EL -HEWIE: Your Honor, there's -- there
is -- my car was -- it was driveable. I did drive my
car home.
THE COURT: Uh - huh.
MR. EL - HEWIE: Number two, the assessment
that I did not have enough distance is not accurate. I
did have enough distance.
THE COURT: Well, then why'd you hit the car?
MR. EL -HEWIE: Your Honor, the -- the -- the
weather -- any machine can fail in that kind of
circumstances that I was in.
THE COURT: Well, if you're claiming you had
-- brakes were bad, you have to bring an expert in and
tell me that, but that's not before me.
MR. EL - HEWIE: Your Honor, just because
you're in an accident does not mean that
(indiscernible).
THE COURT: I understand that. Well, you have 20 days to file an appeal. I'm also looking at your abstract. You have one, two, three, four, five, six motor-vehicle violations from 2001, three unsafes. You have -- well, one is not important, failure to notify of address; 2007 speeding and 2008 obstructing the passage of a motor vehicle, which you're not

Court Sentence
supposed to do, but that's okay. And now careless driving. Based upon your record, based upon the  statements, it's a 256 fine; $33 court costs; you have 20 days to file an appeal. MR. SANT'AMBROGIO: Thank you, Your Honor.
Thank you, Trooper. Have a nice day.
TROOPER ALAM: Thank you, Judge.
THE COURT: Go out to the window, sir.
They'll talk to you there.
MR. EL-HEWIE: Thank you.
(Proceedings concluded)

2 CERTIFICATION
34
1, Kelly Ford, the assigned transcriber, do hereby
5 certify the foregoing Transcript of Proceedings in the
6 Bloomfield Municipal Court, on August 31, 2010 and
7 recorded on CD No. 8-31-10, Index No. 11:30 to 11:45,
8 is prepared in full compliance with current Transcript
9 Format for Judicial Proceedings and is a true and
10 accurate compressed transcript of the proceedings as
11 recorded.
16. KELLY FORD, AOC 561
17 METRO TRANSCRIPTS, L.L.C.
19 Date : (51