Please help Josh and his daughter
Donation protected
In the early morning of October 12th 2016 Joshua Alexander, a fully licensed AZ truck driver working for Moe's Transport out of Windsor Ontario, was driving his tractor trailer along Michigans Interstate 94 East, making his way back home to Canada after another run South of the border. Josh has done this run on a number of occasions without issue and as far as he knew this time was no different. Being a safe and conscientious driver Josh pulled over and shut his rig down at mile marker 66 to get some rest prior to arriving at the border. After approximately 30 minutes Josh was awakened by the lights of a State Police car behind his truck and the officer at his side door. He was questioned about a fatal motorcycle accident that had taken place approximately 6 miles behind where he was asleep and then asked to follow the Sherriff to the nearest truck stop where he was questioned for many hours during which he had his vehicle inspected for signs of an accident. It was during this inspection that the police found what looked to be blood and scratches on the tractor, regardless the vehicle was not seized and Josh and his tractor and trailer where set free to return to Canada pending the outcome of the investigation, which later revealed that the blood was animal and not human and that the paint in the scratches did not match that of the paint at the accident scene.
Now, one would think that this would be the end of the matter but instead this is when Josh, a single father with sole custody of a young daughter, has his nightmare start. The State Police would not declare that Josh was not at fault and instead continued to pursue charges against him so he had to start searching for a good lawyer in the US to take his case and luckily found Mr. Roy Transit. A court date was set in January 2017 and as Josh was crossing the border to attend the hearing he was arrested for failing to remain at the scene of a fatal accident and detained for many hours until his his lawyer, Roy Transit, could bail him out at a cost of $5,000 US.
Then there was a preliminary examination in which the US District Court Judge determined that Josh may be a flight risk and levied a $100,000 US bond against him in which he had to immediately pay $10,000US in cash and had to put his house up as collateral for a surety bond. It must be noted that this same District Court Judge was formerly the prosecutor who released Josh's truck and trailer without impounding it as evidence when he had the chance to do so, possibly ending the matter at that time. Instead, now there is a pre trial date set for August 17 with a trial date set for the week of August 25 with a fear that it could last as long as 10 days.
Josh's lawyer feels very confident that he can successfully argue Josh's case however it won't be without jumping through all the hoops and at a huge expense to this young single father who wants nothing more than his life to get back to normal and enjoy his time with his daughter and not having thiscloud hanging over his head.
To date Josh has been able to meet the financial burden by unfortunately having to use the savings he had set aside to assure that his young daughters needs were met. He has thankfully also received assistance from his employer, Moe's Transport as well as being assured by his Union, Teamsters Local 879, that any shortfalls would be dealt with following what's hoped will be a full exoneration of all charges against him.
However, successfully defending Josh will not be cheap. His attorny will be utilizing the assistance of an individual who is an expert witness when it comes to matters dealing with onboard vehicle GPS Systems and intends to prove that Josh's vehicle was actually not at the scene of the accident when it was suggested he was and instead will prove that Josh's truck was parked on the shoulder of Intersate 94 at 6:02 am and that the accident happened at 6:13am, 6 miles back from where Josh was parked sleeping. This expert is crucial to the case but comes at a cost. Josh has already paid a $3,500 US retainer for the professional with a view of it increasing to as much as $12,000 US by the time the trial is over. And then there is the cost of paying for his US Attorny, all the time off work he will have to take, accommodations during the trial, food and related expenses for what could be a 10 day trial and a 2 day pre trial, most of which will be in US Dollars.
It is expected that the total bill for Josh is expected to be as much as $70,000 CDN by the time this is all over and done with and this is for a case, that as said previously, should have never ever reached this point.
Therfore, we are pleading with all of Josh's family, friends, co-workers, Union Sisters and Brothers and all you truck drivers out there that know what it's like to live on the highway and how something like what's happening to Josh could easily happen to someone else, to please please please see fit to donate anything that you can to Josh's Legal Expense Fund. Should you not want to donate through the Go Fund Me page and wish instead to make a cheque out directly to Josh please contact me at [email redacted] for details.
All donations are greatly appreciated and I would like to thank everyone for taking the time to read this page and hope you can see fit to help out.
Thanking all of you in advance,
John McCann
President
Teamsters Local Union No. 879
Now, one would think that this would be the end of the matter but instead this is when Josh, a single father with sole custody of a young daughter, has his nightmare start. The State Police would not declare that Josh was not at fault and instead continued to pursue charges against him so he had to start searching for a good lawyer in the US to take his case and luckily found Mr. Roy Transit. A court date was set in January 2017 and as Josh was crossing the border to attend the hearing he was arrested for failing to remain at the scene of a fatal accident and detained for many hours until his his lawyer, Roy Transit, could bail him out at a cost of $5,000 US.
Then there was a preliminary examination in which the US District Court Judge determined that Josh may be a flight risk and levied a $100,000 US bond against him in which he had to immediately pay $10,000US in cash and had to put his house up as collateral for a surety bond. It must be noted that this same District Court Judge was formerly the prosecutor who released Josh's truck and trailer without impounding it as evidence when he had the chance to do so, possibly ending the matter at that time. Instead, now there is a pre trial date set for August 17 with a trial date set for the week of August 25 with a fear that it could last as long as 10 days.
Josh's lawyer feels very confident that he can successfully argue Josh's case however it won't be without jumping through all the hoops and at a huge expense to this young single father who wants nothing more than his life to get back to normal and enjoy his time with his daughter and not having thiscloud hanging over his head.
To date Josh has been able to meet the financial burden by unfortunately having to use the savings he had set aside to assure that his young daughters needs were met. He has thankfully also received assistance from his employer, Moe's Transport as well as being assured by his Union, Teamsters Local 879, that any shortfalls would be dealt with following what's hoped will be a full exoneration of all charges against him.
However, successfully defending Josh will not be cheap. His attorny will be utilizing the assistance of an individual who is an expert witness when it comes to matters dealing with onboard vehicle GPS Systems and intends to prove that Josh's vehicle was actually not at the scene of the accident when it was suggested he was and instead will prove that Josh's truck was parked on the shoulder of Intersate 94 at 6:02 am and that the accident happened at 6:13am, 6 miles back from where Josh was parked sleeping. This expert is crucial to the case but comes at a cost. Josh has already paid a $3,500 US retainer for the professional with a view of it increasing to as much as $12,000 US by the time the trial is over. And then there is the cost of paying for his US Attorny, all the time off work he will have to take, accommodations during the trial, food and related expenses for what could be a 10 day trial and a 2 day pre trial, most of which will be in US Dollars.
It is expected that the total bill for Josh is expected to be as much as $70,000 CDN by the time this is all over and done with and this is for a case, that as said previously, should have never ever reached this point.
Therfore, we are pleading with all of Josh's family, friends, co-workers, Union Sisters and Brothers and all you truck drivers out there that know what it's like to live on the highway and how something like what's happening to Josh could easily happen to someone else, to please please please see fit to donate anything that you can to Josh's Legal Expense Fund. Should you not want to donate through the Go Fund Me page and wish instead to make a cheque out directly to Josh please contact me at [email redacted] for details.
All donations are greatly appreciated and I would like to thank everyone for taking the time to read this page and hope you can see fit to help out.
Thanking all of you in advance,
John McCann
President
Teamsters Local Union No. 879
Organiser and beneficiary
John McCann
Organiser
St Catharines, ON
Joshua Alexander
Beneficiary
