Lake Forest Park Municipal Court disposes April 28 infraction calendar; deferred findings, reductions, dismissals and defaults recorded

Judge Jennifer Grant presided over the Lake Forest Park Municipal Court infraction calendar on April 28, 2025, conducted remotely over Zoom and livestreamed to YouTube. The judge and court staff processed a mix of mitigation requests, deferred findings, fee reductions, dismissals and several failures-to-appear resulting in default findings and penalties.

The most significant individual outcome involved a negligent-driving second-degree citation for John Hickey. Hickey asked to mitigate and, after discussion about options, chose a deferred finding: the court set a six-month deferred-finding period, requiring no new moving infractions and a $175 administrative fee due within 30 days. Judge Jennifer Grant explained the terms and the risk of a committed finding if the agreement is violated, saying, "You have to be really on your best driving behavior for 6 months." Hickey acknowledged he had been speeding and opted into the deferred finding.

Several HOV-lane and photo-enforcement cases were resolved by payment reductions or deferred findings. The court offered or imposed the following outcomes for named defendants during the calendar:

- Elizabeth (John) Hickey (John Hickey) — negligent driving 2nd degree (March 2): deferred finding for six months; $175 admin fee due within 30 days; underlying penalty $559 would be imposed if deferred terms are violated (Hickey accepted the deferred finding).

- Elizabeth McQuade — HOV-lane violation (March 4): eligible for a six-month deferred finding (no prior moving violations); court to mail the deferred agreement; $175 fee due within 30 days; payment plan of four installments ($43.75) offered as needed (McQuade accepted the deferred finding).

- Miss Lee (HOV lane, March 11) — the court reduced the penalty as stated on the record; the clerk noted the reduced total as "$1,100" in the hearing transcript (the court said a reduced invoice would be mailed to the address on file).

- Elizabeth Norma Pascua Reyes — HOV-lane violation (March 11): court reduced penalty to $100 at the defendant's request (defendant opted to pay the reduced, committed penalty rather than pursue a deferred finding).

- Multiple photo-enforcement school-walk-zone and speed-zone cases were reduced for first-time or hardship circumstances. Representative dispositions included: - Donald "Trip" Weller — school-walk-zone photo violation: reduced to $75 (first violation; court noted these are treated like parking tickets and do not report to the Department of Licensing). - David Yelland — school-walk-zone (Sunday morning): reduced to $50 citing financial hardship and the nonmoving nature of the penalty. - Dennis Menu (Popskip Drive driver) — school-walk-zone: reduced to $75 (first violation; court found adequate signage for photo enforcement). - Marina Zhamelova — school-walk-zone (27 in a 20 zone): reduced to $75. - Marina Jamilova / Zhamelova variants referenced in the hearing received reductions or instructions; the court mailed updated invoices to the addresses on file.

- Registration and insurance matters: One defendant (Anna Young) produced proof of insurance during the hearing. The court dismissed the proof-of-insurance charge and mitigated the expired-registration penalty so that Young's total obligation after mitigation was stated on the record as $150 with time-payment options available; the court accepted emailed proof of insurance during the hearing and confirmed the obligation.

- Dismissals: The court dismissed at least two matters on procedural grounds recorded in the hearing: - A citation issued to the registered owner Abara/Abara was dismissed because the vehicle was not driven by the registered owner at the time as represented in court; the judge dismissed the violation. - Evangeline Laronk (citation discussed as a photo-enforcement calibration request) — the judge dismissed the infraction and clarified that calibration records for the city's photo-enforcement system are posted online rather than mailed by the court.

- Failures to appear and default findings: During the afternoon portion of the calendar the court entered FTAs and default findings in multiple matters where defendants did not appear after notice, and the court ordered penalties to be imposed. On the record the judge named several cases found to be FTAs and ordered the violations committed via default, including (by citation number and name): Javier Hernandez (case listed on the record), Mark Shukarov (no appearance; expired registration and lack of insurance found committed), Quang Buie (parking citation; failure to appear), Jan Mish (Janney) (FTA), Spencer and Jeffrey Clauer (FTA), Xiaohui Zhou (FTA) and Ian Smith (FTA for 03/21 calendar date). The court stated that it mailed notices in each matter to the address requested and proceeded with default findings when defendants did not appear.

Context and court practice noted in the hearing: the judge and court staff repeatedly explained the two common dispositions for infractions in Lake Forest Park — a deferred finding (a six-month continuance that, if successfully completed, keeps the infraction off the Department of Licensing record) and a mitigation/committed finding (a reduced penalty that is reported). The court also explained a statutory limit on deferred findings (a deferred finding for moving violations is available only once every seven years, as stated by court staff). The court repeatedly advised that photo-enforcement calibration records are public and available online and that signage in Lake Forest Park indicates when photo enforcement is active.

The calendar included a high volume of matters; the judge resolved individual mitigation requests on the record, offered payment plans when requested, accepted emailed proofs of insurance during hearings, and entered default judgments where defendants failed to appear despite mailed notice. The court said it will mail written confirmations or reduced invoices to the addresses on file for each defendant whose penalty was reduced or deferred.

Less-critical administrative actions at the end of the session included resetting contested hearings and coordinating interpreter needs for future calendars. The court adjourned after completing the scheduled matters.