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Stoughton Municipal Court session: dismissals granted, fines and restitution ordered
Summary
Judge Scott Dirk handled initial appearances and minor traffic/criminal matters, dismissing several citations, ordering fines for convicted defendants and setting restitution and pretrial dates. Notable outcomes included a withheld sentence tied to $320.51 restitution and multiple pretrial phone conferences scheduled.
Judge Scott Dirk opened the Municipal Court for the City of Stoughton and reviewed procedures and defendants’ rights before calling cases. “Before I begin calling cases, I want to go over some of the procedures we'll follow tonight and some of your rights as defendants,” he told the courtroom.
The session resolved a string of initial‑appearance matters. The city moved to dismiss several citations after defendants produced proof or the city indicated dismissal: Maguire Prior’s non‑registration citation was dismissed after the vehicle was registered; Shannon Butler’s insurance citation was dismissed after she produced proof of coverage; and Linda Stevenson’s registration citation was dismissed after she provided current documentation.
Several defendants were found guilty or entered guilty/no‑contest pleas. Susan McGrain pleaded guilty to inattentive driving after acknowledging she struck a divided‑highway sign; the court ordered forfeiture and costs totaling $121.40 and noted the Division of Motor Vehicles will assess four points. Zachary Arvold pled no contest to a throwing/shooting‑missile charge and was assessed forfeiture and costs of $187.
In a retail‑theft case, the court recorded that the victim, Walmart, sought restitution of $320.51. The defendant, Francisco Resendez, pled and the judge found a factual basis for the plea, ordered restitution of $320.51, and withheld sentencing pending payment; the court set an August 27 return to determine whether restitution had been satisfied. “If that all happens on August 27th you won't need to come back to court and I'll dismiss the matter at that point,” the judge said when explaining the arrangement.
The court also accepted an amended speeding allegation for Neville Jose Mora Montilla: the city offered to amend the citation to allege the defendant was 1–10 mph over the limit, carrying three demerit points and a forfeiture of $108.80; Montilla pled guilty and the court imposed the $108.80 forfeiture.
Where the city proposed reduced or amended charges the court frequently scheduled not‑guilty pleas and phone pretrial conferences so defendants could consult the city attorney. For example, Bilinski (speeding), Tolin (ordinance 50‑3C: throwing/shooting a missile) and Michael Roper (failure to stop) were each scheduled for pretrial phone conferences in June to allow discussion with the city attorney.
Several defendants who did not appear were entered on judgment by default and ordered to pay the forfeitures and costs shown on their citations, with 60 days to pay; in the case of Anthony Hall the court ordered restitution totaling $38.40 based on nonappearance and treated the failure to appear as a stipulation to that restitution request.
The court used Language Line Solutions interpreter services for Spanish‑language participants and confirmed that written notices in Spanish and interpreter assistance would be provided for phone conferences when needed.
The session concluded after the court resolved the scheduled matters and set follow‑up dates for pretrials and compliance hearings where applicable.
