The weight of charges against City Councilor Kendra Lara following a June car crash into a Jamaica Plain house got a little lighter, with prosecutors dismissing two charges.
Lara, 34, who represents Jamaica Plain as the District 6 councilor, appeared in municipal court in West Roxbury Friday with speeding and reckless operation dismissed from the lineup of charges related to the June 30 crash. A charge for failing to wear a seat belt will not move forward as it has reached its end with a finding of not responsible.
The charges remaining include recklessly permitting bodily injury to a child under 14 years old, negligent operation of a motor vehicle, driving with a suspended license, driving an uninsured vehicle, driving an unregistered vehicle, and not placing a child under 8 years old and under 58 inches in a car seat. She pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Lara has not been licensed for a decade, the Herald has reported. The injury to a child charge is related injuries suffered by her child in the crash.
The case has been prosecuted by Joel Luna, an assistant district attorney for the Worcester DA office. He was tapped as a special prosecutor to avoid any conflicts of interest, as the wife of one of her primary opponents for city council, William King, works at the Suffolk DA office.
The hearing was scheduled to debate a motion filed by Lara’s attorney, Carlton Williams, that argues all the charges should be dropped because a citation was not issued or mailed to Lara.
State law “creates a very clear requirement that a citation alleging motor vehicle infractions must be given to the violator at the time and place of the offense or offenses,” Williams said, according to previous Herald reporting.
“The appropriate remedy for this improper handling of a citation for automobile violations is dismissal,” Williams wrote in the filing.
Lara has said the crash, which may have contributed to voters denying her bid for re-election last month, came about because she had to swerve to avoid a car pulling away from the curb and “could not hit the brakes fast enough before colliding with the home,” according to the police report. It’s a story the other driver cast doubt on, according to the police report.
Defense attorney Williams did not respond to the Herald’s request for comment.
Lara is next due in court on Nov. 15.
