When we last left Whit MacCuaig of Gough Street, he was fighting a $252 ticket for double parking outside his house. He said he briefly double parked to secure his laptop computer so he wouldn't have to carry it on what usually is a long walk in the dark after finding a hard-to-find parking space.
MacCuaig didn't have to fight hard. The parking agent, identified on the ticket as N. Scott, failed to show for the hearing and District Judge Charles A. Chiapparelli quickly found him not guilty. MacCuaig was happy to avoid a $252 fine but was angry at having taken a day off from work and spending time preparing his case. "What a waste," he said after the hearing.
The parking issue sparked a wide debate. Some felt MacCuaig deserved his fine and shouldn't expect to get a pass on the law. Others felt the parking agent should have used common sense and skipped over his car.
MacCuaig had parked on Gough Street, where it is wide enough to fit three cars. He argued he wasn't blocking traffic, as his citation read, and had left plenty of room for other cars to get by. And, he pointed out, he was trying to stay safe in a neighborhood hit hard by muggers in recent months.
He didn't want to walk back to his house carrying a computer he thought made him a target for attack. We'll now never know what a judge through of his case.