A.G. Gancarski
An Indian national who is accused of three counts of vehicular homicide and manslaughter had a court appearance Saturday.
But it was clear that Harjinder Singh couldn’t understand the language of the country looking to put him in prison for an extended stretch for the six charges during the probable cause hearing.
Singh, who was extradited from California this week, was processed for deportation under the first Donald Trump administration, but claimed to fear returning to India. His work authorization was approved in the first months of the Joe Biden administration.
The “unauthorized alien” is accused of a forcible felony for killing three Floridians in St. Lucie County with an 18-wheeler on the Florida Turnpike, after he made an illegal u-turn amid questions as to whether he could read the sign restricting turnarounds to emergency vehicles.
Gov. Ron DeSantis said this week Singh “should have never obviously been behind the wheel” in part because he “doesn’t even speak English.”
The Court ruled that Singh will not be released pre-trial due to substantial flight risk, and will not be eligible for bond.
Communication was a struggle throughout the hearing, with the defendant struggling with questions about a court appointed attorney despite the aid of the translator. Singh wanted to wait until the next hearing to have a public defender appointed to represent him, leaving the impression he wanted private counsel at first.
Lt. Gov. Jay Collins, who took the historically unprecedented step of taking a charter flight to California to be part of the spectacle surrounding Singh’s extradition from California, where he fled after the accident, was again on television Saturday morning ahead of the court hearing.
Collins said Singh demonstrated “no remorse,” was “uncaring” and was not “conversational” during the Fox and Friends Weekend hit.
“We’re going to throw the book at him,” Collins said. “So he’s going to do some time. And when he’s done with that, then he’ll get deported back to wherever he came from.”
