My four character witnesses, my mother, and I sat in a packed waiting room, shoulder to shoulder, that had no air conditioning or air ventilation whatsoever (It is 93 degrees with a heat index of 102 today) for forty five minutes without knowing what was going on. My lawyer appeared in the waiting room to break the news about the officer's no show. He explained that the officer's representative was seeking a continuance but that he would fight it. It was another thirty minutes before we were called into the courtroom.
As promised, my lawyer pushed for dismissal. He did so in an incredibly tactful manner. He gently pushed the judge but stopped before he crossed the line. Unfortunately, the judge was in a bad mood today. My lawyer had warned me about Judge Massey's volatility. I witnessed it first hand. Apparently, he had yet to hear a case because, one case after the other, there were no shows. He did indicate that "the only good news he had heard all day" was the fact that we were all present & ready for our case to be heard. This was when my lawyer went full-fledge into his argument for dismissal. The judge's response? A mother once left her seven month old in the car for 45 secs to drop a letter in the slot of the post office only to turn around and find her infant gone. What one has to do with the other is still beyond me. Anyway, I digress. He turned down the motion for dismissal and set a new hearing for September 16th @ 9:00am. He dismissed us and doled out his "one word of advice" to me: Netflix.
Can we say major suckage? There are SO many different side stories I could delve into here: the waste of tax payers money, the abuse of power, the "blame the victim" mentality this judge demonstrated today, etc. I just don't have the energy. My girlfriend has my kids for the day. I have some time to myself. I am going to get off this machine & go take some alone time to regroup.
HUGE thanks to everyone out there that has been here for me through this. I love you all.
4 comments:
Judges usually remember when all the parties of the "accused" show up and the officer doesn't.
This may play in your favor for the next time, especially if your lawyer makes a simple reminder of this fact at the next hearing.
Hang in there. . .
PS I am always struck by your logic in all of this. If it is one thing I have learned working in court - it is not about logic - it is about emotion (and having logic fit into the emotion). That's why we need lawyers when we run into problems. How does one play into the emotional logic of the officer and the judge? That's how you end up winning. Not by reasoned argument - otherwise you could just represent yourself
I'm sorry it's still not over.
.... netflix is a pretty good deal, but you still might have to drop them in the mailbox and that could take all of 45 seconds... "~)
Holy S*th this makes me SOOOO angry. I once heard of a kid that got hit by a meteorite. I can't believe any parent would let their kids play outside. Makes about as much sense...
John - what you described accurately portrays why I retained a lawyer :)
Flux - I almost wet my pants laughing when I read your comment. If there was some way I could get away with saying that to the judge, I would :)
David - I am just angry because apparently the law doesn't matter in this case. I was always skeptical of our judicial system but now I am a true cynic.
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