Thursday, February 3, 2011

My Day In Court

I went to court on February 2ed 2011 to help support a friend, and it was truly an experience to be had.

The day started when my alarm went off at 6am. I don't remember liking that to much because I don't normally even start moving around until 8:30 and the fact that I was getting woken up at 6 was lame to me.

I started making excuses as to why I shouldn't get out of bed.

Thoughts at the time:
It's cold.
More then likely my friends case is going to be set back again for the third time so I would be wasting my time.
I would be wasting the money for the bus, and it's cold.
I'm going to have to stand outside in the cold and wait for a bus, then I have to ride the bus downtown, walk from the station to the court house, and it's cold.

I let those thoughts keep me in bed for another half hour, then the voice of reason started talking to me:

It's cold - Put on a warm jacket.
Her case is just going to be set back again, I'll be wasting my time. - You don't know that.
I'd be wasting my money on the bus, and it's cold. - God gave you that money, so it's not you'res. You don't know what's going to happen, and put on a warm jacket.
I'm going to have to stand outside in the cold and wait for the bus, then I have to ride the bus downtown, walk from the station to the court house, and it's cold. - You wouldn't have to walk if you didn't get a DUI and drove around Ely, knowing that you didn't have a drivers licence. Put on a warm jacket, and take you're MP3 player to distract you from the walk... GET OUT OF BED!
(My voice of reason gets tired of my excuses.)

So I got on the bus, and remembered to thank God for the bus because without it I would have had to walk downtown, and it was cold.

I got to the court house and sat outside the court room waiting for my friend to get there. I started going over the reasons in my head as to why I was even there.
(I'm not going to list them all, because my head gets kinda carried away, but the major one was: My mom always showed up to my court dates, and nobody else has showed up to this girls court dates. That's kinda lame... I think I would'a felt like shit if my mom didn't show up to my court date. This girl did come visit me in the hospital so I guess the least I could do is come to her court date.)

Anyway, so court starts. 3 major cases stood out in my mind. There were like 15 all in all, but only 3 of them stood out to me.

The first was this lady that was there because she got pulled over or something, and she had her child in the back seat, and a pot leaf taped to the back of her cell phone.
(I didn't see how her having a pot leaf taped to the back of her phone as that big of a deal, but then I found out later that this wasn't the first time this had happened, and apparently she had some other stuff going on and her ability to be a good parent was being questioned.)

All and all, my take on the situation was; If you're facing the prospect of lousing your kid because you're so preoccupied with Marry J, then maybe you need to try to learn how to live without weed, or give up your kid... You don't get both...

The situation left her facing 6 to 9 weeks in jail, with like $5000 in fines, or enrollment into the mental health court system, where she would be monitored by counselors and such for (some number greater then 5) months.
The judge went with the mental health court idea, and the lady got really upset and started crying. (I was confused because I saw that as better then 6 to 9 weeks in jail, but I guess everybody's different.) (I did 4 weeks in jail, and 9 months in rehabs for a similar situation..)

Then my friends case came up, and honestly I didn't think I cared that much, but it was really an emotional roller coaster for me. I'm working on a blog about that hearing all to its self because it really struck some cords in me, and I've got a lot to say about it, but all in all, it turned out really well, and I'm happy I got out of bed that morning.

So when the last case came up, I was kind of on an emotional high because my friends case went so well, but the last case kinda confused me in a lot of ways.

I'm not sure what all was going on, and the guy was talking so much and so fast that the only thing I really caught out of the whole hearing was the fact that he tried to get an attorney, but she wouldn't defend him because he didn't have any money to pay her.
What he got arrested for was bogus, and the whole thing was just a huge misunderstanding.... I think, and he wanted to get O.Red but couldn't because he had a habitual criminal history, or because the court didn't have all the information needed to make the determination as to wither or not O.R. was a good idea.

I had mixed emotions about the whole thing, personally I would have just let him go... but that's because when I die and have to face God, I'd like Him to just let me go regardless of my past... I'm happy to know that when it comes about I'm good to go in the attorney department because that price has been paid, (which is amazing because I would have never been able to come up with that amount of money) and I trust that Jesus knows what He's doing in His Fathers court.

All in all it was really an experience worth having, and I still want to be a lawyer, but now I know that I have no desire to be a judge...

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