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My Almost-daily Journal |
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| About I love trying out new things, especially when it comes to internet technology. I never really kept a journal, but it's something that I've always wanted to do. Now, everybody will get a chance to look inside my twisted, and somewhat-warped mind.
I've also subscribed to Audio Blog, so a few times a week, I'll leave actual voice blogs. Very cool!XML Newsfeed Previous Posts
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Friday, June 10, 2005
Court News Had my day in court today. Actually, it was their day... I just showed up. Back in December 2004, Danielle and I were coming back from Cabella's, located in Dundee, MI. Yes, quite the drive to save $10 off a jug of deer urine. Anyway, I was speeding most of the way back, fuzzbusterless. As soon as we got off 696, and were on the service drive, I asked Danielle to grab the fuzzbuster... I was feeling nervous. "No. That thing annoys me, plus it buried in my glove compartment." Oh well. We were almost home. A few more minutes won't kill us. Guess what? Bam! Clocked doing 57 in a 40. Very big bummer. Ruined my day. So I called the court a week later to schedule a court date. That didn't get mailed out until May. Court date was June 10. Can you believe that? It took five months to get a court date, and half a year after the infraction to appear in court. One of my co-workers at Decoma actually works as a part time Oakland County sheriff. Long shot: I'll ask him if he can do anything... put in a good word, fluff the judge, whatever. He actually did get ahold of Officer Paul C. Kelly of Warren PD, and said he'd talk to me before court. I was dying with anticipation. The day finally came. We talked today, after I barely made the 9:30 AM timeslot. Not only was there construction inside of Warren's civic center (all the roads were torn completely up with no true entrance and all dead ends), there was also nowhere to park. I registered with the clerk at 9:32 AM. Officer Kelly was there and said he's "take care of me" at the hearing. So I left the clerk's office, and head to court room #105. There was a long line. People were getting their points dropped left and right. I'd say the first 20 people got their "five miles per hour over" dropped to "impeding", which had a stiffer fine, but no points. I was feeling confident that's what would happen to me. Then the next 10 people appeared, and each had a pretty long traffic violation rap sheet. They got the full charge, points and all. I was beginning to worry. Then, the prisoners went through, taking up at least an hour, followed by detectives asking for search warrants. Then it was finally back to us. After watching all the criminals go through the system in their pre-trials, I felt dirty. I was definitely breathing sharing the same air that Warren's worst were breathing. Charges ranged from sexual misconduct (nasty child abuse stuff), drug trafficking, running drug house, drug possession, falsifying state identity documents, identity theft, drunk and disorderly conduct, probation violations, etc. Most of that hour was spend determining what the bond was to release these criminals into the street again. I think the judge did good... he kept the criminals behind bars with bonds of $50,000 with the statement that they all were "menaces to society and a danger to the public". I'm glad most of them remained behind bars. The city IS a safer place. Civil infractions finally resumed around 11:30 AM. Damn, two hours later. I started getting nervous because the judge was still handing out points. Many asked for "impeding traffic" violations in lieu of their speeding, and the judge just looked at their driving record and laughed. I knew I was doomed. What a waste of a half day of work. My name finally got called with another guy. Guess it was getting close to lunch time. Getting called in a multi-party did ease the pressure. Judge said that Officer Kelly has reviewed the cases with the judge prior and is requesting "impeding" instead of "five over". Do you accept the plea? "Yes, I do." Shweeeet!!! Wow! I'm 36 years old, been in traffic court more times than I can remember, and never ONCE did I ever get a break! This is the first break of my life! I guess it helps to know a cop, and not always want to kill them. Lessons of the day: 1) Warren is better than Troy. Troy judicial system thinks they wrote the law. I had a court date there about three years ago. I remember. Pompous asshats in Troy. I'd like to metaphorically choke all those bastards that sit behind the bench and call themselves judges in Troy. Pompous pricks. The cops are just as bad too. Warren is different. While the system is designed to generate money, they don't really care if you get points. Why should they? They're getting their money! Troy thinks they're doing society a favor by forcing points onto your record. Pricks. It's probably a Troy judge's kid that sells crack to inner city folk in Warren. I hope I never have to decide whether or not to save a drowning Troy judge's life. I'll probably end up pissing on his head as he sinks. A Warren judge? I would jump in and let him stand on my head to get out of the water. 2) Crime doesn't pay. After watching all these criminals charged with drug trafficking and possession, I was bummed for them. Not only did they have $50,000 bonds placed on their heads (which most of them will not be able to pay, so they'll never see the sun), some of the max penalties consisted of 8-20 yrs in jail with fines up to $50,000. Damn. There was even a girl with a second violation of driving a suspended drivers license. If she didn't pay her fine of $1000 in 30 days, she would spend 93 days in jail. Holy smokes. I couldn't imagine. 3) If you're going to speed, do it in Warren and not Troy. Actually, do as little in possible in Troy. The city is the shits. I may even reinvoke one of my ancient ticket rules: "Quisquiliarum Ventilo Pessum". That's Latin for "garbage toss to the ground". If I can't choke a city cop or judge, I can at least dirty up their city. 4) Make sure you have lots of time and money to spare going to court. If my billable rate is $100/hr, it cost me $400 to take a half-day, plus the $135 is cost for the fine. Plus, I had to share the air with some of Warren's worst. I did get a chance to see Ponch, though. That was neat. Ponch was this Oakland County Sheriff Deputy that was probably a model before he became a cop. I'm far from gay, but that cop was a charismatic dude. He should have been posing for GQ, not hauling around degenerates cuffed from head to toe. It was kinda surreal. 5) Entertainment and educational value: If you ever are bored and need something to do (perhaps take your 12 yr old to court to show them that crime doesn't pay), sitting in court is actually entertaining. There was at least one inmate that was ready to jump out of his cuffs and choke the judge. The judge was a little dispectful at times, telling people to always speak up and repeat themselves, plus he was condescending most of the time. One of the inmates was very intelligent, but also very cocky and sarcastic. Judge rattled off to him a few times to repeat himself, and the inmate responded with pure sarcasm and disrepect. It was great. I actually enjoyed witnessing someone showing lack of respect to a judge. Everybody else bowed down to the judge as if they were some sort of deity, including myself. Off to Baby Pottery Barn. Joy! posted by Dino at 5:32 PM (permanent link)
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