taking down the law!

this morning i received an 8:00AM wake-up call from one of my managers asking if i would be able to make it to the courthouse by 8:45AM to assist the attorney's again with their trial. notone to pass up an interesting job, i rolled out of bed, threw some clothes on and rushed out. on the way, "law and order" was filming in front of a different courthouse, but i was running late so i didn't stop to watch.

once at the courthouse, it took only a few minutes to get everything set up. as my co-worker says, they had me there for the "warm fuzzies" - they just felt better having me there in case something went wrong, even though i spent the whole time either reading a book or watching the examination/cross examination of the prosecutor's star witness. i finally got to see the partner in action and it was much better than watching the opening arguments on monday.

it also reminded me of my star turn in court (really just a commissioner's office). it all begin a month earlier, when a police car nearly smashed head-on into the passenger side of my car. highly agitated, the officer pulled me over and after harshly berating me stated that if it weren't for his partner, who saw me proceed past the stop sign at the last minute, he would've t-boned me right in the middle of the three-way stop intersection. suffice to say, i drove away with a ticket for making an incomplete stop.

now i had made a full stop, i just didn't notice the police cruiser before moving forward. i decided to try my luck and fight the ticket in court. i borrowed my friend's "beat your ticket" book, which had multiple chapters devoted to beating speeding tickets, but only one paragraph for incomplete stops - it could only suggest challenging their observation of the transgression.

when my "court" date finally arrived (remember it was only in a commisioner's office near the berkeley city hall), i hoped that i would be lucky enough to have my officer not show. there were four of us waiting to be seen, and guess who was one of the unlucky two to have their cases heard? when my officer finally arrived, we both sat facing a commissioner, who would serve as the arbiter of justice in this case. the cop gave his account first, which was exactly what he had angrily expressed to me, this time much calmer. when it was my turn, i gave a brief account stating that i made a full stop. with both accounts heard, the commissioner opened up the floor for questioning.

this is where i put on my best matlock face, turned to the cop and asked him, "officer, did you see me make an incomplete stop?"

"no, but my partner did, which is the only reason why i didn't end up hitting you," replied the officer.

"but officer, did you see me make an incomplete stop?" I responded.

[long pause by the officer] "no."

"no further questions your honor" (yes, i did actually say that!)

after brief consideration, the commissioner dismissed the case, telling was lucky the officer's partner hadn't shown up. i tried to look humble, gave the officer one last smile and swaggered out of the room. i'd forgotten how exhilarating i had felt afterwards, but the moral of the lesson is that i did become a much more careful driver. (aside from falling asleep at the wheel on highway - but it was in rush hour gridlocked traffic!)