Day in Court - 2

Well this happy trip into the US justice system was the polar opposite of my previous experience. First of all the defendants, for the most part, did not look like solid citizens who through no fault of their own ended up in court. Nope, they looked like they crawled out from under rocks, slithered out of flop houses, or wandered in after a lifetime spent on the street.  It was almost as if they were in a contest to see who could be nominated the dirtiest, smelliest and most pitiful person there. And, none of them had an attorney, public defender or otherwise.

The judge was also different.  The judge before was bored, but respectful.  This guy came across like some unhappy combination of the Queen of Hearts and the stereotypical wild west hanging judge.  The first thing he did after entering the courtroom was bang down the gavel and scream that if he saw or heard a cellphone, the owner of said cell phone was off to jail in contempt of court.

Then he called the names of several people in the courtroom and asked them to come up to the bench.  They came forward to see if they could get out of their charges.  One by one they told their pitiful story and after each tale was told, the judge slammed down the gavel and screamed denied.  Somewhere around the third or fourth sorry soul, he squinched up his eyes and stared out into the room.  "Was that a sound I heard out of one you?" he sneered.  "The next one of you who opens his or her mouth, is on their way to jail in contempt of court."

Now I believe it was the fifth or sixth loser, who stumbled up on two canes, carrying a canister of oxygen.  It seems she had been caught in possession of a large amount of marijuana.  "I'm a very sick woman, Your Honor," she wheezed. "Do I look like the sort of person who could smoke a large amount of marijuana?

"You don't need to be the smoker, to be in possession," he said, "DENIED."

Now if I was a member of this miserable and dwindling group, I think it would be occurring to me that this was a real losing proposition and my best course of action would be to tell the state's attorney I wanted a jury trial and find an attorney any attorney.  The odds had to be better.

But no,  they each stumbled up and told why they were innocent and each one was denied.

After about two hours of having all of this fun, my new best friend, came up and told me that the defendant wanted a jury trial and I was free to go.  So roasting, this courtroom was hot and yes coming down with another migraine I left.

Well, gentle readers, this the case of the stolen prescription pad, and the pages that were sold from it.   So, there very well could be more fun days in court to come.