Entry Three

Story: 
I realized to something today that sort of made me feel a bit sick to my stomach.  I went to court to try and fight a bogus traffic ticket.  I went in feeling really good, because through my discovery motion, I found that the police officer did not have any notes, videos, pictures or witness to testify against me in court.  The kicker, the back of the ticket where the officer puts notes, put 2 different statements, one saying I admitted what happened, one that says I did not.  To make a long story short, the officer decided that he was going to use surprise evidence in the case; a video of the alleged violation and a witness.  And even though I cried for a dismissal of the evidence, due to the sworn discovery response that stated their would be neither, but the judge simply said, well you can view it now, take a few minutes.  This got me a little steaming  because the whole defense I had set up was centered around their being a very specific lack of evidence on the officers side.  This should of been grounds for a dismissal of the case, let alone just the evidence, but the judge thought it would be ok for the officers to pull a fast one right in front of him.  Well I pissed and moaned, and eventually got a continuance; even this made the judge upset, because he just wanted me to admit I had done something wrong, and be done with it.

This whole thing made me realize, no matter how unorganized the police officer is in a case, no matter how misleading they try to be, the judge will try their hardest to be "accommodating".  I asked the clerk later on wither or not she felt that if I was that unprepared and sneaky with evidence, if I would of gotten a continuance, or any special treatment, and she said a resounding, no!

Advice:
Be prepared, and you best hire a lawyer.  Even if it is a small ticket, like 270 bucks, its a small price to pay to keep your record clear, and your insurance premiums down.

         
 This is a picture of how my faced looked after the trial for about 3 hours. Just look at the pain and frustration.  Heh, I just noticed that with the water coming down my face, it sort of looks like those Gatorade commercials.