Rejection can be good.
Evan had his day in court yesterday, or rather, his first of two days in court. More about the second issue later. We took public transportation - a busway and two different subways - and got to court a little bit late, but it didn't really matter, since there were two long lines each snaking halfway around the building (kind of like the Matterhorn Bobsled at Disneyland). It took a good half hour to get through security and inside, and we were by no means the last to enter the courtroom.
We sat up front so we could hear what was going on as the prosecutors called up groups of people with similar misdemeanors to settle, and it was actually somewhat interesting. A lot more interesting, not to mention comfortable, than jury duty. At any rate, after a couple of hours of listening to briefings, pleas and sentences, the bailiff called Evan up, handed him "proof of appearance" document and informed him the prosecutor had rejected his case. This was no more than we expected, but it was still a huge relief. I still plan to write a letter of complaint to the CHP office, plus letters to various legislators and even the Governator.
Now, for today's court experience. Last September, Evan got a ticket for "fare evasion" on the busway since he couldn't find his bus pass when the transit police officer asked for it. There is no provision for proving you had a valid bus pass at the time short of going to court, so I had Evan write a check for the $200 the officer had told him the ticket would cost and requested a court date. By the time the court date rolled around, Evan had already missed his Chemistry class the previous Monday (when he was wrongly jailed for DUI), he would be missing it again a couple of weeks later for his DUI court appearance, and he had a test on the day in question. For my own part, I was so wiped out from the previous week that I decided I'd rather reimburse Evan the $200 than go to court. I figured the court would just enter the usual "no contest" plea and keep the bail.
Then, last Friday, Evan got a letter in the mail informing him that there was a warrant out for his arrest on the matter, and the bail was set at $8035. At first, I thought it must be for not appearing in court, but then I decided, based on the date and the fact that the check Evan wrote was never cashed, that they wanted him for not paying his fine. Needless to say, I was livid that the bureaucrats at the Courts had lost the check and outraged that an arrest warrant had been issued (or threatened - the paperwork wasn't clear). I called the number on the paper and was advised that Evan could just walk in to court, so that's what we did this morning.
Evan's was the second-to-last case called, but the judge worked fast. He also seemed to be very fair, even lenient, although he did throw one guy into jail right then for not completing community service he had been given two years ago. There were a lot of speeders, a few stop-light-runners, one lady whose dog had no license (which surprised the judge, since it was traffic court), invalid driver's licenses, lack of proof of insurance, and quite a few "failure to appear" add-ons. And then Evan got called.
I really didn't know what he was going to be charged with - failure to appear, not paying his fine, what. But it turns out the only charge the judge brought was fare evasion and asked for proof that Evan had not, in fact, evaded the fare. I produced the photocopy of Evan's handicapped bus pass with the September sticker AND the receipt for its purchase several days before the ticket was issued. The judge dismissed the charge. When I asked about the other thing - the arrest warrant - he very nearly rolled his eyes, and said it had been withdrawn. I suspect he was flabbergasted at someone putting out a warrant for fare evasion.
At any rate, I got a new suit out of the deal. On Sunday, I inventoried my wardrobe and discovered I had no professional clothes whatsoever. I had casual, dressy casual and dressy, but except for a black and red wool suit that is too warm for the current weather, I really didn't have anything suitable to wear to court. I hit it lucky at Kohl's. I found matching Chaps jacket and trousers in a dark chocolate with milk chocolate pinstripe wool superfine in my size on the clearance rack. There were three jackets in three different sizes, but only one pair of pants in any size, so you know how lucky I was. It was originally $200 for both pieces, but it had been marked down so I only paid $34. Since I couldn't think of a pair of appropriate shoes in my shoe wardrobe, I thought I'd check the clearance aisle for those, too, and I scored an attractive, comfortable pair that go with the suit perfectly in color and style for about $13. Yesterday, I wore a cream colored tailored blouse with a brown and blue paisley pattern, which was okay, but today I wore a rose-color fitted blouse I already had, and that combination is dynamite. Sometime I'll have to get gussied up and get my picture taken in my "corporate femme" costume. Oh, I even bought two pairs of brown trouser socks to complete my court ensemble. Granted, I didn't really need any kind of special costume, but it made me feel better to have one. Besides, I think Trinny and Susannah would approve.
We sat up front so we could hear what was going on as the prosecutors called up groups of people with similar misdemeanors to settle, and it was actually somewhat interesting. A lot more interesting, not to mention comfortable, than jury duty. At any rate, after a couple of hours of listening to briefings, pleas and sentences, the bailiff called Evan up, handed him "proof of appearance" document and informed him the prosecutor had rejected his case. This was no more than we expected, but it was still a huge relief. I still plan to write a letter of complaint to the CHP office, plus letters to various legislators and even the Governator.
Now, for today's court experience. Last September, Evan got a ticket for "fare evasion" on the busway since he couldn't find his bus pass when the transit police officer asked for it. There is no provision for proving you had a valid bus pass at the time short of going to court, so I had Evan write a check for the $200 the officer had told him the ticket would cost and requested a court date. By the time the court date rolled around, Evan had already missed his Chemistry class the previous Monday (when he was wrongly jailed for DUI), he would be missing it again a couple of weeks later for his DUI court appearance, and he had a test on the day in question. For my own part, I was so wiped out from the previous week that I decided I'd rather reimburse Evan the $200 than go to court. I figured the court would just enter the usual "no contest" plea and keep the bail.
Then, last Friday, Evan got a letter in the mail informing him that there was a warrant out for his arrest on the matter, and the bail was set at $8035. At first, I thought it must be for not appearing in court, but then I decided, based on the date and the fact that the check Evan wrote was never cashed, that they wanted him for not paying his fine. Needless to say, I was livid that the bureaucrats at the Courts had lost the check and outraged that an arrest warrant had been issued (or threatened - the paperwork wasn't clear). I called the number on the paper and was advised that Evan could just walk in to court, so that's what we did this morning.
Evan's was the second-to-last case called, but the judge worked fast. He also seemed to be very fair, even lenient, although he did throw one guy into jail right then for not completing community service he had been given two years ago. There were a lot of speeders, a few stop-light-runners, one lady whose dog had no license (which surprised the judge, since it was traffic court), invalid driver's licenses, lack of proof of insurance, and quite a few "failure to appear" add-ons. And then Evan got called.
I really didn't know what he was going to be charged with - failure to appear, not paying his fine, what. But it turns out the only charge the judge brought was fare evasion and asked for proof that Evan had not, in fact, evaded the fare. I produced the photocopy of Evan's handicapped bus pass with the September sticker AND the receipt for its purchase several days before the ticket was issued. The judge dismissed the charge. When I asked about the other thing - the arrest warrant - he very nearly rolled his eyes, and said it had been withdrawn. I suspect he was flabbergasted at someone putting out a warrant for fare evasion.
At any rate, I got a new suit out of the deal. On Sunday, I inventoried my wardrobe and discovered I had no professional clothes whatsoever. I had casual, dressy casual and dressy, but except for a black and red wool suit that is too warm for the current weather, I really didn't have anything suitable to wear to court. I hit it lucky at Kohl's. I found matching Chaps jacket and trousers in a dark chocolate with milk chocolate pinstripe wool superfine in my size on the clearance rack. There were three jackets in three different sizes, but only one pair of pants in any size, so you know how lucky I was. It was originally $200 for both pieces, but it had been marked down so I only paid $34. Since I couldn't think of a pair of appropriate shoes in my shoe wardrobe, I thought I'd check the clearance aisle for those, too, and I scored an attractive, comfortable pair that go with the suit perfectly in color and style for about $13. Yesterday, I wore a cream colored tailored blouse with a brown and blue paisley pattern, which was okay, but today I wore a rose-color fitted blouse I already had, and that combination is dynamite. Sometime I'll have to get gussied up and get my picture taken in my "corporate femme" costume. Oh, I even bought two pairs of brown trouser socks to complete my court ensemble. Granted, I didn't really need any kind of special costume, but it made me feel better to have one. Besides, I think Trinny and Susannah would approve.
posted by Jeannette | 4:30 PM
2 Comments:
i think it adds to your confidence and the level of respect you get in court to wear a proper suit. it also shows the judge your taking it seriously, which is something they appreciate.
Most of the people on our side of the fence in court wore jeans-and-t-shirt outfits, but I thought Evan and I ought to show proper respect for such a serious proceeding, not to mention the judge. Wearing the right costume did add to my confidence, which was another part of the reason I decided to buy something more appropriate than anything I already owned.
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