In April, as some of you may recall, I was in a car accident. I was rear-ended and oddly enough, I was given a citation for "improper lane change" and sent off on my way. May I remind you that I was the one struck from behind...but I'll get to that part later.
Basically, I was driving along my merry way, in the pouring rain. I decided I was going to switch lanes. I signaled right. I observed over my shoulder that I was clear to go and made the move. Within 5 seconds, the light in front of me turned yellow and I opted to slow down and hit the brakes. I didn't want to run the light and chance getting hit.
Haha, very funny.
The guy behind me obviously wanted to run the light. I know this, because I've seen lots of Florida drivers do it. They love to run red lights. So, when you are supposed to actually GO on green, you don't because you don't want to get hit by someone still GOING on red.
So, being that the guy wanted to keep going and I didn't, he swerved to the right and hit the rear passenger side of my vehicle. We pulled over on the side of the road, called 911 and 20 some minutes later, the "Sheriff" arrived. He asked us to pull into the parking lot around a little ways so that he could avoid getting hit himself. At this point, we were quite a distance away from where the accident actually occurred.
He asked me, "What happened?" So, I told him. He didn't ask me anything else. Didn't ask me to point or show him where I did what. He had a repertoire with the other guy, so they bull shat with each other for a minute, stepped over to the side a bit where I overheard the other guy's side of the story (he was there for my whole rant), and the "Sheriff" climbed into his vehicle for 15 minutes to type up the report.
By this time, it was raining harder, so I went into my car to wait. He walked over to the other guy and talked to him, gave him the paperwork and he was off. He walked over to me and issued me a citation along with the report. I was in shock...and so was Ryan.
I didn't understand the citation, so I walked over to his vehicle to ask him, to which he said he believed I didn't switch lanes when it was clear. At that point, I knew I was going to fight it in court.
******
That brings me to yesterday. The court date. Anxious about it all weekend, I wasn't sure how I was going to do. I went through it all in my head, knowing that I wasn't guilty and was as ready as I was going to be to plead my case. I arrived at the County building in Plant City. In fact, I arrived 45 minutes early. That didn't serve my nerves well.
I sat down on the long wooden bench a few seats away from two women dressed in ripped t-shirts and dirty gray shorts. Across from me was a man wearing plaid. All plaid. Head-to-toe. Another was sporting an old Michael Jackson t-shirt. (He was mourning, like I was...) And as I was taking it all in, a man decided to plop himself down as close as he could get to me. (Hey dude, there IS room for you to spread out...) But, as I pressed myself up against the arm of the long bench, clutching my court letter and my phone, I decided to be friendly and ask...
"What are you here for?" (Like we were all in prison or something...)
He gave me his story, his citation story, his work story, his unemployment story, his girlfriend story, and his work history and a crime scene analyst. (I was mostly interested in the latter.) This began the strange bond I would have with this man, who had an Irish accent...his name Michele (pronounced Mee-kale)...I would look to him for advice...
They called us all into the courtroom. All 75+ of us. As we entered, several were asked to spit out their gum. Don't think that I didn't notice all the bacteria on their hands as they spit it into their hand and then threw it into the garbage. *Mental note, do not sit next to them.
As I scoured the room for a seat, I spotted Michele and sat next to him...reaking of stale cigarette smoke (and the most stain-ridden teeth I have ever seen), I reluctantly took a deep breath in to calm myself down. The bailiffs came into the courtroom and made some announcements.
"This is an arraignment. You will be pleading 'guilty,' 'not guilty,' or 'no contest.'"
I felt my stomach drop. An arraignment? Am I going to have to put on cuffs and shackles? Where is my attorney? Do I have to talk in front of EVERYONE in this room? What am I going to say? I should have had a donut or something.
I knew I was not guilty, so that was what I planned to plead. BUT, I guess the 'no contest' plea is the easiest and basically just gets it over with at that point. I wrestled in my mind as to what I was going to do. Why didn't I know that was an option? Why didn't I research it? I mean, I research EVERYTHING else, why didn't I think there was more to this?
So, I looked at my smoke-scented friend for advice. "What would you do?" He told me to follow my gut. He said that since the cop wasn't actually a witness, what would he say in court? He told me to plead not guilty if I felt like I really wasn't.
*****
There I was, next in line. I placed my bag and umbrella on the large table and clasped my hands as I approached the podium. I realized that once I got there, that I had walked to it as if I were heading to Communion at church or walking down the aisle at a wedding. I was mortified. But the Judge asked my name and said I was charged with "improper lane change" and to what I plea?
Not guilty, your Honor.
She answered: "Your trial will be on August 11 at 8:30 a.m. Thank you."
TRIAL?
Did she mean hearing? I mean, do I need an attorney? I'm all freaked out. Anyway, my short time with Michele educated me on what I need to do to prepare myself for the next court date. I am to take lots of pictures. Lots and lots of pictures. And, I'm to go into the room, completely confident. BUT, if you know me, you know I dread public speaking and that I will be sick about it for weeks. How am I supposed to pull confidence out of that?!
Ryan is going to help me get all that done. I am nervous. Not nervous about facing the "Sheriff" or the other guy...if he is coming... but just nervous about all this. Was this the right thing to do? Would it have been better to just plead 'no contest' and had it done and over with? I guess it's too late now. Time to prepare....
Basically, I was driving along my merry way, in the pouring rain. I decided I was going to switch lanes. I signaled right. I observed over my shoulder that I was clear to go and made the move. Within 5 seconds, the light in front of me turned yellow and I opted to slow down and hit the brakes. I didn't want to run the light and chance getting hit.
Haha, very funny.
The guy behind me obviously wanted to run the light. I know this, because I've seen lots of Florida drivers do it. They love to run red lights. So, when you are supposed to actually GO on green, you don't because you don't want to get hit by someone still GOING on red.
So, being that the guy wanted to keep going and I didn't, he swerved to the right and hit the rear passenger side of my vehicle. We pulled over on the side of the road, called 911 and 20 some minutes later, the "Sheriff" arrived. He asked us to pull into the parking lot around a little ways so that he could avoid getting hit himself. At this point, we were quite a distance away from where the accident actually occurred.
He asked me, "What happened?" So, I told him. He didn't ask me anything else. Didn't ask me to point or show him where I did what. He had a repertoire with the other guy, so they bull shat with each other for a minute, stepped over to the side a bit where I overheard the other guy's side of the story (he was there for my whole rant), and the "Sheriff" climbed into his vehicle for 15 minutes to type up the report.
By this time, it was raining harder, so I went into my car to wait. He walked over to the other guy and talked to him, gave him the paperwork and he was off. He walked over to me and issued me a citation along with the report. I was in shock...and so was Ryan.
I didn't understand the citation, so I walked over to his vehicle to ask him, to which he said he believed I didn't switch lanes when it was clear. At that point, I knew I was going to fight it in court.
******
That brings me to yesterday. The court date. Anxious about it all weekend, I wasn't sure how I was going to do. I went through it all in my head, knowing that I wasn't guilty and was as ready as I was going to be to plead my case. I arrived at the County building in Plant City. In fact, I arrived 45 minutes early. That didn't serve my nerves well.
I sat down on the long wooden bench a few seats away from two women dressed in ripped t-shirts and dirty gray shorts. Across from me was a man wearing plaid. All plaid. Head-to-toe. Another was sporting an old Michael Jackson t-shirt. (He was mourning, like I was...) And as I was taking it all in, a man decided to plop himself down as close as he could get to me. (Hey dude, there IS room for you to spread out...) But, as I pressed myself up against the arm of the long bench, clutching my court letter and my phone, I decided to be friendly and ask...
"What are you here for?" (Like we were all in prison or something...)
He gave me his story, his citation story, his work story, his unemployment story, his girlfriend story, and his work history and a crime scene analyst. (I was mostly interested in the latter.) This began the strange bond I would have with this man, who had an Irish accent...his name Michele (pronounced Mee-kale)...I would look to him for advice...
They called us all into the courtroom. All 75+ of us. As we entered, several were asked to spit out their gum. Don't think that I didn't notice all the bacteria on their hands as they spit it into their hand and then threw it into the garbage. *Mental note, do not sit next to them.
As I scoured the room for a seat, I spotted Michele and sat next to him...reaking of stale cigarette smoke (and the most stain-ridden teeth I have ever seen), I reluctantly took a deep breath in to calm myself down. The bailiffs came into the courtroom and made some announcements.
"This is an arraignment. You will be pleading 'guilty,' 'not guilty,' or 'no contest.'"
I felt my stomach drop. An arraignment? Am I going to have to put on cuffs and shackles? Where is my attorney? Do I have to talk in front of EVERYONE in this room? What am I going to say? I should have had a donut or something.
I knew I was not guilty, so that was what I planned to plead. BUT, I guess the 'no contest' plea is the easiest and basically just gets it over with at that point. I wrestled in my mind as to what I was going to do. Why didn't I know that was an option? Why didn't I research it? I mean, I research EVERYTHING else, why didn't I think there was more to this?
So, I looked at my smoke-scented friend for advice. "What would you do?" He told me to follow my gut. He said that since the cop wasn't actually a witness, what would he say in court? He told me to plead not guilty if I felt like I really wasn't.
*****
There I was, next in line. I placed my bag and umbrella on the large table and clasped my hands as I approached the podium. I realized that once I got there, that I had walked to it as if I were heading to Communion at church or walking down the aisle at a wedding. I was mortified. But the Judge asked my name and said I was charged with "improper lane change" and to what I plea?
Not guilty, your Honor.
She answered: "Your trial will be on August 11 at 8:30 a.m. Thank you."
TRIAL?
Did she mean hearing? I mean, do I need an attorney? I'm all freaked out. Anyway, my short time with Michele educated me on what I need to do to prepare myself for the next court date. I am to take lots of pictures. Lots and lots of pictures. And, I'm to go into the room, completely confident. BUT, if you know me, you know I dread public speaking and that I will be sick about it for weeks. How am I supposed to pull confidence out of that?!
Ryan is going to help me get all that done. I am nervous. Not nervous about facing the "Sheriff" or the other guy...if he is coming... but just nervous about all this. Was this the right thing to do? Would it have been better to just plead 'no contest' and had it done and over with? I guess it's too late now. Time to prepare....
3 comments:
LOVE it...I mean, not the accident, arraignment or trial...but the post is great! You can do it!!!!
wow, I would definitely talk to some lawyer friends before going to this court date. I would be nervous too! Good luck.
You absolutely did the right thing!
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