Close encounters of the Law kind

I love lawyer shows.  My heart belongs to a lawyer.  I listen to law cases discussed all the time at least until my eyes glaze over and then I just pretend to listen.  I work with law enforcement day in and day out, I even have a few cops I would <gulp> call my friends... but I have never had to deal with the law until this summer, prepare yourself for: CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE LAW KIND - cue Wilhelm scream.

Okay, for those of you who don't know, I was in a little fender-bender in May where I grazed the car in front of me in order to avoid being rear-ended full on by an asshat in rush-hour traffic and creating a multiple car crash (because my car would have hit the one in front for sure).  This got me a ticket for "careless driving" which I was totally POed about because I was being careful trying to avoid a BIG accident.  I kept hearing from people, "you should have just let that car hit you, you could be avoiding all this mess" - and by mess they meant having to go to court because the ticket didn't give me a monetary amount that I could pay immediately (not that I would have).

My attorney (also know as DH - Dear Hubby) and I went to court.  My attorney thought I could explain the situation and plead down to something more reasonable, be happy and done with it.  But nooooooo, turns out the City Attorney we dealt with is a total bully and thought he would force me to pay with a different charge of "following to closely" (which I wasn't).  My attorney advised me to plead not guilty and stand up for myself.  At this point, half of me just wanted to make the mess go away but it was overpowered by the half that wanted to stand up to the bully so I went with counsel's advice.  The judge was so shocked she did a double take... yep, that's me, shocking judges since 2011.  I gotta tell you though, I felt super-duper important standing there speaking to the judge with my attorney slightly behind and to the left of me offering me advice like when the judge asked: jury or judge? My attorney whispered: jury. And then I answered like a puppet sans hand stuck up my body (for a more natural effect).  After that I went to see the clerk and set a date for my trial - fun times.

Two weeks later I get a jury summons.  I have somehow always been lucky enough to have gotten out of jury duty.  Could I have this time? Yes.  But I chose not to, I decided that if I was going to have a jury trial might as well understand the jury experience, right?  Let me just say that the difference between Arapahoe County (where I live) and Denver County (where I had my traffic thingy) is like ice cream and cake - both desserts, both sugary.... but nothing alike.  To begin with the courthouse in Arapahoe County is nice, it looks and smells clean, you can tell it is well cared for and the placing is actually welcoming... in Denver County the building makes you feel like you are up sh*t creek without a paddle right away with a slight smell of urine in certain corners.  Jury duty was interesting, it was fun listening to answers and thinking "you're not going to make the cut buddy", the judge I was assigned to was really nice, what I imagine I good judge to be like, overall a positive experience. Denver... not so much.


Two weeks before my trial asshat City Attorney adds some BS charge about changing lanes unsafely or something - ugh!  Night before my trial - I got to do what the pros call "prep" more like torture, but I do have new insight and appreciation for what DH does.  How did it end? My attorney has told me to answer: truth and justice prevailed.  My interpretation of that: stand up to bullies and you just might get to kick them in the nuts once in a while, like in this case!