My day in Court

So I thought I'd join the ranks of my brothers and have my turn in court. I got a ticket for "failure to yield to an emergency vehicle." Bogus. The cop was in his car and I moved in between two lanes instead of moving all the way over. So another cop pulled me over. I pointed out to the cop that HE didn't change lanes when passing the other cop either when he went to pull me over. He did not care for my observation. He then threatened to taze me so I backed off. Okay, he didn't really, but it adds to the story. He really just threatened to give me another ticket for not having my license. Oops. Forgot you need that when you drive. Whatever.
Thankfully I know people in high places and one of our friends who is a lawyer (thanks again!) worked out a plea in abeyance for me so the ticket wouldn't go on my record. The only downside was I had to appear in court.
I've been to court before with my brother (stories for another time) but there were never very many people. My experience in Draper court was much different. . .it was packed!!
So there I was, with all the prisoners from the Salt Lake County Jail, and the rest of the people there who were either on probation from jail or on their way.
I was last on the docket so I sat through everyone else's sentences. There were 5 prisoners there and they all sounded exactly the same. I wanted to shake them. . .so dumb. It reminded me so much of my brother. They just don't get it. One poor kid stood before the judge and was about to get released from jail and somehow ended up with 180 more days. Shut-up buddy. Seriously. Evertime he opened his mouth he got more time. After all 5 prisoners went, they each requested to appear before the judge AGAIN. . .Um, can you do that?! Pretty sure you've already got your sentence and you've had your turn. The judge was nice and let them do it. Some of them didn't understand their sentence, some were trying to reduce their time. . .and there I was just shaking my head.
One of the prisoners moms was there. She looked very out of place if you know what I mean. A classic suburban house wife. And there she was trying to talk her kid out of jail who was 20 and was caught in possession of alcohol while driving. Based on experience from our family, she better lay it down hard on him now or she's in for a long hard ride in the future.
My favorite cases from the day were the grown man who was caught on the roof of IFA. His friends used to climb the tower there when they were in highschool and he though he'd relive the glory days. He got fined $800. Tough lesson to learn. I laughed out loud when I found out what he'd done. Not sure he appreciated that.
The other classic was an older woman (maybe in her 50s) who saddled up next to me. She knew one of the prisoners and they were yelling a conversation to each other from across the room. At one point they began talking about the need for a shot of heroin. Hmmmm....
Lucky for me, she was on the docket just before me so we had a long time together. She talked to the prosecutor just before me. Apparently she beat the crap out of her grown daughter in a car while driving on the freeway. Not sure who was driving. The daughter "bit her and pulled her hair out" so she smacked her before the daughter tried to jump out of the car while speeding down the freeway. honestly.
She really let the prosecutor have it so by the time I got to him he was in no mood for bargaining. Luckily my plea and abeyance had already been worked out. I just tried to work my magic and get the fee waived as well. He wasn't having it. no budging from the big man who'd been in a hot courtroom all day with people who forget to use their brains.
Anyway, 2 hours and $132 later, I was out the door on probation (I feel like a real criminal) for 6 months.
Lesson: make sure you change lanes when passing a cop. Otherwise, you get a very educational day in court and a ridiculous fee for the "crime" committed.