My first (and hopefully last) court experience

I admit, in March I got a speeding ticket. In my defense, I didn't think I was speeding since I was driving 47 in what I *thought* was a 45 zone. It turned out to be a 35 zone ~ changing from 45 to 35 as I drove through an intersection. So, I was pulled and given a ticket. Rachael was with me that night, so it was her first ever somewhat negative encounter with a policeman.

Over the last couple of months, I've meant to go to the DA's office to get the charges reduced, but never actually made it there. So, on Wednesday I left home about 8 am to go to the courthouse for my court date. I got there early, got a good free parking space, and walked over to the courthouse, all the while in a good mood. Since I'd visited the courthouse on Tuesday (only to find out that the DA's people will only reduce charges on Thursday & Friday), I knew exactly where to go.

Now, I generally walk around smiling, and I began my walk that way. By the time I made it to the security doorway in the courthouse, I realized I walked from my sheltered, mostly Christian dimension, *scary music playing* into a whole other dimension filled with people who didn't look nice, and some who looked downright scary! I was early, so I had to wait in line to get into District Courtroom 1. There were 20 or so people waiting there, and after a while the bailiff (drawing from my experience watching crime shows, not from real life) came to let us in. I sat at the very front of the courtroom, on a row all by myself.

There were two Assistant District Attorney's who were handling all the cases on the docket that day. One of them came to the front of the courtroom and made some announcements. The first thing he said was "The docket is pretty light today, so we all should be out of here by noon." My eyes got big, because I was thinking I'd be out of there by 9am. But I thought that it would be okay, God's in charge. Then the ADA asked for all those who were charged with a felony, and were there for their first hearing to raise their hands. Aack! Felony? I thought this was traffic court! Next he announced for anyone who was there that wasn't asking for a continuance, and did not have a lawyer to line up. It sounded like me, so I was first in line. I found my number on the docket, and was called up to see the ADA.

The kind ADA asked me what I was there for, found me on the docket, and asked me what I wanted to do. I asked to have my speed reduced to less than 10 over the speed limit. He asked if I'd had any other tickets, and I explained quickly that my last (and only other) ticket had been 10 years ago, but that I didn't speed anymore because of it. I didn't want to manipulate with crying or whining or anything, so I just said I didn't know I was speeding because I wasn't aware of the change in speed zone. He wrote down my plea, and told me to go to the cashiers office and pay the fine. Whew! I was outta there by 8:45. The court costs were even reduced because he reduced my charge to 40 in a 35. That was good, too, since we're pretty broke right now.

Now that I've explained what happened, let me explain my surroundings. As I was waiting to get into the courtroom, there was no one there that looked like me. I don't mean that in a color-of-my-skin way, but in a outward-appearance-of-the-life-you-lead-way. Many of the people there looked like they lead a rough life. This was characterized by the way they carried themselves, how they dressed and how they talked and reacted to who and what was around them. I saw a couple of younger, well dressed guys that I did make eye contact with. But I quickly realized that they could be murderers (couldn't assume that they weren't just because they were dressed nicely), so I just decided to keep my eyes down and *try* not to look intimidated. The whole experience was waaaaay out of my comfort zone, and I was intimidated, especially once I found myself in the courtroom with accused felons!

While I was in the courtroom, the rest of the courthouse began filling up. There were lots of scary looking people there - even more than before. Many were leaning over the upper rails, leering at the people below. You know, the kind of people you see on the news, hair all out of whack with crazy eyes. That's what I saw, so I quickly made my exit, called my wonderful hubby and told him to remind me to never, never, ever let me allow a ticket to get that far! If, and that's a big IF, I ever get another ticket, I will go to the DA's office right away and get it taken care of. I am entirely too sheltered and too female to do that again!