Judgement Day

I got to spend my Monday morning in court. Not for anything I did...I was actually there to help out a friend...testify on his behalf towards a misdemeanor charge of NOISE. Yes, folks...it was a noise violation. And this was his third continuance of the charge.

After my friend's second time at court, he had called me to gather my recollection of the events that night and being that I was the only STONE COLD sober person amongst his guests, I was pretty much like his 'ace in the hole.' Plus the fact that I showed up to court looking way pregnant and pretty respectable...if I do say so myself. He called me to testify on his behalf back in November. So I had TWO months to think about how this thing would go down.

What did I see? Law & Order - Arlington style. I pictured being questioned about all these different things, which I will proceed to answer since I DID NOT get to use all this material stored up in my head:
Relationship to Defendant: Friend for over five years
What was I doing prior to the BBQ: I was at the Bottom Line watching Purdue beat Central Michigan
Why wasn't I drinking: I was under a Dr's care and medication
What were you doing when the police arrived: I actually didn't know the police arrived. I was in my friend's house receiving my medication, which is always done at 10PM. When I returned to the backyard, the music was turned off and I was informed the Police were out front.
And so on and so forth.

When I got there, I thought perhaps the theme from People's Court would be playing as I entered the court room. I thought I would have to put my hand on the Bible and swear that I would tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth...I even practiced my 'I wills' and 'I dos.' I settled on 'I will.'

Instead - what I got was NOTHING like what I imagined. Which means, I probably have an overactive imagination. But boy was this court UNORGANIZED. There were about 10-20 cases to be heard on the docket and as the barely audible judge started reading down the list of cases, I felt like I was sitting in one of my IT staff meetings. The attorney gave statuses on each case..."He's in traffic court right now, Your Honor" or "I believe we're still working on a plea for that, Your Honor." The first four cases went pretty much like this. If I were the Judge, I'd be miffed. I'd be like 'Get your shiot together people and don't waste my time.'

Finally my friend got called up and events leading up to the actual hearing, which took place outside of the court room when we arrived (a lot of wheeling and dealing) did not require my presence in the court room. It did not require my testimony and it did not require my swearing in. Very anti-climatic.

I knew I should have got him to subpoena me when he asked!