TESTIMONIAL – You don't always know when you are winning
Just wanted to let you know we were 100% successful. Although it did not go as we expected.
Attached to this e-mail you will find the first letter sent into the Clerk of Court, the District Attorney and the Judge. Second attachment is our Motion to Dismiss. Leanne followed up with a call to the Clerk's once we received confirmation (Certified Green card) asking if the case was still scheduled. It was. We filed the Motion two business days ahead of the hearing. The girls in the office just rolled their eyes. They thought it was a joke.
Today was the hearing. There were 3 other cases all regarding not appearing for jury duty. The first man was called up and the judge immediately asked why he did not show up. He explained he did not receive anything in the mail and went on and on. In the end the judge fined him $200.00. I told Leanne that she would be the last case just to keep this out of the public eye, which is exactly what happened.
We had rehearsed a script over and over again….which in the end the Judge put a stop to it before she even got through the first sentence. The Judge said she was troubled by the Motion to Dismiss and asked her to explain what it meant. Leanne froze. Once the Judge saw this she began asking her why she did not appear for Jury Duty. Leanne buckled immediately and began telling her story. I figured …oh well… I gave it a try. Once Leanne and the Judge finished the Q & A session the Judge took a very long and uncomfortable pause….she was thinking and looking at her computer screen. She also looked at me a couple of times as I was pretending to take notes. I could see she was very uncomfortable and deciding what she was going to do next. Then all of a sudden, the Judge said that she could not prove Leanne did not get the Jury Duty notice and that she was free to go. I almost pissed my pants. Leanne and I left the courtroom, and she was very upset thinking she had let me down. Leanne did not realize what had just happened….victory!!! For the Judge not to at least fine her the same as the first case was unbelievable. I explained to Leanne what had happened on the way home. The Judge was in a corner…she was extremely careful on what she said and also did not know who I was (I have been misidentified as an Attorney in the same Courtroom before). She did mention that the Motion to Dismiss was nonsense…..hmmmmm… I think she knew with the possible claim for damages looking her right in the face she had better get this out of the court fast.
So, TJ your theory of submitting the letter and the motion prior to appearing seems to work. I would be interested to hear if others will have the same success if they try it.
One more item: You are 100% correct that if a person goes into court unprepared the success rate falls to almost zero. Leanne was totally unprepared and believe me I tried and tried to push her to learn the subject matter. Now with the written notices it actually lets the words do the work…if that makes sense.
Anyway, thank you so much for helping us through your ministry. If you have any questions about our day in court please let me know.
Mike