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Old May 25, 2005, 02:21 PM   #1
skidmark
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Darn! Now I'm a hero.

Go here

http://thefiringline.com/forums/show...light=critique

for the beginning of the story.

As we resume the tale, the BG has his day in court on the A&B charge. He has an appointed lawyer who wants to ask for a continuance because 1/2 hour ago the BG says he has some witnesses, but he does not know their last names or where they live. After a few mouthfuls of discussion on why he should not have waited until 1/2 hour ago to tell his lawyer about the existence of witnesses that he does not know the last names or addresses of, the judge says we go to trial right now.

We go through the usual song-and-dance of who is who and why each of is standing in front of the bench, then the Commonwealth Attorney (DA for you folks who do not recognize the CA title) gets me to give the short version of the long story, plus a few follow-up questions about how scared was I and why did that 6-foot-plus skinny young man scare me, and I told her all about his bad mouth and threats and my poor health making me even weaker and more vulnerable than I look.

The defense goes for a version of "my man never said those things, and anyway he threw the bottle at the car, not the witness." The CA counters with "Then why did Mr. Skidmark have to dodge the bottle, which he has testified hit the top of the quarterpanel where he was standing?" The defense gets the BG to say again he did not throw it at me, but at my car.

Now the judge wants to stop & see if the A&B charge should be amended to Attempted A&B plus Destruction of Property. The judge decided to let it stand at A&B as originally charged.

A few more words from the local cop on how the BG came to be siezed and detained, then incarcerated, and the judge asks for warp-up statements. The CA calls it clear-cut and asks for the whole library full of books to be thrown at the BG. The defense talks about all the other charges his client has been arrested for in the interim, and has served his time for most of them, and did not cause trouble while locked up (except for "that one time") and says maybe 20 days would be a good sentence.

The judge sits & thinks a few moments, and says he is going for the maximum penalty - one year with none suspended + $2,500 fine. Appeal bond of $2,500 cash and restraining order not to bother me, plus continued community supervision if he makes bond. The BG looks kind of sad as he & the appointed defense lawyer go out to the cashier's office to say they do not have $2,500 cash on hand.

Before dismissing the case the judge gives a sermon about this case being not just me vs. the BG, but everybody standing up to thugs who do not behave politely in society. Then he calls me "a hero, a real community hero."

After stopping off on the way out to thank Officer Friendly for his assistance that night, I get stopped by one of the Bailiffs, who warns me that a scruffy-looking character that seemed to be connected to the defendant has just gone out into the hallway ahead of me, and that any of the Deputies would be glad to escort me to my car if I wanted the company. I also get another county cop come up to me & say "This is a good reason for a concealed handgun permit and a .40 cal." I let him know I have the first but prefer .45 acp only because there is not a .46 acp.

I do a few u-turns and through-the-stripmall parking lot runs just to check my 6, and have the jimmy-bar and alarm set up even before bedtime. Seems I once heard somebody say "Even if you are paranoid, there is probably somebody out to get you" or something like that.

I'm planning a low profile, extra survellience, and some changes of route & routine for a few days to see if anything makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up.

Oh, yeah. The "hero" thing really embarassed me. It still does.

stay safe.

skidmark
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Old May 25, 2005, 02:36 PM   #2
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I think we can all learn from you and the judge's remarks.
It is when the community allows small crimes to happen repeatedly that larger crimes will soon take over.
It is nice to see a judge that will stick it to a repeat offender.

Hopefully the BG will be involved in some programs that will change his life rather than hinder.
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Old May 25, 2005, 03:11 PM   #3
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Skidmark, you made my day!

Watch your back.
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Old May 25, 2005, 03:22 PM   #4
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Good show Skidmark!

Congratulations on a job well done.



Sleep well Hero!
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Old May 25, 2005, 05:10 PM   #5
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May the Force be with you Skid, and keep an eye on your 6.
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Old May 25, 2005, 06:40 PM   #6
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*"Even if you are paranoid, there is probably somebody out to get you" or something like that.*

"Just Because You're Paranoid, Don't Mean They're Not After You." Nirvana - Territorial Pissings ^_~

Glad to hear things went the right way in a court room for once! Keep your eyes and ears open for a while...Sounds shady =\
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Old May 25, 2005, 11:13 PM   #7
chris in va
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That is fascinating. A judge saying that of all things.

It's funny but we are so conditioned to believe that judges and PO's are out to strike the GG down, but I know of a couple instances where that's not the case.

Just the other day my dad in TX said his neighbor had a few mexican thugs come messing with stuff on his property and he promptly fired his .45 in the air (bad, I know) and all the cops had to say was "good for you". The BG's got a stiff fine for trespassing and not wearing glasses according to restrictions on their licenses.
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Old May 25, 2005, 11:31 PM   #8
Phil Ca
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Skidmark, you did good! Be careful and watch your six!

Some years ago one of my men that I hired and thought well of in the beginning, turned against me and sought to get me in trouble or fired if he could. He managed to complain enough so that his "elected rep" from here in the PRK convened a hearing with me to be roasted on the coals. Three people from Dee Cee arrived to put me in the "inquisition." One was the spokesman for the "elected rep", a "weasely" looking lawyer and a stenographer.

I entered the conferance room where me were to meet with full confidence, since I did not do all those "e-vile" things I was accused of. As I entered and walked to my chair I smiled and said, "Welcome to San Francisco, what has my friend "XXX" said about me lately?" The weasely lawyer looked up and said, "He's paranoid, paranoid!" I smiled and said, "No sir, paranoid is when you think someone is out to get you, I know that "XXX" is out to get me."

I asked if they would tell me who was the person making a complaint and they said that they were not allowed since this was an "anomynous" complainent. I smiled again and said that, I was pretty sure that they wanted my co-operation and that if I did not at least know the name of my antagonist then I would be leaving. I turned as if to leave and said that I hoped they enjoyed their trip to SF on this fine looking weekend and that I wished them a good flight home. This got the attention of the main "inquisitor" and he invited me to be seated and said, "Yes, it is "XXX" and we need to ask some questions of you.

The upshot was that I shot down and refuted the charges of, a) cheating on my time card; b) mis-appropriating a government vehicle a couple others that I do not recall after all this time. When the inquisitors were done i suggetsed that if anyone really had a problem with my official conduct, they could have called me at my office and we could have cleared it up over the phonerather than travel nearly 3000 miles to the west coast.

I always have considered the PTB crowd to don their trousers, one leg at a time as I have always done, therefore my seeming lack of respect. I could see a junket in progress and the setographer was not bad looking and I thought that she might be a bit close with the main guy who was out there to seek to "fry" me.

Later the guy known as "XXX" sued me for $2 MILLION DOLLARS! That was thrown out of court by a federal judge that saw the case for what it really was. I will not reveal the name of my antagonist since he has gone to his reward some years back. Some members that live on the SF Peninsula would recognize the person from some news he was involved in back in the 80's or 90's.
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Old May 26, 2005, 11:14 AM   #9
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Good job skidmark

Glad to see the judge did you right
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Old May 26, 2005, 08:57 PM   #10
skidmark
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Quote:
Good job skidmark

Glad to see the judge did you right
For line #1 - thanks muchly.

For line #2 - thanks, but the judge did not do me right, he did right for the community.

OK, I'm still blushing about this "hero" stuff and being some sort of "stand-up guy." All I did, in my little mind, was get pissed at finding some guys leaning up against MY door, blocking MY way, so I could not get into MY home.

Then I thought, maybe they don't know that was MY door they were leaning on. So I asked them to move away. After that, all I did was wait until there was enough distance for me to feel safe before I put my back to them as I would need to do to get inside. All the rest was based on gaining, maintaining and increasing that distance, except the BG did not want to let me keep that "safety zone" about me. So I tried to regain it.

Sure, the community as a whole will benefit from the final results of 1) a BG being taken off the streets for a while, 2) other potential BGs not acting that way in front of MY house for fear I will do something to make their day end badly, and maybe 3) others in the community seeing it is possible to stand up to bad, impolite behavior and come away without serious wounds. But nothing I did was done "for the community."

stay safe.

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Old May 27, 2005, 02:36 AM   #11
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All's well that ends well. Pity it was not "one year hard labor".
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Old May 29, 2005, 11:26 AM   #12
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I let him know I have the first but prefer .45 acp only because there is not a .46 acp.
Well, they're making a .50 now. So why haven't you upgraded?
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Old May 29, 2005, 11:29 AM   #13
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Old May 29, 2005, 02:21 PM   #14
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Woot! for you and the Judge..
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Old May 30, 2005, 08:03 PM   #15
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Stay safe.

Last edited by PythonGuy; June 2, 2005 at 07:23 AM.
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Old June 4, 2005, 03:07 PM   #16
OF
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It is when the community allows small crimes to happen repeatedly that larger crimes will soon take over.
Ain't that the truth.

Good one, skid. Stay stafe out there.

- Gabe
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Old June 4, 2005, 03:11 PM   #17
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When anybody stands up to the BGs and wins its a good day.
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Old June 4, 2005, 03:17 PM   #18
4V50 Gary
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Skidmark, thank you for: (1) Standing up to the lowlife; (2) exercising restraint; (3) assuring the cops that you would press charges. It's very frustrating to catch a bad guy only to have the victim say, "I just wanted him stopped. I don't want him arrested." ; (4) Appearing in court as promised to the officers.

That's why the deputies, police officers and the judge see you as a hero. Not enough heroes in today's world and too many are willing to stand down and let society be overwhelmed.
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