[you've been served.. LITERALLY]

March was a pretty hectic and crazy month. I was so busy I didn't have any time to update; so these next few entries are going to be about past events from the month of March. But before I do that, let me backtrack to 2012. The month of April to be more specific.

That was the month that J & I were victims of a hit & run. We were actually on our way back from dropping off our pup at a friend's house when someone decided to hit the back of my car. BOOM! so normally, after a car accident you put your hazards on, call 9-1-1 and pull over to the side. Which is exactly what I did, but WHILE I was on the phone with 9-1-1, you can see the car that just hit me move forward into the middle lane & the passengers jumping out of the car & start RUNNING. While they were getting out of the car J & I watched them throw cups (which I'm sure had alcohol in them) over to the side of the road. Long story short, the police arrived to the accident scene, took down the license plate number of the driver, brought in the dogs & found them hiding about 3 minutes from where their car was parked. Not only were these 3 people found BUT they also had marijuana on them. Really!? One of the police officers said to us that we were hit by the dumbest people ever. Granted, I was already upset since I had just bought baby blue & I only had her in my possession for about 3 months. Now my poor Volvo wasn't drivable and would be away from me for about another 2 months.

Now fast forward to around the summer when the driver of the other car had her arraignment . She had spent the night in jail & was charged with possession of drugs. Now, due to my previous experience as a legal assistant & also working as court reporter, I know my way around the clerk of courts website. This is extremely useful if you would like to find out if someone has been previously arrested and has a record. I was able to discover that not only was the driver pretty young, she has been arrested before for disorderly conduct and possession (surprise/surprise). When I googled her name I was able to find a mugshot of her, along with her facebook where she decided to give some rapper her phone number. I decided to show up for her arraignment and spoke with the State Attorney about seeing if the defendant could be given the option of drug court. Many of you are probably wondering why I would want to give her that option instead of just being put in jail.

Here's why: the driver of the other car is in her early 20's. Once you've spent time in jail or in a state prison, several things happen while you're in there. Once you're in the system it's really hard for a person to stay OUT of the system. While you're in jail you either bond with other inmates who will become horrible influences on you or once you get out, it's even harder to find a job or get back to a normal type of life due to incarceration. At the arraignment, the SAO told the Judge that I wanted to give the driver option of drug court & so the Judge offered it to her. She accepted (of course).

So let's fast forward to 2013 when I received this lovely piece of paper in the mail:

J & I were both subpoenaed for the hit and run charges for the driver. I wasn't actually surprised to see this since I had spoken to the State several weeks before about what I would like the Judge to sentence the driver. He had actually told me that she was in & out of drug court b/c she would fail her drug tests & the Judge had actually given her a few days in jail. I decided to go onto the clerk of courts to see what little miss hit & run has been up to recently. It turns out that not only was she in drug court, but she had been arrested AGAIN for possession of meth & cocaine. I guess when I decided to give her a second chance she didn't take it. So I told the SAO that J & I would like to give her jail time. There are only so many chances you can give a person and perhaps being in jail is the only way miss hit & run would get her life back on track.

On March 21st, J & I showed up to court for the sentencing of miss hit & run. The Judge asked us to come to the front, swore us in & then asked us what we believe should happen to her. I explained to her how I believe the defendant should receive jail time b/c she doesn't seem to learn her lesson and has been in and out of jail since the accident. Now her public defender was an idiot. He actually called miss hit and run an ALL-STAR in drug court (say what?!?!) and that she's an outstanding citizen of the community (uhhhh). THEN he asked me since I've been keeping up with her records on the clerk of courts website if it said on there how she's been an "All-Star" in drug court.. no sir, I don't believe it has ever said that. Duh. The Judge ends up sentencing her to 6 months probation with a special condition that she must fully comply with felony drug court and if she violates drug court or probation in ANY WAY she will automatically have to serve 30 days in jail.

And wouldn't you know, on March 28th she was pulled over by an officer for a traffic infraction: unlawful speed/not wearing seatbelt. SMH. I guess some people will never learn.