What a Let Down

I had been looking forward to this hearing ever since I apprehended this girl over a month ago.The main reason being, I would get the opportunity to tell the story of how I apprehended her again. That's it! It was an LP Hall of Fame apprehension, and I wanted everyone to hear about it.

If you recall, and i'm sure you will being the avid reader of this rivetting blog you are, back in mid December I followed a girl walking around the store collecting a total of 39 items. Before she made her move she tries to get me to give her a lift to the bus stop. I agreed, and she followed me right out the door with all of her stolen merchandise, which resulted in a $330.00 apprehension. (Blog entry 12/17/09)

Fast forward to this week in my usual courtroom. As the clock ticks away and I wait patiently for my case to be called, the investigating police officer asks if I would oppose knocking this down to a summary offense, which meant waiving the hearing. In my head all I heard was..."You won't be able to tell your story."

I asked what the process would be and as he explained, I heard, "You won't be able to tell your story."

"The other option is to hold the hearing and see what the judge gives her..." the officer spoke, and I think I heard "You might be able to tell your story."

I continued weighing the decision while other cases were heard. I thought about the time and effort I actually did put into this apprehension, the amount of effort she put into trying to get away with it, and the amount of money we almost lost. Before I could get back to the officer with my decision, the judge advised us we were going on with the hearing in abstentia. Meaning, she wasn't even showing up for the hearing. In effor to afford her all the opportunity in the world, the judge was nice enough to place all other cases first. We then checked the lobby with no success. By the time I was called to the stand, the courtroom had emptied of all observers, and it was me, the prosecutor and the judge. Not quite the audience I wanted for my story, but I did get to tell my story again!

The prosecution proved their case, that a crime was actually committed, and the case was forwarded to trial. As for the defendant, there is now an arrest warrant for her to make sure she doesn't miss her next appointment with the judge.

The prosecutor and myself wrapped up our notes, grabbed our coats and headed for the door. I glanced up at the judge still signing paperwork and he glanced back down at me.

"Thanks for spending the morning with us sir," the judge said looking over his glasses at me, "I'm going to get you a reserved seat if this keeps up!"

I've been debating if I want to hear that from a judge or not...