At least i actually made it into the courtroom this time...
Howdy folks,
Your old pal thatoneguyinslc here.
As many of you already know, (i'm really get tired of repeating this, but i gotta do it for the noobs of JU) I was a witness in a hit and run accident on October 17, 2005, that resulted in the death of a man by the name of Claude WIlliams. The suspect, Rogelio Molina, was drunk, high on cocaine, fled the scene, and to top it off...An illegal alien at the time of the incident. The local media hung the "hero" sign around my neck immediately after as well. Fun stuff eh?
Today was the second attempt at a Preliminary Hearing. The first was supposed to happen on January 3rd, but had to be re-scheduled due to reasons still unknown by yours truly.
I show up at the District Attorneys office at 8:15 a.m. Normally, someone who is a witness in a criminal proceeding recieves a subpoena in the mail, or by hand delivery. I never actually recieved one mind you, but was alerted via the DA's office website, which lists all the relevant info involving current criminal actions. (real confidence builder) The ADA assigned to the case called me a couple of times last week to discuss my testimony and to ask the usual questions... IE: Would you recognize him if you saw him, how good is your eyesight, yadda, yadda yadda. I arrive this morning and meet with the ADA. We glean over the case for a bit, and head over to the courthouse. I'm thinking that i'll finally get a chance to look this guy right in the eye, make my statement, and they will finally set a trial date.
WRONNNNG!
Another continuance...Dammit!
Apparantly, the Defense weasels feel that since i've never picked the defendant out in a police lineup before the hearing, my testimony in open court would be "meaningless" because when they get to the part when the ADA askes me "Can you identify the suspect?", i would point at the scumbag in question only because he happened to be sitting there in an orange jumpsuit.
Needless to say... This really pissed me off.
When i chased this moron down in my taxi, he stopped at an intersection for a red light. He just killed someone, and he's stopping like Ward Cleaver on his way home from the office.
I pulled up next to his car, and got a real good look at him. When you watch a man kill someone and you see his face, you never forget what he looks like.
This bastard's face haunted me for months afterward... And i cant identify him? WTF??
So the ADA starts raising hell with the judge at this point. Which he immediately ignored, stating that he didn't want any bases un-covered before deciding wether or not the case should go to trial. So then they make the police and myself leave the courtroom so he can come in and waive his right to a "speedy" trial. They threw my ass out, so that some illegal from Guadalajara can come into an American courtroom that my tax dollars helped build, and waive his right to get what's coming to him?
BULLSHIT!
Anyway, They re-re-scheduled the hearing for April 4th. Sometime before then i'll have to go down to the jail and pick him out of a lineup.
For some bizarre reason i'm reminded of that godawful "Song That Never Ends" from the Shari Lewis show on PBS...
"This is the song that never ends... It goes on and on my friends....."
Thanks for reading,
thatoneguyinslc