December 01, 2005
Following too Closely
Yes, I was accused of violating Georgia state law 40-6-49, which is for following too closely. More specifically, it states that a car must follow another car at a reasonable and prudent distance, with due regard for the speed of the cars and the traffic upon and condition of the the highway. This morning, as you are probably aware, I went to court to defend myself against the charge.
I actually had a rather fun time of it. The court I must appear at is the Dade County Courthouse. When I initially received my summons to the trial, it told me that unless I wanted a warrant issued for my arrest, I needed to show up on the morning of December 1st (today) at PO Box 613 in Trenton, GA. That seemed a little funny to me, as I didn't think that they would have a PO Box big enough to contain entire courtroom and all the people involved in the various trials. The summons told me to show up at the PO Box, but I decided to use a bit of intelligence and figure out the true location of the courthouse.
Some things you should know about this area: the courthouse for Dade county is located in Trenton. It's not exactly the big city - about 2,000 people live in Trenton. But Dade county's real claim to fame is that, after the civil war was lost, Dade county was the last county to rejoin the union - they held out until the very end. Hmm... what was I getting myself into?
I woke up this morning, drove across Lookout Mountain, and arrived at the courthouse a full half hour before I needed to show up in court. When I arrived there, I didn't see anyone. I walked into the building that looked like the courthouse, and after walking down a hallway I saw a door marked "courtroom." I went in, but there was noone in there. I thought I was in the right place, but I wasn't quite sure, and as a warrant would be issued for my arrest if I wasn't at the right place, I was a little concerned. My fears were removed when, at about 5 minutes to 9, some other people came into the courtroom.
In all there were two cases before the court that morning. This was rather different from my previous experience in Chattanooga for a speeding ticket, where I had to wait several hours before being called before the bench. The other guy pled guilty to a second offense DUI (3 days in jail, 1 year probation, and about $1500 in fines... ouch!), then it was my turn. So I was up at around 9:30.
I was called to the bench, and so I stood up and walked up there. There was the judge, a secretary of some kind, Officer Geddie (the guy who wrote me the ticket), and the district attorney (the guy who was arguing the case for the state).
The fun started when the judge first addressed me. She asked Officer Geddie and I to raise our right hands and swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. I didn't want to. I never have been one to do things the normal way, and I wasn't about to change now. So I said to the judge, "Actually, I don't want to testify." She looked at me with an expression that said, "Huh?" After a few seconds of silence, I followed that up by saying, "I believe I have the right to NOT testify - it it's the fifth amendment to our constitution" Again, more silence with a confused and astounded expression on the Judge's face.
After several more seconds of astonishment by the judge, the district attoryney jumped in to affirm my rights. He said that, yes, I do have that right, but he's never had anyone choose to exercise that right. He clarified that I could argue my case without actually presenting evidence from my own testimony. I was glad to get this affirmation, as that was exactly what I wanted to do. Once the judge recovered from her astonishment, we continued.
The DA then brought officer Geddie to the stand. He asked him a bunch of questions describing the event. It was basically an accident where I hit another car that was making a turn into a driveway. When I cross examined Officer Geddie, my questions were short and simple:
- Did you witness the accident?
- Do you know how fast the cars were driving?
- Do you know what the distance was between the two cars?
As I expected he would, he answered "no" to all three of these questions. Remember: never ask a witness a question that you don't know the answer to. You don't want any surprises from the witnesses.
The law says that a car should follow another car at a reasonable and prudent distance, with due regard for the speed of the vehicles and the traffic upon and condition of the highway. I argued that since the prosecution didn't know the speed of the vehicles on the highway, they couldn't determine what a reasonable and prudent distance was, and since they didn't know what my following distance was, they couldn't determine if I was at a reasonable and prudent distance.
Unfortunately, the judge didn't agree with my argument, so I lost my case. But here's the fun part. After the case, the DA asked me if I would mind talking with him for a minute. So after all of the paperwork was finished, we walked over to the side of the room, and he said to me something like this:
You gave one of the most cogent and compelling arguments I've heard from someone representing themselves. I didn'tt really have much to go on, and thought the judge would probably acquit you. Have you ever considered a career in the field of law?
After my initial shock at hearing such a question, I responded in the negative, as I've never really considered a career in law. But is was a nice compliment, and it made my day - even though I lost my case.
So that was fun. And now I'm $89 poorer.
| By larbo | 11:46 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
November 19, 2005
The City
I restarted reading a book today: A Theology as Big as the City, by Ray Bakke. It was lent to me by Jen Taylor a while back, and although I started reading it last year sometime, I didn't finish it. So I decided to start it again.
It's definitely a convicting read. So far I've only made it through the first few chapters. Ray talks about how the church has, for the most part, abandoned the cities. The church sees decay, poverty, crime, single mother families, and more, and decides to flee to the suburbs to avoid having to deal with it. Does the church really know how to be relevant to people who are hurting, or only to those who have it all together? What about the commands in the Bible that tell us to help the poor, the sick, and the destitute?
It's making me rethink where I am living, and where I might live next. Atlanta has plenty of poor, plenty of refugees, plenty of people who are in need. What have I been doing the last few years? Taking life pretty easy. I have a nice job, a nice car, I know how to get around the city, and I never have to worry about where my next meal will come from, and I can speak English without any difficulty. And I, for the most part, ignore those around me who aren't in the same station in life.
What was it that Christ said to the goats?
| By larbo | 11:40 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
October 16, 2005
Encouragement
God sure is amazing isn't he?
This morning at church, God taught me how selfish I am - and it really hit home, because it's true. He also reminded me of how I haven't really spent much time with Him in a while. Not a good thing.
Then this afternoon, I was moping about and feeling sorry for myself, and for no good reason. I'm not sure why, but I was feeling down, emotionally. And do you know what God did? Right when I was in the middle of my little pity party, God sent along Daniel Server, a good friend of mine. Dan called me up and asked if I wanted to play some disc golf at East Roswell Park. I went, and had a wonderful time hanging out with Dan and learning how to play disc golf.
Even when I had been ignoring God for a while, he sent along a friend to provide a huge dose of encouragement. I sure am glad that God is love, and this is a great example of his love. No matter what I do, I am his child, and he loves me. As 1 John 4:19 says, "We love because he first loved us." God doesn't love us because of anything we've done for him. He loves us and provides for us even when we ignore him - only a great God can do this.
| By larbo | 07:33 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
October 14, 2005
An Unfortunate Weekend
In case you were wondering, it's not the best idea to watch the pilot episode of Lost when preparing to fly somewhere. That was my first mistake last week. Yes, that's the episode where you see an airplane go out of control, lose the tail and nose and crash into the ground. And you see it not just once, but several times in the course of the episode. I suppose I'll have to be more judicious in what I watch on TV.
Of course, then there's the excitement for the weekend. I went up to Chattanooga for Trevor's wedding. It was great! It was just the post-wedding excitement that wasn't quite so fun. I was driving with several friends down Scenic Highway to Cloudland Canyon to play some disc golf when this happened:
I guess the good news is that the damage is all cosmetic - my car still runs fine. And thanks to David Wharton and a couple of bunjee cords, my hood hasn't flown off yet.
| By larbo | 08:05 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)