Skip to main content

My day in court

I'll tell you, going to downtown the Justice Center in Cleveland in February is not the thing I want to do the most. The temperature was announced at 23 degrees and with the wind coming off the lake it made the wind chill very cold. Two things I didn't have to worry about being this close to the Justice Center under these circumstances. That was the presence of pan handlers and brass monkeys.

So I park my car and go into the building and have to pass through the metal detectors. They're not as much fun since my artificial knee quit setting them off. No problem, I must not have the magnetic personality I thought I had.

I go upstairs and wait...and wait...Then we now are allowed into the courtroom. The cases are progressing somewhat alphabetically and I was number 59 on the list.

As we were being seated, I saw a sign that said that court costs would be $120.00. I got to thinking that for that much I could get a room at the Holiday Inn Express for 2 nights. But then again if I had slept at a Holiday Inn Express, I might not be sitting in traffic court.

The Magistrate comes in and explains all the options. By some of the arguments I heard while I was waiting for my case to be heard, the judge's explanations should have been closed captioned for the intellectually impaired.

My turn came and the magistrate read my charge and I produced my insurance card and my receipt for repairs. She asked me what my plea was and I said "no contest". At one point I said "yes, ma'am" instead of "yes, your honor." think that showed three things. One, I was nervous, two, I don't spend a whole lot of time in court rooms, and three, I am a gentleman.

After I entered my plea she said I find you not guilty and you are free to leave. I thanked her and left.

So let's review this:
Cost of two hours missed wages-$28.00 before taxes

Parking-$8.00

ATM Charge-$2.50

Being found not guilty-PRICELESS

The prayers of all my blogging family-
PRICELESS times INFINITY


Comments

Chelle said…
Glad to hear that all went well.
Prayers were answered.
Anonymous said…
Cliff...I am happy for you. Did it feel like a tremendous inconvenience and a waste of time? I got cited a few years ago for having an obscured license plate by the Beachwood Police Department. I took it to court and won but the hassle of getting out of work and appearing in court to defend and successfully win the case ticked me off a little bit. Sometimes, why do these things happen to good people?
Cliff said…
Honestly Struke, I think maybe the hope was that I would waive it and pay the $180.00, which is what I was going to do until some of my co-workers advised me to go and show the judge my receipt.

A hassle? Yes, but also a lesson that could have cost me more.

Yes Chelle, I believe in not only the power of prayer but also the power of friendship, which I got from my blogging friends the past two weeks.
Pilgrim said…
Your day was much better than the brass monkeys.
Anonymous said…
WIXY...either way, I am happy you came through it ok. It always shocks me when good people "run afoul" of the law. It's one of those "this can't be true" type things. It provokes one of those "you have got to be sh***in' me" reactions.
Anonymous said…
Fantastic!! Glad you didn't have to pay those court costs!!!
Have a WONDERFUL week-end everybody!

B. the band mom.
Kathy said…
Good for you!
Anonymous said…
Good for you Cliff.
Sometimes the Justice system
works.

And do you know what a brass
monkey is? (and no googling)
LOL
Cliff said…
I know the saying: It's cold enough to freeze the ***** off a brass monkey. This is called stepping out of character.
Pat Jenkins said…
ohh that is just what we need. another criminal in the state of ohio getting off easy!!... i kid wixy. it was a senselss fine and i am glad you WON!!!
Melanie said…
Happy to hear all went well!
Liquid said…
Ta Ta Dah!
I am so glad all went well, dear sir!

Yeah, I think I'll like law school!
You are in my thoughts and prayers right now!

Popular posts from this blog

Post 800: Time to chat

Hi Guys, It's hard to believe that this is post number 800 for this blog. I started this blog out of my desire to communicate. Since radio and television is becoming more and more automated and less and less personal, I'm glad I made the decision to go in this direction as it has given me many blessings. When I first decided to write my musings, a friend from the radio and television boards who goes by the name of newsnomore, told me not to be discouraged if I didn't get any readers. The fact that I did in the early going made me surprised and grateful that anyone was enjoying what I wrote. I've had people tell me that maybe it wasn't meant for me to ever be in radio, that maybe my calling was blogging. Nowadays I think blogging makes for better two way conversation than terrestrial radio, especially the way I do it, non confrontational. The closest I come from any confrontation is the innocent digs that Pat and I shoot at each other. On an average day I get betwee

Lawson's Chip Dip

On a couple of occasions I have written posts dedicated to Lawson's, a convenience store chain that was located in Ohio for close to 50 years. In the late 1980's the chain was bought out by Dairy Mart, of Engfield Ct. Dairy Mart was then purchased by Alimentation Couche-Tard, and most stored were rebranded Circle K. Something that has survived the years since Lawson's has left the landscape is Lawson's Chip Dip. I get many hits on this blog from people out of Ohio, I'm thinking former Buckeyes, looking for availability of this chip dip. I had gotten an email from a former resident of Cleveland looking for it. I emailed Circle K about this sometime ago asking if it was possible to send the dip out to those out of state, they said because of quality issues that it was not possible. My only suggestion would be to get in touch with Circle K in your home area and ask them to start stocking this very popular item that seems to make every get-together complete. Now we wil

Sometimes Sports are Just Sports

 This may or may not make the final cut of my book. I was writing about some events this weekend and what had started as a joyous Friday night at my home school district became a weekend of heartbreak in the area after what happened at another school. Sometimes We Need to Realize That Sports are Just Games   Friday nights in late summer and early fall are sometimes a big deal for high school students and their families. As the long-time band announcer for my local high school, it is a time of year I always look forward to. This past Friday night was originally supposed to be the homecoming game for the local high school. The schedule had to be changed a bit because of the uncertainty of the opponents being able to field a team. There was talk around the league that they may have had to forfeit this game, so homecoming for the local school was rescheduled. The opponents, which are rivals of my local school district, were able to field a team and the game was played. The game was