Grind's Court Stories

[BRUTALITOPS]

I have so many good stories, I thought I would eventually share them.

But I am going to sleep, so heres just a little quickie.

Today I was in court where a guy was being charged with vehicular homocide. I was sitting basically right next to the defendant on the police bench. The witness is this confused old lady that really isn't with it or knows what is going on. Two years ago she was driving when this guy rammed into the passenger side of her car killing her mother. (Her mother was 85 years old).

If anyone is interested in the entireity of this case, maybe I'll share the rest of it sometime, I actually think that defense has a decent shot . . but anyway...

D.A.: And do you recognize *name of defendant* here in court today....

Old lady: noo... unless it's this young man over here *points at grind*

Yeah, that's right. She pointed at me...

Now most people in the court would be able to realize that the guy that was actually sworn in was the perpatrator... but go figure, needless to say, regardless of circumstances, it still kinda freaked me out for a second, lol.

Defense council I think was happy with that though, they are trying to paint her as this really absent minded lady, and she really was out of it pertaining to some other matters too. Defense council also waived a jury trial, I think that's so they can beat up on the old lady some more without getting in trouble, (beating up on old ladies doesn't go well with juries) . .but that's just my guess.

Trial was continued to friday.

Also, there was another sad case today where this asshole father basically beat his 3 year old daugheter by hitting her backhanded across the face on multiple occassions. He also picked her up one time and threw the little girl against the wall. There was testimony from the mother, she was crying a lot, and there wasn't a dry eye in the house, even the court officers were crying over her testimony.. everyone except me, I'm tough and I don't cry. :p

They had pictures though of the little girl all beaten up though.. it was pretty sad. :/

The deadbeat dad pled guilty and was sentenced to 2.5 years in jail, 1.5 suspended and 5 years probation.

[toby]

I have a story much worse than that. I was on a jury once and the vote was 11 to 1 guilty. The one hold out finally changed her mind. Why? So she could get home in time for dinner! LOL Love the jury system!

[IHateGovernment]

everyone except me, I'm tough and I don't cry.

Give it time Grind. I used to be one of those people who was the only dry eye in the room. Then its like another part of your brain turns on that wasn't before. I wasn't even capable of sympathy for others let alone crying for others until I was around 20.

[BRUTALITOPS]

:p I have sympathy sometimes But I'm no wuss ;)

re: vehicular homocide:

the kid was found not guilty.

His van, police concluded, was only going 15 miles an hour - that's all it takes to kill someone apparently.

I wasn't there for the verdict...I left after closing arguments... I'll find out on monday why he specifically was found not guilty... though I think it was to do with the fact that defense council was able to keep the medical records out of evidence.

- Grind

[OrnotBitwise]

I have a story much worse than that. I was on a jury once and the vote was 11 to 1 guilty. The one hold out finally changed her mind. Why? So she could get home in time for dinner! LOL Love the jury system!
The jury system is not perfect -- if you'll recall, that's exactly why I oppose the death penalty -- but it is pretty good, nonetheless. I've served on juries twice and was impressed by how seriously everyone took it. I also came away with an appreciation of just how hard it can be to get a conviction . . . which is exactly how I think it should be.

The good thing about our adversarial court system -- which we basically inherited from the English -- is that it allows the jurors to see the witnesses against and for a defendent with their own eyes. The evidence provided by the witness Grind told us of is almost certainly going to be discounted by the jury, as it almost certainly should be.

[BRUTALITOPS]

Well again I am not sure as to why the judge made her decision. It was a fact that the defendant crashed into the woman's car.. He admitted as such through a written statement. I think it got kicked because technically, the judge couldn't determine how she actually died. 15 Miles an hour doesn't seem like it would be lethal..perhaps the old lady had a heart attack when she saw the car coming...maybe it was just bad coincidence and she happened to die at that exact moment of old age..without the medical records.. I don't think the prosecution was able to prove that she died as a result of trauma.

Also, the kid was 25, maybe the judge didn't want to send him up the river.

[Damocles]

everyone except me, I'm tough and I don't cry.

Give it time Grind. I used to be one of those people who was the only dry eye in the room. Then its like another part of your brain turns on that wasn't before. I wasn't even capable of sympathy for others let alone crying for others until I was around 20.

This is actually due to brain mass development. The frontal lobe is the last part to develop fully, usually not until one is about 25 to 29. This is what causes the invincibility belief in teens as well as their inability to place themselves in the shoes of another...

[FUCK THE POLICE]

I've always been very emotional. Hell, I used to cry an embarrassing amount of times. I've never felt invicible, and I've an abnormal amount of empathy for others that I sometimes believe is almost irrational.

[OrnotBitwise]

This is actually due to brain mass development. The frontal lobe is the last part to develop fully, usually not until one is about 25 to 29. This is what causes the invincibility belief in teens as well as their inability to place themselves in the shoes of another...
I'd think that last was due to foot mass development.

:cof1:

[OrnotBitwise]

I've always been very emotional. Hell, I used to cry an embarrassing amount of times. I've never felt invicible, and I've an abnormal amount of empathy for others that I sometimes believe is almost irrational.
I have a similar history. Still, it's not that teens explicitly think of themselves as invincible. I can certainly remember being scared shitless -- metaphorically speaking -- often enough as a teenager. It's that teens tend not to see their decisions as having really serious or deadly consequences.

I'm not expressing this well. Let me try an example. I freely admit that I'm extrapolating much of this since I don't know the individuals personally at all. Nevertheless, it's a factual incident with a lot of currency here in the Bay Area.

Recently, an 18 year old girl from East Palo Alto -- a chronically depressed slum; I should know as I grew up there, to a large extent -- was driving on a busy road in Menlo Park and had a critical car accident. She was driving in excess of 85 miles an hour and trying to pass someone on a near-blind curve (over a double yellow line, at that). Sure enough, she struck another car coming the other way. By good fortune, she survived almost unscathed. The three people in the other car all died. It's a news item because two of the people in the other car were a Tongan prince and his wife.

Can you say "oops?" I knew you could.

Now, people pass one another over double yellow lines on blind curves all the time. I submit that we're far more likely to do so as teenagers, however. That's just the way we are at that age: we tend -- the operative word here is "tend" -- not to see the potential for mayhem until we're older.

Teens, I think, are usually wrapped up in more immediate yet far less important concerns than mortality.

[BRUTALITOPS]

ornot, you are really old. Maybe you were like that back in the days of the model T, but I at least am not so suicidal.

[OrnotBitwise]

ornot, you are really old. Maybe you were like that back in the days of the model T, but I at least am not so suicidal.
What, you're saying that you never did one really dumbass, foolhardy thing when you were a teenager? What a shame: that sounds as boring as hell. You should demand a refund on your adolescence.

Me, I did all sorts of stupid shit. It's a wonder neither I nor anyone else was killed.

[BRUTALITOPS]

All my craziness is on the inside :p

[FUCK THE POLICE]

I have a similar history. Still, it's not that teens explicitly think of themselves as invincible. I can certainly remember being scared shitless -- metaphorically speaking -- often enough as a teenager. It's that teens tend not to see their decisions as having really serious or deadly consequences.

I'm not expressing this well. Let me try an example. I freely admit that I'm extrapolating much of this since I don't know the individuals personally at all. Nevertheless, it's a factual incident with a lot of currency here in the Bay Area.

Recently, an 18 year old girl from East Palo Alto -- a chronically depressed slum; I should know as I grew up there, to a large extent -- was driving on a busy road in Menlo Park and had a critical car accident. She was driving in excess of 85 miles an hour and trying to pass someone on a near-blind curve (over a double yellow line, at that). Sure enough, she struck another car coming the other way. By good fortune, she survived almost unscathed. The three people in the other car all died. It's a news item because two of the people in the other car were a Tongan prince and his wife.

Can you say "oops?" I knew you could.

Now, people pass one another over double yellow lines on blind curves all the time. I submit that we're far more likely to do so as teenagers, however. That's just the way we are at that age: we tend -- the operative word here is "tend" -- not to see the potential for mayhem until we're older.

Teens, I think, are usually wrapped up in more immediate yet far less important concerns than mortality.


Well, that's not a concern for me, since I'm going to live forever.