I have a client who got caught up in a bar fight in what I would describe as a "good-ol'-boy" neighborhood. My client and his brother, both Black (oops, African-American is the preferred nomenclature, dude), were grossly outnumbered; so, I tend to believe my client when he says that he and his girlfriend, who is white, and his brother tried to flee, but that he had to hit one of the good ol' boys in the head to get him off his brother. They managed to get away and went to the local village police station, where my client was arrested.
In any event, he's sitting in jail. At a pretrial conference with the prosecutor, I was asked by the prosecutor to convey a plea bargain to my client. I went down to the jail to talk to him. After a long talk, he decided not to accept the deal.
In the conversation, I told him that I'd try to get the bail lowered, to which he replied that he had a driving under suspension charge and he was sitting for that. I asked him how that happened, and he said he didn't show up at the probation department to see the probation officer.
Lawyer: There's got to be more than that to the story.
Client: She said that I should serve the six months and the judge said okay.
Lawyer: So, you're in for six months?
Client: Yeah.
Lawyer: What's your P.O.'s name?
Client: You won't get a hold of her. She's on fraternity leave.
Lawyer (laughing): Fraternity leave?
Client (laughing): I thought it was funny, too. A P.O. having a baby.
It's an alien baby, I'm sure of it.
Posted by: Kathy Howe at September 21, 2004 10:55 PM