The First Day in Court (Crazy Old Man Update)
We went to court last Monday. The first time you go to court, after filing an application for an Order of Protection, you simply state your case to the judge and he decides if an emergency protection order should be issued or if the person in question should be brought in for a hearing. In our case, both of those things happened. It was a very good first step.
I walked into the Courthouse with my husband and our attorneys at 7:45, Monday morning. We were dressed up and had all of our ducks in a row. We had to wait in line behind an entire jury to go through the metal detectors. No problem, we were early. The embarrassing thing was that, when it was my turn to go through and I put my purse on the conveyor belt, the officer informed me that I had a large pair of scissors in it. I didn't even remember putting them in my giant mom purse, but there they were. I had to turn them over before proceeding. Oops.
We went upstairs to the 'Court of Clerks', or Clerk of Courts. We retrieved my application and sat down to wait for the officer to take us to court. We were all settled in the court room by 8:20. The judge came in at 8:25. Court started at 8:30, sharp. We thought we would be in and out, because there were only four cases ahead of us. No such luck. The judge decided to let about 25 cases go ahead of the remaining protection order cases. We finally got our turn at about 10:15. The only positive thing about all that time in court was that we learned our judge seemed tough, but fair. He actually yelled at several defendants because they were unprepared, inappropriate or just plain out of order. I actually loved it. It means that he will see right through the 'crazy old man', if he decides to show up for our hearing next week.
When the judge called our case, my husband and attorneys stood, but the judge only wanted me and one attorney. I walked to the microphone and was sworn in. Then the judge asked for my attorney to proceed. Bob turned to me and asked me to tell my story. So, I did. I had typed it all up for the application. I went through all three incidents and got a little choked up during the part where the 'crazy old man' tried to get my four year old to open our front door. The judge was patient while I took a deep breath, grabbed a tissue and then continued. When I was finished, he addressed the entire court room and said that, when we come back for our hearing, the accused person will be there. We will both be able to state our cases, call witnesses and cross examine. He then addressed me specifically and said:
"Mrs. Donabedian, I am granting your request for an emergency protection order. Mr. ____ will be served today. Your hearing will be on August 4th. If Mr. ____ is late or chooses not to show, the 5 year protection order will be granted. If he violates the emergency protection order, he will be arrested."
That was it. I thanked the judge and we left to retrieve our paperwork and other documents. It was surreal. My attorney said I did a good job. I felt like an idiot for crying, but I'm a mom. When I think about someone trying to get into my home by enticing my child with treats, I get pretty angry. My anger comes out of my eyes.
My husband and I walked out of the courthouse and went to grab a little breakfast and coffee with our attorneys. It was such a relief to be out of there. However, I do have to say that I felt great walking through our beautiful courthouse. It really is a gorgeous building. I thought about my grandfather, who worked there as a bailiff for years, after he stopped walking a beat. He would have been proud of me. He would have wanted to kill the SOB who messed with my family, but he would have loved the way my husband and I are handling it. We are doing it by the books. We are following the letter of the law. To him, there was really nothing more important than his family, his country and the law.
So, now we wait for our hearing. It's still a bit stressful, but we know we're handling things the right way.
I walked into the Courthouse with my husband and our attorneys at 7:45, Monday morning. We were dressed up and had all of our ducks in a row. We had to wait in line behind an entire jury to go through the metal detectors. No problem, we were early. The embarrassing thing was that, when it was my turn to go through and I put my purse on the conveyor belt, the officer informed me that I had a large pair of scissors in it. I didn't even remember putting them in my giant mom purse, but there they were. I had to turn them over before proceeding. Oops.
We went upstairs to the 'Court of Clerks', or Clerk of Courts. We retrieved my application and sat down to wait for the officer to take us to court. We were all settled in the court room by 8:20. The judge came in at 8:25. Court started at 8:30, sharp. We thought we would be in and out, because there were only four cases ahead of us. No such luck. The judge decided to let about 25 cases go ahead of the remaining protection order cases. We finally got our turn at about 10:15. The only positive thing about all that time in court was that we learned our judge seemed tough, but fair. He actually yelled at several defendants because they were unprepared, inappropriate or just plain out of order. I actually loved it. It means that he will see right through the 'crazy old man', if he decides to show up for our hearing next week.
When the judge called our case, my husband and attorneys stood, but the judge only wanted me and one attorney. I walked to the microphone and was sworn in. Then the judge asked for my attorney to proceed. Bob turned to me and asked me to tell my story. So, I did. I had typed it all up for the application. I went through all three incidents and got a little choked up during the part where the 'crazy old man' tried to get my four year old to open our front door. The judge was patient while I took a deep breath, grabbed a tissue and then continued. When I was finished, he addressed the entire court room and said that, when we come back for our hearing, the accused person will be there. We will both be able to state our cases, call witnesses and cross examine. He then addressed me specifically and said:
"Mrs. Donabedian, I am granting your request for an emergency protection order. Mr. ____ will be served today. Your hearing will be on August 4th. If Mr. ____ is late or chooses not to show, the 5 year protection order will be granted. If he violates the emergency protection order, he will be arrested."
That was it. I thanked the judge and we left to retrieve our paperwork and other documents. It was surreal. My attorney said I did a good job. I felt like an idiot for crying, but I'm a mom. When I think about someone trying to get into my home by enticing my child with treats, I get pretty angry. My anger comes out of my eyes.
My husband and I walked out of the courthouse and went to grab a little breakfast and coffee with our attorneys. It was such a relief to be out of there. However, I do have to say that I felt great walking through our beautiful courthouse. It really is a gorgeous building. I thought about my grandfather, who worked there as a bailiff for years, after he stopped walking a beat. He would have been proud of me. He would have wanted to kill the SOB who messed with my family, but he would have loved the way my husband and I are handling it. We are doing it by the books. We are following the letter of the law. To him, there was really nothing more important than his family, his country and the law.
So, now we wait for our hearing. It's still a bit stressful, but we know we're handling things the right way.
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