Just because you are a law student...

I was summond to court last year on a ticket I issued. Now I try to write nothing but good tickets because I dont like going to court. It wastes the citizens time and it costs the city money being in court because I am not writing tickets. YES! I am sincere about not wasting the citizens time so I try to write the best ticket possible. I wrote about 16K tickets last year, 39 cancels and about 12 court cases. Just in case you didn't know..thats pretty good. (from my point of view)

Now as I was typing..I had to go to court on a ticket I issued to a vehicle parked for more than two hours in a posted 2 hour zone. I had to go sit on the "stand" and tell the court why and how I issued this particular ticket. The citizen wanted to ask me a couple of questions and it went something like this:

The Citizen: "Officer ..effin meter maid, can you prove that you were at my car at the time you stated you were?"

(Earlier when he was sworn in by the judge to give his testimony, he proudly exclaimed that he was a law student)...sorry I interrupted my own story..

Before I could say yes, the judge wanted to answer this one..Now this judge is noted for being fair to both sides. She was fair to the meter maids and fair to the citizens. You write a bad ticket and she had no patience for you. And the same goes for the citizen, you state a bad case or reason for the ticket being dismissed and you were toast.

The judge has her left hand under her chin and her left elbow resting on her desk..err podium. Throne? She looks at the citizen with a sparkle of intrigue in her eyes..

The Judge: " Didn't you receive the ticket on the car by the officer?'

Citizen: "yes."

Judge with a look of puzzlement: "Well that is how he proved he was there."

Citizen: "But he (Me) didn't prove that he was there like with a photograph or GPS.."

The Judge clearly befuddled and still with her hand on her chin but now glaring at the law student: "The officer doesn't take pictures of himself issuing tickets and you stated you did receive the ticket on your car."

The Citizen now squirming under the judges piercing eyes and what had seemed like a 5 minute pause: "Your honor I change my plea to guilty."


Now I am not the brightest meter maid, but that law student had me feeling pretty smart.