Grand Jury

So!  I had to go testify in front of the Grand Jury on Friday about the guy who hit-and-runned me back in November.

Waiting in the witness room were me, the guy whose mailbox he hit, the four guys he FOUGHT WITH after getting into yet another accident that morning after he hit me (one of whom he threatened to "motherf*cking kill"), the first police officer on the scene (who he tried to run from), and the second police officer on the scene, who he threatened "to sue for everything you own and everything you ever WILL own." 

Whew!  Nice guy.  Turns out that two weeks before he hit me, he had gotten pulled over for DWI in a neighboring town, and in the six months since, he's racked up some domestic violence charges.

Did you know there are, like, thirty people on a Grand Jury?  I did not?  I thought it was like a regular jury, with twelve people.  Live and learn!  (Okay, I just looked it up.  In this state, it's 23.)  It was kinda scary getting up in front of all of those people! 

According to the Assistant District Attorney, who is prosecuting this case, it is difficult to convict on DWI if the person in question refuses to take a Breathalyzer test.  (The dude who creamed me, (DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW BAD I WANT TO PUBLISH HIS NAME HERE?), refused to take a Breathalyzer after BOTH of his accidents.)   Which is one of the reasons the ADA put all eight witnesses in front of the Grand Jury.  Strength in numbers and all that.

By the end of the day on Friday, the Grand Jury would have voted on whether or not to indict him, and on what charges.  And now the case will continue its way through the legal system, with the next step probably plea-bargaining by the defendant's lawyer. 

It was really interesting, with me and all of the other witnesses sitting in the waiting room and swapping stories as we waited our turn to testify.  We were able to reconstruct the defendant's trail of destruction that day!  One of the police officers was planning on proposing to his girlfriend this past weekend in the center ring of the circus that was in town (he was sure she would say yes; I sure hope he was right!).  The Assistant DA gave his opinion on some local high-profile cases.  And I was surprised that here in my little town, the two police officers present on Friday estimated that they have to take someone into custody by force, as they did with this dude, on average once a week.  Once a week!  Tough job.

So!  Interesting day.  If it does go to trial, I will have to go and testify again, so maybe my judicial education will continue.  Time will tell.