Determined not to let the ticket I got issued last week ruin my vacation, I went to the courthouse Downtown on tuesday to give them a piece of my mind. We came there about an hour before closing time, and we were greeted by a line of about 300 people just waiting to get inside. By the time we got close to the door, about half an hour before closing time, the cops outside decided to not let any more people inside. Since we took the bus to get there, about an hour and a halfs ride, this of course was incredibly discouraging. However, they gave everyone who was still in line a permission slip to get ahead of the line if they appeared before 9.30 within 2 days. So, we had little choice but to turn around and come back the following morning.
Next day. We get up horribly early and get on the bus to Downtown again. We get ahead of the line as promised (well, there was another line of people who were supposed to get ahead of the line..) and we get inside. Well inside we meet a friendly Sheriff who had a look at my ticket and noticed that I was leaving the country shortly. He was kind enough to get me the court appointment the same day because of the circumstances, usually you have to wait several weeks for an appointment. He also told me that the LAPD constantly gives out these tickets since the city needs the money, and that many people just pay it without contest, just to not have to deal with the hassle of going to court…
I wasn’t going to give up that easily though, I was well prepared, determined to prove my innocence and had a ton of documents to back it up. A couple of hours later, it was time to appear in front of a judge.
I was sent to a hallway where I had to wait to be let inside the courtroom, along with maybe 200 other people. Well inside, an officer read us our rights and informed us on the court procedure. It wasn’t at all intimidating. Of course, my case was the third last case to be heard, so I had to sit for nearly 2 hours, just waiting. But it was both interesting and informative, since I got a good idea of what fines were given out for specific violations, under what circumstances they were reduced, etc.
One thing that was especially surprising, was how unprepared the rest of the people in court were before appearing before the judge. People didn’t bring their tickets, their ID:s, nothing, and everyone just seemed either defiant or just apathetic.
Something that on the other hand sadly wasn’t surprising at all, was the ethnic uniformity of the people charged. There was not a single white person in the building, except for the cops and the court employees. I mean, how the hell is it that even in this day and age, that people are so obviously discriminated? I’m glad the Sheriff I mentioned earlier was so polite and helpful. Because of that, I still can’t say that there aren’t any good cops…
Anyways, at long last it was my time to face the judge. It was a blonde woman in her late forties, with a sympathetic look, but she also gave the impression of it being her first day on the job, constantly asking her secretary questions and not being able to fully interpret the papers in front of her. She probably wasn’t used to traffic court. “Is this good or bad?”
She started by asking me the strangest question, she asked why I had presented “these documents” (passport, visa, drivers licence, proof of residence, flight ticket) to her. Well, since the charge was driving without a valid licence, I thought it was pretty obvious that I wanted to prove I had a valid license, and that the charges were total bullshit. She tried telling me that I needed to have a IDP (International Driving Permit) even though I didn’t. I was prepared for this, I had a stamped printout from the DMV with highlighted text clearly stating that wasn’t the case at all. I offered to show them to her, but then a funny thing happened.
I don’t remember what she said literally, but it was something similar to “I see that you have a lot of documents here, therefore I am going to dismiss all charges”. That’s just hillarious. I was totally unable to hide my smug sense of self-satisfaction, so I just said to her with a big smile “Thank you”, turned around and walked out as a free man.
Take THAT, ‘Muurrrka!!!
