Oh, that wouldn't have been necessary
...
Congratulations Opa
'sid
Congratulations Opa
'sid
... my children, in their infinite wisdom, decided I would be GRUMPS... :toetap05:

Does the escort run and drive? If it does then I don't know how they can say its a junk vehicle.
Are you a hoarder or something. How much junk do you have in your yard. It just sounds a bit extreme to drag you to court
Well what a sucky day in court.....I hope the judge is enjoying the meal his buddy the prosecutor bought him.
Shoulda known better than to even try.....I didn't help that I got there at 9:15 dressed just warm enough to make it from the car to the courtroom- only to wait in a line for 30 minutes before I could get inside.....REALLY? Maybe you podunks should hold court more than one day a month. ....I finally got into court at 2:30. Needless to say, after all that waiting without breakfast or nicotine my mind wasn't the sharpest. I had the prosecutor on the ropes a couple of times but I just couldn't focus. The judge was no help -( to me )- but helped his buddy out...... One thing that really irked me was when the prosecutor introduced the letters first mailed to me concerning the violations. I put on my readers and honest to God not 3 seconds after I got them in my hand- the SOB asked me if I had any objections. .....I gave him the hand and said "one moment. ...." but honestly, it rattled me and objecting to them would have been a strong point in my defense. I didn't- because I only scanned them and felt pressure to answer quickly. Objecting to those as copies and taken out of context of the full statutes would have opened the door to have the REAL rule book admitted.
The prosecutions whole case was a photograph, those warning letters, and the officer's testimony. His testimony in a nutshell was this: he saw the violations, snapped the photo, got busy and didn't come back for several months- only to find NOTHING had changed.
So under cross I asked him if he happened to remember a phone call from me asking him to revisit the property some 8 days after the ten day notice. Suddenly he recalled that. I asked him if any of the other code violations besides the truck still remained. He said no- the property was completely clean. Then I asked him if he recalled me asking him directly about the truck and him telling me everything was fine. Uhuh- amnesia again.....
I then went on to ask him if the city codes had any special provisions for antique vehicles over 25 years old. He went on to spout some crap about Texas state statutes. I asked if he was aware that Ft. Worth had exemptions for 25 yr old vehicles. The prosecution immediately objected saying it wasn't Ft.Worth and it was sustained. So I asked- but you did quote Texas statutes, correct? So I followed up- sir, you didn't answer my question- does White Settlement make any special provisions for antique vehicles or are all vehicles considered equal under the code laws.
He said- well, I don't know, I don't have the book in front of me. So I said- then the short answer is you don't know. By this time the prosecutor had found something in the Texas vehicle code and asked me if I had registered it as an antique vehicle. I said no. Two BIG problems with this- I was just too brain dead to realize and act on at the time. TOTALLY improper court procedure for him to ask ME a question during cross-examination and totally irrelevant because I wasn't beeing tried by the state of Texas.
I also had a brain fert on the photograph as I meant to raise on cross if he had been out 3 times and nothing had changed how come he didn't have 3 photos?
Anyway- I got him to admit he had given false testimony under direct examination, exposed serious doubt as to the credibility of the legality of the charge........
And I decided to take the stand....immediately after being cross-examined, I was found guilty. WHAT? What the hell happened to closing arguments? You know- where you take all the holes you have punched in the opposition and tie them up in a neat package? Where you point out the omissions in the other guys case? What a friggin joke. Anyway- bad as I botched it I think a REAL judge would have found reasonable doubt. I hate small town courts.......rant over.....