The People v. Skiletsrage

Hangman, hangman, hold it a little while, I Think I see my friends coming, Riding many mile. Friends, you get some silver? Did you get a little gold? What did you bring me, my dear friends? Keep me from the Gallows Pole. What did you bring me to keep me from the Gallows Pole?

Well, let's just say it's the People: 1, Skiletsrage: 0. I had a traffic court date last week, and though my case had been heard via mail, and I was found guilty, I had one more chance to be heard. My defense: well, I was really pinning it all on a dismissal. After watching every case go down in flames, I decided I was going with Plan B. I was going to change my plea from "Not Guilty" to "No Contest," and I was going to request traffic school.

Some highlights from court:

• A guy who claimed to be a driving instructor told the court that a fire engine was behind him and the only way he could yield was to make a right hand turn through an intersection, and that intersection happened to have a red light. So we (the court) watched the video tape. And........that's funny. No fire engine came through the intersection. Plenty of other traffic seemed to go about their business, but no fire truck. Weird. Judges decision: Guilty. Request for traffic school? Denied.
• An old guy looking like Colonel Sanders stopped for the red light, in the middle of the intersection and then backed up. He did this because he obeys all traffic laws, and apparently to a fault.
• Another older gentleman was pleading innocent because the photo of his vehicle clearly showed that we was not in the intersection when the light turned red. Upon closer inspection, it turned out that the vehicle he was referring to was a Cadillac Escalade (that had indeed stopped for the red light), and he was actually the owner and operator of some other and much older SUV. When the plaintiff's witness pointed this out to him, he responded by saying "Oh, yeah, then I guess you're right. I did run the light."

All in all, a very enteraining few hours.