So, I was assaulted on Sunday...

[JustaCashier]

Congratulations, Kusangi!

I like Skeptic's idea of a webcam in the cell. That would make for many an entertaining evening.....

Pop up some popcorn, slip a Barry White disc into the CD, drive to set the mood for GS's and Bubba's evening together, sit back and enjoy the show!

Mike

[Jack7957]

The only time I've pulled jury duty to date (over 40 now, registered voter my entire life-- how did I manage that record? And it was a stalking charge, for the record.), we showed up, watched the "how to be a juror" video, went in... and were told to go over to the next building, pick up our checks, and go home. The guy had changed his plea just before trial.

But the judge did remind everyone that the jury fees were being paid for by the defendant because he was too stupid to plea guilt before everyone showed up, so don't feel bad about picking up the checks. This judge has a reputation for being a bit of a hardnose towards criminals.

My only experience in 36 years was about 4-5 years ago. I got my summons, and my company is one of the ones that pays the miminum allowed by law for jury duty, so I did not want to serve. Get to the "courthouse", it was a town hall that used to be a school, and the court room used to be their auditorium. Sit down, about 20 minutes later the lawyers and prosecuter come in, then the judge. The judge greets us, thanks us for showing up, then says he has good news and bad news. Bad news is the defendant did not show so a warrant was issued for his arrest. I'm thinking at that point we need to sit around all day till 5pm or they find this guy. Then he goes the good news is since we showed up, we're free to go and can pick up a letter on our way out saying we fulfilled our obligation and can't be called for 4 years! I found out later from a deputy at the county jail (I was doing contract computer for the county) that the defendant was actually sitting in a jail cell that morning and they were not told he needed to be transported to court.

[Spiffy McMoron]

I hope that ended up clarifying it,

Yes, it does, thanks. I'm glad to hear that the whole bugaboo (what a fun word to say! ) is over and done with, as far as you're concerned. Good luck with the move, too.

Pop up some popcorn, slip a Barry White disc into the CD, drive to set the mood for GS's and Bubba's evening together, sit back and enjoy the show!

Man, there is no way I could enjoy that show! *Shudder*

[wagegoth]

I've never heard of this police officer reading out a witness statement in court thing before.

The law in general used to be that a person would not be charged with a crime unless the victim (except if the victim was murdered) asked that charges be pressed against the perpetrator. However, victims of spousal abuse or gang crimes were often unwilling to do so due to fear of retaliation. As a result, many parts of the U.S. now allow/require the police officer to arrest the individual based on the available evidence and the state to bring a case whether the victim cooperates or not.

I don't believe Kus pressed charges (Kus, maybe you can comment), which means the state of California is handling everything. Normally, a victim is not required to give testimony unless it is requested by the prosecutor or the defense attorney and the court orders it, at which point a subpoena is issued.

I would guess that the evidence on its own was so damning that the state-appointed attorney didn't see any point in subpoenaing Kus to testify, as it would only make the case worse for his client.

If someone wants a copy of the trial transcript you will have to pay for it, and they're usually not cheap. Online (if the court is online) you would probably only get the case number, who appeared, and the verdict and sentence.

[Kusanagi]

No, I did not press charges against him, the only legal action I took against him was to get a restraining order. I was never subpoena'd either, and I made it very clear to the DA that I did not want to get drug into the continuance that I was afraid was going to happen again.

There were other charges against him, and I guess they didn't try too hard to get me into the court after I expressed my inability to do so because they had enough to hang him out to dry without me being in court. Or maybe what Wagegoth said was correct in that the defense attourney decided not to push, I don't know. I never spoke with the defense attourney obviously.

[gijoecam]

I've never heard of this police officer reading out a witness statement in court thing before.

I'm not an attorney and I don't play one on TV, but I suspect that the reason he was able to do that is because it was the STATE that charged him. In this case, Kus was not the accuser, the state was. A sworn officer of the law reading a sworn affidavit from a witness is, from what I understand, not uncommon. In this case, GS violated a restraining order (an order from the state) and committed a few other felonies along the way. Kus was definately the victim, but in this trial, he was the witness, not the accuser, and I think that's a critical difference.

In hindsight, there may be a few lessons to be learned from all of this. Kus, maybe you could make some suggestions to others that may find themselves in similar situations? Maybe we could turn this whole fiasco into a bit of a case study?? I know I've gleaned a few things from it for sure!

-Always document EVERYthing! Every minute detail, everything said, every action you can recall, and do it immediately (or as soon as humanly possible) while the memories are fresh.
-Never hesitate to get Johnny Law involved. It adds to the paper trail.
-Know how to defend yourself effectively. Generally WWF moves don't qualify, but hey, whatever works, right?
-When walking down a dark alley (or haggling the price of a couch!!), make sure it's not Kus you're thinking of assaulting!!

I'm sure there are others.....

Just hypothetically speaking, I think the restraining order made a HUGE difference in the outcome. Had you not had a restraining order in place when GS returned, I think the process could have gone down an entirely different path. The eventual outcome may have been the same, but IMHO, the restraining order made it clear right from the beginning who was in the right and who was in the wrong. Had it not been in place, the local constabulary could have chosen to treat it as another fight, and the courts *may* not have viewed your actions in such a good light....

Glad it's over with finally!

-Joe

[NightAngel]

Criminal cases read as The State of X vs. Person's Name.
Civil cases read as Person vs. Person.

Criminal suits are for issuing punishments such as jail time.
Civil suits award money, etc. directly to a victim.

A person can be tried in both courts for the same issue and found guilty in one but not the other. They cannot be retried for the same issue in the same court twice if found innocent. If found guilty they do have the right to an appeal.

That's an incredibly basic breakdown but you get the idea.

[Bliss]

I would seriously discourage you Kus to respond to the request of a case number (in case you thought about it.) it'd tie your online persona ot followable verified real life data and that can be a security risk.

[Ree]

For anyone else who has concerns about this, Kusanagi has already stated off the board that he won't reveal anything that could identify him to anyone doing a search.
(Just to save any more posts warning him not to do that.)

[Jester]

-Always document EVERYthing! Every minute detail, everything said, every action you can recall, and do it immediately (or as soon as humanly possible) while the memories are fresh.

Absolutely! My doing just that in the recent situation with my (now former) boss saved my ass in many ways. His boss was very impressed with my documentation of various things and with my organization, and was VERY interested in what my documentation had to say.

That whole saga is coming soon to Morons in Management.....stay tuned!

[JustaCashier]

Man, there is no way I could enjoy that show! *Shudder*

Sorry to gross you out, Spiffy!

It is a pretty gross visual, but I was thinking along the line of enjoying GS getting what he had coming to him, and imagining that he and Bubba would be able to hear the Barry White.

Maybe playing some Three Stooges audio would be more enjoyable!

Mike

[RecoveringKinkoid]

"Pop up some popcorn, slip a Barry White disc into the CD, drive to set the mood for GS's and Bubba's evening together, sit back and enjoy the show!"

I don't think it would be Barry White. I think it would be more like that song from Pulp Fiction. I wanna say "Comanche."

You know the one.

[ArenaBoy]

I don't think it would be Barry White. I think it would be more like that song from Pulp Fiction. I wanna say "Comanche."

You know the one.

"Bring out the gimp."
"The gimp's sleeping."
"Guess you'd have to go wake him up now won't you?"

And yes it is Comanche by the Revels.

*ArenaBoy, who bought the Pulp Fiction soundtrack at a garagesale in 2003. He is also listening to that song as of right now.*

[Hobgoblin]

I just read this entire thread and have just one thing to say. D@#$.

Sorry for the language. Glad it worked out for you Kus. That's an amazing story. I hope you never have anything close to that again.

[Kusanagi]

Took these pictures of the scar a few days ago and wanted to clear it with Rapscallion before I posted them. I borrowed my neighbors digital camera to take pictures of an unrelated item. It's healed really nicely and in another month or two the pink should be gone completely.

Sorry about the quality, but they should be visible. And yes, that is a V mask, and no, I will not take it off for reasons I expressed earlier.

Only thing you should be able to figure out from this is that I'm Scottish, as I have as much hair as Robin Williams.

Also took the pictures with a sign, to try and ward off any potential thoughts that I had just spent a few minutes on Google!

Thanks to Raps for hosting these on the CustomersSuck! server!

http://www.customerssuck.com/media/scar1.jpg

http://www.customerssuck.com/media/scar2.jpg

http://www.customerssuck.com/media/scar3.jpg

http://www.customerssuck.com/media/scar4.jpg

This last one isn't hosted on CS, but this is the most closeup shot I could get without it being washed out.

http://img440.imageshack.us/img440/8923/dscn10691fe.jpg