Justice Served?

I lost my case. I'm actually really disappointed, even though it was just a measly $25 ticket. It's the principle of the matter, not the money (much like the whole Goodwill affair). I honestly still think I'm right, and it bothers me that that was not validated by the court system.

The other part that stinks was that I actually showed up prepared for my case. There were two girls ahead of me who had both incurred parking citations for parking in areas that were designated for special times or reserved for certain people. Both of their excuses were "So, uh, well, so I didn't knooooooooow...."

Heck, even I know ignorance of the law is not a valid reason for not obeying. The judge summarily dismissed them by saying, "I find you responsible for the violation. You can pay downstairs."

The guy before me had a better case. He had a leased space at the university, and incurred a ticket one day when he was forced to park a rental car in his space because his personal car was in the shop. Unlike the other two girls, he didn't dispute the ticket at all; instead, he just offered evidence--car repair receipts and rental car agreements--that showed his story to be true. The judge acknowledged the ticket to be valid based upon the evidence at the time it was issued, but found in favor of the defendant, based upon the new evidence he provided.

I was excited. I had come to court with my own evidence--a series of photographs about the parking space in question, as well as a written statement about the whole affair. At least I had a leg to stand on. The judge called me to the defendant's chair and I was sworn in along with the plaintiff. That's another thing that irked me--the plaintiff was some pimply-faced undergrad who works for parking services. He was dressed in baggy jeans and a hoody, and was slouched down in his chair as if he'd rather be anywhere but there. I tried my best to present a different demeanor to the judge. I was dressed respectably in black slacks and a button down blouse and sat tall, and answered the judge in "yes, your Honor, and no, Sirs."

In any case, the judge had all of the black and white photos that I'd sent with my appeal, so we were able to talk about the case based on the photographic evidence I'd supplied. However, things started to go downhill for me when the judge stated that a nearby no parking sign (which clearly is referring to another area) is likely referring to the parking space in question, even if I had interpreted it differently. (That really boiled my blood!) When I tried to finish my argument, I ended up speaking over the judge, which of course, never goes over very well. I had to apologize for that and wait for the judge to finish his statement. Afterwards, I asked if I could speak; I then articulated that the no parking sign in question was found throughout the rest of the parking lot and only refers to areas where traffic passes through. It never refers to a parking space. Well, the judge didn't agree, and thought that the parking space was not really a parking space, despite the fact that I had demonstrated that a) people park there all the time, thinking it is a parking space, b) there is no signage directly in front of the space indicating it is illegal to park there, or c) even parking services does not always issue violations to people who park there, suggesting that different officers interpret that space different ways.

I thanked the judge on my way out anyway, and went downstairs to pay my $25. So I'm no Perry Mason, but I had my day in court after all.