My Day in Court.. Or Not

Almost two months since the dog attack (see "The Hounds of Hell" entry from July), my day in court was finally here. My bff asked me, "How does today measure as a success?" I had to think a moment--it was a good question. What is a measured response that is appropriate to the event? I was certain I wasn't going to drop charges. I had another local runner also attacked by the same dogs ready to testify to their aggression. I guess what I really wanted, was the owner to show up, experience the legal consequences of his negligence and that these current dogs (or any future dogs of his) would never hurt anyone else again.

My attorney preceded me, and we approached the bench before the session began. It appeared that the defendant had attempted to pull a fast one earlier in the day. He showed up at the courthouse, wrote out a check for an estimated fine amount with a note that he "pled guilty." This was not allowed under the circumstances, especially when the dogs were alleged (by me, and soon to be by another witness) to be aggressive. This is a mandatory court appearance.

The honorable judge and the court clerk (who had been deceived earlier in the day on the question of how much the fine might be because the defendant asked how much money he needed to bring) were not humored by his disregard of the session requirements.

The docket kept the case intact, and of course, when it was called, he was not present. All parties approached the bench, my attorney, the court clerk and the person who took the payment explained what had happened. The judge immediately issued a warrant for his arrest, and noted for the record, that this violation still carried a mandatory court appearance.

So... my day in court was anticlimactic. And, there will be another one.

Meanwhile, I woke up with a fever, sore throat and foggy brain. Missing work (or missing court) wasn't an option today. Nor was missing a run, which technically, I didn't have scheduled until first thing in the morning tomorrow, but I have to be on site with a customer early, and chose instead to try to squeeze in my 8 miles and sleep in a few hours later in the morning.

This idea was amiss. I made it 5 miles before I had to quit. And give up. And realize I just was too sick to run and it wasn't worth it. So, I am feeling quite depressed at the moment, and in fear of a huge set back in training. On a scale of 1 to 5 right now, 5 being great mood and bullish on the marathon, I am probably a 1.