Talk About Wasting Time!

I'll be the 1st to admit that I'm a pro when it comes to wasting time. I can procrastinate and put things off like nobody's business. But when it comes to wasting other people's time, I'm considerate and do my darndest NOT to do it. This morning, I lost a chunk of time and I'm never going to get it back. It isn't time that I willingly kissed goodbye. I wasn't putting something off or checking out blogs and FB all morning long. This time, it's all thanks to someone else.

Back in December, I got a summons in the mail from a local city's court to appear as a witness for the prosecution in a case. What? Court? Yeah...remember when I was in that car accident back in October? Well, I wish I didn't but I sure as heck do and this morning, I had to go and testify against the girl who hit me. Why? Because she was fighting the citation she received. The guys in the truck behind her who hit her and caused her to hit me a second time? No problem...they paid their fine, accepted their citation, and moved on (and the driver was there to testify also). But not Miss M. She wasn't at fault for anything. Even though she hit my car so hard that her front end was smashed up and her car was no longer drivable. Psycho.

I did my duty and drove over 30 minutes to get to court this morning. I arrived a few minutes early as I was supposed to. So did the guy who was driving the truck. And Miss M.? She and her two passengers/friends waltzed in (attorney-free) about 5 minutes late. Lucky for her the case before ours ended late.

When we finally got started, I was called up as the 1st witness. As requested, I described the accident, where it was, etc. No questions from the defense for me. The driver of the truck was next and his story matched mine to a "t"...he evenly openly admitted in court that he was at fault for the 2nd part of the accident. What a good guy. Miss M. said that she had a question for him and when he answered it, she proceeded (in a whiny kind of voice) to give her side of the story. The judge kindly told her that she'd have her turn and if she didn't have any more questions to sit down. The UHP trooper was then called to the stand. He read Miss M.'s written statement from the crash and then stated that the evidence wasn't consistent with what she said happened and that what the truck driver and I described matched up. Next, it was Miss M.'s turn to defend herself. She called her two friends as witnesses and they gave stories that matched each other (but not the original written statement from Miss M.). Finally, Miss M. took the stand and told a similar story, including a little blip about how the truck driver "must have kept his foot on the gas" after the initial impact and that's why she hit me the 2nd time. Such logic!

After all the testimonies, the judge told Miss M. that while he was sure she and her friends believed their stories, the damage to the cars (especially her's) was consistent with the testimonies of myself, the truck driver, and the officer, with the following happening:

1. she hit me going at least 25-30 MPH
2. she bounced back and the truck hit her at a lower speed
3. she ran back into me a 2nd time

He then proceeded to explain to her that the stories that the entire defense had given "defied the laws of physics" (I actually saw the prosecutor and some others in the courtroom trying not to laugh during much of this). After some debate from Miss M.'s male friend (who said that the 3 of them are in a physics class together and were on their way there when the accident happened), the judge said again that the physical evidence pointed to her being at fault and that he was charging her as guilty. What a shocking surprise. Don't you think?

In the end, the judge knocked her ticket from $120 down to $90. I think he should have charged her double for wasting everyone's time, lying, and not having any integrity. But that's just my humble opinion.