Unnerving court
So here's what I learned today while on company time: The guy down the street who apparently has an obsession for redheads who walk by his house is currently charged with molesting a 6-year-old. And he has a prior conviction that means he has to register as a sex offender, but it's not one of the offenses that gets his address on the public Megan's Law site, so I had no idea he lived a block or two away from me.I learned this because he happened to be in court today -- though I haven't even been inside that courtroom for at least a month. It took me a few minutes to place him, but he knew me immediately. And, since the judge wasn't on the bench, the guy said, "Hey, how are you doing? ... You walk by my house sometimes." This was said from across the entire courtroom.
Then I realized he, like me, was waiting for the prosecutor who only handles sex crimes. So I got up and went to check his court file, learned the basics and returned, where I didn't look at him. But that didn't stop him from proceeding to watch me for the remainder of his time in the courtroom. It was so obvious that the court reporter (stenographer-person, not journalist) was mouthing something to me. At the next break, she told me he'd even shifted in his seat and turned toward me.
So there you have it. This might be a mellow town, but there's always something that happens when I walk into court. And that doesn't include all the crazy stuff that happened when I was in the Stockton courthouse earlier today.
Posted by Layla at 8:38 PM, June 20, 2005
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