Recess until 5/2

Well, the docs at the hospital admitted the defendant "based upon her reported symptoms"...which of course included a claim of dizziness and a supposed fainting spell. Doc says that it never happened in front of him or the medical staff. All based upon her word. He wants to run tests (sucker). Hmmm, can anyone say LIAR??? Of course, everyone in the courtroom is suspicious, given that corrections has no record of any loss of consciousness. Plus, the defendant was acting fine...up to the point to going to the hospital. If a prisoner passes out, an incident report must be written. I'm going to spend the next few days hunting up all the documentation (or lack thereof) from all the different facilities, and report to the judge on Monday. Trial will continue on 5/2, when the jurors return to court. The lengthy reset date is due to their schedules and availability. The defendant will remain in jail with no bond. On the upside, I'm now freed up for the holidays, to enjoy them without stress. We shall be decorating eggs this weekend, and hunting them next. Also this sunday, there is a Chinatown street fair in Miami Shores on Sunday. Take one guess where we shall be in the afternoon? This friday evening, the girl scout daisies will be picking up trash from around the church/school, as a service project. We will then retire to one of the girls houses, for a pizza party. T is very excited. I was worried we would be unable to go, due being on verdict watch, but now we're free! Hope you all have a great weekend.

Still no testimony...

we all arrived in court this morning, to be informed by corrections that the defendant is refusing to change clothes or come to court. Now she's claiming medical reasons: high blood pressure and diabetes. Def refused the offer of food. She was taken off to be examined by the in-house jail docs, and we all re-convene tomorrow morning, to attempt to proceed. ...and the saga continues...

And so it begins again...

Well, today I picked a jury again, and did opening statements again. Testimony should start tomorrow (Tuesday) again, barring any more courtroom theatrics. Since it didn't work, the defendant stopped trying to appear crazy. She apologized to everyone in the courtroom for her inappropriate behavior on Friday, except to me, of course. There were no apologies to me. That's OK. I didn't expect and, nor would I have believed it. I suspect her failure to apologize to me is the first honest thing she's done in a long time. We shall see what tomorrow brings.

Do Over!

Well, we picked our jury, they were sworn on the case, and the next morning...Tuesday...def starts pretending that she was incompetant. We all knew she wasn't, but because the last evals were almost 2 years ago now, everything stopped so that 3 psychiatrists could evaluate her. As suspected, they all came back on Friday stating that she was malingering...or pretending to be crazy. Unfortunately, a few of the jurors were unavailable next week, so the defense asked for a mistrial, and we are starting over again on Monday. Do over! The last few days were filled with lots of nonsensical courtroom drama. I really should write a book someday. The defense lost their minds when I requested she be tossed in jail pending expedited psych evals, she cursed me and said that everyone I loved would die...according to her dead ancestors and santaria gods. She was contemptuous to the judge, and Marie and I had to run around the courthouse looking for clothes to fit her (size 26), since she was wearing god-awful bright orange prison garb...which is prejudicial for the jury to see. There were none. When corrections hunted some up, she refused to wear "someone else's clothes". In the end, the defense luckily put an end to the farce and asked for a mistrial. The State could not, as double jeopardy had attached. We start over on monday, picking a brand new jury. I went out today and bought a few new trial blouses for under my suits. We also did some roller skating. t is getting better and better. As for the curse, all I can say is that I've got some pretty tough customers lurking way back on the family tree... on both sides. A bunch of IRA militants on one side and good ole' southern boys from the USA on the other. Add in some unknown Chinese warriors and all I can say is my ancestors can take her ancestors any day. Bring it on! meanwhile, blogger is suddenly ignoring my spacing and paragraphs, and moshing it all together as one. Trying to figure that one out. I've just tried to fix it for the 2nd time. Let's see if it worked....

The Saga continues

...I have yet to put on my first witness, as the defendant is pulling stunts again. We reconvene on Friday. Who knows what the future holds.

Its a Miracle

After over 6 long, long, LONG years, I was finally able to pick a jury and complete opening statements, in my oldest case. I never thought I'd see the day. During the course of this case, my trial partner gave birth, I flew to china and back to adopt my kid, I threw my back out 3 times, did a swan dive from a judge's bench and broke my foot, my kid went through every single class at the daycare from the infant room to 4 yr old, and almost completed kindergarten, my mom fell and broke her hip and degenerated into hospice, my did went a bit nuts. Our lives have changed immeasurably over the course of this one little case. Hard to believe. Postings may be sparse this week, as I'm a tad busy. In other news, the painter finally completed the job. My driveway is a god-awful raspberry/red color. I didn't have the heart to argue about it. Spent all day today arguing in trial. Dot and I will find a different color, and get some exercise some weekend, repainting it. Luckily, the driveway is easy to paint. Other than that, its all fab.

The Last of the Pics

 

Ok, here’s the last of the bday photos, and finally some of T and the cake…at least one wherein one can see her face.  Love it!

Lastly, here’s some pinata shots.   The thing never broke, just came off the hanger and fell.  I told the kids to go ahead and attack.  Boy, I didn’t have to say that twice.  All the kids did swan dives onto the thing, and it was history.

6 yr old wellness visit

Forgot to mention, Dot took T off to her 6 yr old wellness visit. No vaccinations except for a flu shot. T apparently slightly failed her hearing test, so we're off to have a more comprehensive hearing test. Of course, it might have something to do with the fact that Dot reports T was a little too busy during the test, trying to snap her fingers...her new favorite pasttime. She was also quite busy waving at Dot and not really concentrating on the test. Not sure why they couldn't retest her, if she was fooling around, but there you have it. Figure I'll go with her, and get my hearing tested, too, since I've always thought I don't hear that well. On an upnote, T continues to grow like a weed. She is still firmly on the 25th percentile for height, at 44 inches. She is still on the 10th percentile for weight. She has broken the 40 pound barrier, and weighs in at a whopping 41 pounds. T has been following the same lines on the chart, since shortly after we came home from china. So, still looking like she'll be 5'2 and 100 lbs when she's 18.

Decisions, Decisions!!

What’s a girl to wear?  I’m trying to figure out which will serve best as her Easter dress.  We’re bucking the trend a bit this year, as both our choices have black in the, and look best with black patent leather shoes. 

Both dresses are so much cuter in person, than in the pictures.   I’m leaning toward the pink dot number, but I can’t decide.  Both dresses look so good with her coloring. 

Which do you vote for?

Even More Luau Pictures!

Click here to view these pictures larger

Every day I come home and find more pics in my email. LOVE IT!