A Couple That Posts Bail Together, Stays Together... (Summer Date #1)

Mark and I went out on a date for the first time in ages.  We are finally taking advantage of the respite service that Matthew gets through the county. A lovely woman named Patti comes once a week to watch the kids, so Mark and I can get out.

Our first stop was the courthouse to post bail for a red light violation. (We went incognito with our transition lens eye wear, and all.)

"Criminal" seems so harsh. Shouldn't it read: "Napa County 'Innocent Until Proven Guilty' Courthouse"? But let's call the Kettle what it really is: Mark is guilty as sin. In his defense, he ran the red light on our way home from our week-long stay in the hospital with Matthew. Mark too, had some random health issues that same week, causing him to miss work and camp out with us in the tiny hospital room. We were so exhausted on our drive home, I didn't notice that he ran a red light, either. But the camera did. And you can't argue with the camera. Or can you...

The very nice woman who collected our $612.00 did not dissuade us from setting a court date. Perhaps, we thought, we could ask for a reduced fine, given the extenuating circumstances??? The very nice woman advised us to head up to the courtroom right then and there to watch a few trials.

Our date suddenly got interesting.

We witnessed 4 traffic violation trials, and were told by the judge herself, that it was not within her jurisdiction to reduce fines, so forget asking. Then we had a post-trial conversation with the bailiff, who did not dissuade us from keeping our court date, but smashed all hopes of mercy on the judge's part--even police officers who get caught running red lights on camera, she told us, don't get any breaks.

We headed back downstairs to take our names off the court calendar.

But then the very nice woman who had previously taken our $612.00 (did I mention how much the ticket was?), balked when we told her what the bailiff had said. "Of course that's what a bailiff would say!" she said.

Mark and I looked at each other and decided to stay in the fight.  After all, if a police officer--a human being--had stopped us, they might have had more compassion.

Court date is set for July 21. Most likely Mark will leave with a little egg on his face. But on the off chance that the officer who signed the ticket doesn't show up, we may have a chance.

We ended our date at a local bakery to eat some (humble) hand pies. 

Post script: California's got this video camera thing down. They send their big guns to the courthouse. There's no escaping it, no chance they'll be too busy to show up. That's fine. We tried. Now you will find Mark and I driving around Napa slamming on the brakes at every yellow light we encounter. We may not get another ticket, but we might have to replace our car's brakes soon.