“Do you have anything to say before I pass sentence?”
Today, I am charged with contempt of court.
A year ago, I loved my country, and I respected its courts.
A favorite slogan of mine was “One Nation Above God”, and I would flaunt this as evidence of my patriotism being stronger than that of any Christian or other believer in phantom deities, as I put my country above all else.
At the end of February, the police came at midnight and took me for “evaluation”. I was taken, in the middle of the night, without being allowed to make any calls, to a snake pit of psychiatric “evaluation”, and after being stewed in that environment of insanity for six hours or more, I was judged suicidal and committed. I was held without any recourse to the law.
Nearly a week later, after convincing my jailer/doctors that I was not a danger to myself or others, I was released.
“They” came and took me away in the middle of the night. I used to think only schizophrenics and the like alleged such things.
The court did this.
When I was released, I found that my wife had scribbled some absurd accusations on a petition, had it rubber-stamped by a judge, and I was now forbidden from contacting her or my daughters under penalty of imprisonment. For three months, I was not given an audience to answer the charges in the petition, and had no idea what my daughters were being told concerning the sudden absence of their father. For all I knew, they thought I was dead.
The court did this.
At one of the hearings, while I was still pro-se, I discovered that my wife’s counsel had asked a judge to subpoena my psychiatric records from the asylum (“ECMC”) to which I had been involuntarily committed. ECMC turned them over. The very foundation of psychotherapy — the trust between therapist and patient, the assurance that all communication is private and will not be used against oneself — had been shattered. My trust in that system had been shattered. My belief that the state held certain confidences inviolable was shattered.
The court did this.
I filed for divorce. In June, I was allowed supervised visitation at the price of $50 for two hours per week. I was able to see my girls again. This was an agreement between parents. The court had little to do with it. Soon thereafter, it was alleged that I sent a text message to my wife, and a few days later left flowers on her doorstep on the occasion of our twelfth anniversary. One might consider this a gesture of reconciliation. I can’t imagine either act being construed as dangerous, or frightening my wife, as the order of protection had all my weapons removed and she is a black belt in karate. Furthermore, she states in the petition she has no belief that I intend to harm her or the children.
The police came to my place of work and took me away in handcuffs. The judge, without asking a question, without once looking at me, set my bail to $5,000 cash or $15,000 bond. I was sent to the Erie County Holding Centre and spent almost three days in jail.
The court did this.
Today, I am charged with contempt of court.
A year ago, I loved my country, and I respected its courts.
Today? The courts, its officers, and the nation under whose vile and gangrenous rubric they operate–
Yes.
I hold them all in the deepest contempt.
§ § §
That didn’t happen.
I arrived at 8:30 in Williamsville Village Court. I waited. My wife arrived. The ADA called her twice before asking me in for conference. He offered me the violation of “Harassment in the Second Degree”, and at the time it seemed good enough, and I accepted.
My turn in front of the judge.
Before a plea can be accepted, the defendant must answer a series of questions. In my case, this involved asking if I waived my right to be assigned an attorney. I debated the particulars of this matter, as I would have been happy to have been assigned one, but was denied by every agency to which I was referred. You’ve heard it: “You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot or will not afford one, one will be appointed to you.” This is not true. Not in New York. Maybe elsewhere. In New York State, unless you are nigh indigent, you will not be appointed counsel. Thus, I am pro-se in this case. Eventually I simply stated that yes, I am proceeding pro-se voluntarily.
Did anyone coerce you to enter this plea? Are you doing this of your own free will? Do you give up all rights to an appeal? Are you under the influence of any drugs or alcohol?
I gritted my teeth and growled the appropriate answers to each to get me to the next.
Finally, he describes the charge, and I notice that it hinges upon an “intent to harass, annoy, or harm” the “victim”. I had no such intent, and said as much. After much back-and-forth, he asked me to sit down and the bailiff handed me a copy of the relevant penal code entry and practice cases. After reading this, and waiting, the judge called me back, and I told him that I would be perjuring myself by admitting to this charge, as I had no such malicious intentions.
The judge stated that it seems as if we’d be going to trial, unless the ADA could offer some other plea, “perhaps something under §240.20?”
The ADA met with me, and we reviewed the code for disorderly conduct. It begins with “A person is guilty of disorderly conduct when, with intent to cause public inconvenience, annoyance or alarm, or recklessly creating a risk thereof” and the “recklessly created a risk thereof” bit satisfied me.
He offers #1: “He engages in fighting or in violent, tumultuous or threatening behavior.” No, not that. I had threatened nobody.
#7? “He creates a hazardous or physically offensive condition by any act which serves no legitimate purpose.” Well, closer.
Inasmuch as my wife seems to consider nearly everything I do as “physically offensive” and because any contact would be violating the order of protection and thus not be “legitimate” in the eyes of the court, well, OK.
We return, and we wait.
The judge goes through the same questions. I elucidate my agreement to the disorderly conduct subsection.
“Do you have anything to say before I pass sentence?”
“My place of work has stated that they cannot practically continue to employ me if there are further legal complications. If I am sent to jail, I’ll lose my job, and my daughters and this creature beside me would be deprived of my income. Personally, I don’t care what you do to me. The visitation facilities we use have closed and once again I can’t see my daughters, and don’t care much what happens.”
“One year’s adjournment in contemplation of dismissal. Stay out of trouble[…]”
And that was it. No fine, no jail time. “ACD” for a year. Stay clean, and the court will effectively forget any of this happened. From what I can discern, all bail obligations have been fulfilled, so the friends who bailed me out don’t have to worry about losing everything they own if I trip over some violation.
Glad I didn’t use my speech.
I still hold the system in contempt, but I appreciate the patience and fairness of the individual Judge Voelkl in my case, and what appeared to be an earnest desire on his part to offer me every opportunity at achieving a “just” resolution to the case. The assistant district attorney, whose name I do not know, was also fair and professional. Both were helpful within the parameters of the law. They can’t give me legal advice.
Overall, I think I did pretty well.
As I drove out of the parking lot, someone gesticulated at me. I brought down the window, and he tells me my back tire is flat.
Totally flat.
So, I’m staying home today, waiting for that to be fixed.
Just can’t break even.