About a month ago, I posted about a drunk driving accident that was on my street. It was a crazy night and even though it was an accident with only one moving car involved it was not as simple as that. The driver hit and totaled multiple cars and many neighbors had to deal with the aftermath. I expected the police to need to talk to everyone with property damage. What I wasn’t expecting was to need to be interviewed as well.
I took the keys out of the car that the drunk driver was driving because he was trying to turn it on. I don’t think he was trying to get away, but because of everything leaking from his car, I didn’t want something to catch on fire. It turns out that by being the person who took the keys, I became one of the main witnesses. The night of the accident I ended up staying up until it was the morning because of needing to be interviewed. That was a little annoying since the next day I was exhausted, but I was happy to help and found it almost funny that I became an important witness just because I was scared the car would blow up.
When I was interviewed, the police told me they would contact me if they needed anything else. But I really didn’t think there would be more. The entire thing seemed pretty simple. The guy hit these cars and it wasn’t a question of if there was another car at fault. I know they did some sort of sobriety test on him so I figured that would be that as well. So a few weeks ago, I was shocked when I received a court subpoena!
I had never received a subpoena before and honestly I was scared when it happened. I didn’t know what was going on because I didn’t think it was related to the accident. But that was obvious when I opened up the envelope and read through the paperwork. Unfortunately, a lot of other things weren’t too obvious.
I was given a date to appear in court as a witness but it also said I was on call and may not need to appear. I did understand that I had to fill some paperwork out and get it back to the court right away. So I did that and then continued to be confused about whether or not I had to go to court. I did let my manager at work know what was going on as I tried to understand if I actually was going to miss work. Fortunately, my manager is super understanding and she just told me to tell her when I knew what was happening.
I had some time before that court date, so I did do some research. It appeared that I didn’t have to go in that date unless I was called, but I also had to call in every day for 2 weeks from the court date to confirm things. I tried to call the day before to find out if I was supposed to go in, but nobody answered nor did they return my message. I didn’t go (I assumed they would have told me if I did need to go in) but I did spend that day working wondering if I would be getting a call. I dressed the way I would need to dress if I was going in instead of my usual yoga pants in case that call happened and I had to get into my car immediately.
But I didn’t get a call. And when I called in that afternoon to find out about the next day, I finally got through to someone. They confirmed that I wasn’t needed that day, but I was still on hold for the next day and had to continue to check in every day until I was told otherwise. Fortunately, I only had to call in another day after that before I was told the trial was done and the case was settled. I was told what the driver had as a penalty (I don’t know if I can share it, but it’s basically what the standard punishment is for a DUI) and I was told that I no longer needed to call in.
I was glad that I did do all the correct things and I didn’t find out that I was supposed to be there when I was at home. It was a little nerve-wracking because so many of the forms I had to sign said that I agreed I would be arrested if I didn’t do what I was supposed to do. But even though I’m glad that everything turned out fine and the trial ended, I was a little disappointed I didn’t get to go and testify. I listen to a lot of true crime podcasts and I was curious to see what court would be like. I’ve never been to court and it’s a big mystery to me. I was excited to see how things work. But I know that it’s probably for the best that I didn’t have to miss work to go in. But it was an exciting idea that I was possibly going to go to court. I’m just glad that this is now all done and hopefully everything was resolved properly for everyone.
You Might Also Like
Hit and Run (or I Don’t Want Car Accidents To Be An Annual Thing)
A Drunk Driver On My Street (or Meeting Some Neighbors After 9 Years)
Are You Freaking Kidding Me?!?!?!?! (or It Feels Like “Groundhog Day”)
Supporting A Friend (or Another Story I Haven’t Talked About Before)
Time For A Celebration! (or A Pie Date)
I’ve Got A Surgery Date (or Almost The 2 Month Countdown)
