Heard an interesting yet disturbing story on the Sports Animal while coming to work this morning. Curtis Fitzpatrick, one of the radio hosts, was relaying a story about his battle against the law; more specifically, his legal battle after receiving a ticket from Oklahoma City Police while driving along Hefner Parkway. As Mr. Fitzpatrick tells his tale, he was pulled over for a traffic offense, with the officer, let's say, less than pleasant. Since the incident occurred March 29, the last part of the month, the story sidetracked into whether quotas for tickets exist with police.
After a brief discussion, the story continued with Mr. Fitzpatrick telling us about the stories he has heard about going to trial and if the officer doesn't show up the ticket gets dismissed. Then he relates that he paid his bond money and set his case for trial. The trial was apparently yesterday. After arriving at the Municipal Court, and waiting for awhile, the officer appeared, and had a pleasant exchange with the judge, i.e. “Hello, how are you and the family, etc.?”
Mr. Fitzpartick then states he knew at that point he had no chance in court, not just because the officer showed up, but because of the exchange between him and the judge. Getting angry because he did nothing wrong and did not violate any laws to deserve a ticket, he decided to go ahead and go to trial. As the story is related, the officer couldn't remember the incident, and testified incorrectly on numerous occasions. But with help from the city attorney, got enough of a story to the court to justify the ticket. Mr. Fitzpatrick denied the accusations, and apparently told the court just how inaccurate the officer's rendition of the facts were and how the officer acted that day. But after a valiant battle fought, in the end, the law won; Mr. Fitzpatrick was found guilty and fined.
I don't tell this story because I listen to the Sports Animal. I don't tell this story because the person telling it is a radio host here in Oklahoma City. This story is not about police officers and judges exchanging pleasantries; heck, I know the judges too, and I also exchange pleasantries with the court. The problem is in thirty-five (35) years of practicing law in this town, I have heard this same scenario play out thousands of times. The problem is that the public has lost confidence that justice is done in municipal court. That a fair trial is something that is spoken of, but openly swept under the rug. The police are believed in every word they say, no matter how off base; the citizen, automatically not to be believed.
Police are just witnesses in a courtroom, no more, no less. They have no more credibility than the citizen. And hence the problem, the appearance that Lady Liberty is winking at the police, in this unspoken agreement that if a police officer says something it must be true and the citizen is lying if not in agreement. Fairness has a substantial place in a courtroom, but its rather obvious that the people don't believe that. In closing, this reminds me of a retired Oklahoma County District Judge, who would start a case by asking if the defense was ready, and then looking at the prosecution would ask, "are we ready?"
Mickey
