Aaron and I (along with 2 of our employees at the clinic) were subpoened to appear in court in May as witnesses. Our defendant is being accused of child kidnapping, drug trafficking, and assault with a deadly weapon. Let's recap for those who have slept since that crazy day last March...
It was a pretty spring day when we were planting trees in the front of our vet clinic. Long story short, a young black male ("Victim") ran up to us yelling that "they" were trying to kill him and he needed to use our phone to call his mom. Now, he should have wanted to call the police which we realized when we spotted the bigger, meaner looking male ("Bad Dude") across the street with a gun looking for him.
Problems really start when the gun-toting fellow decides to cross the street and head for our clinic. The employees frantically start locking the doors and I head to the back to hide with our then 6-month-old baby and "Victim". This was my chance to ask how he got into this mess and why this guy wanted him dead.
He told me that "Bad Dude" thought he had stolen from him and that "Bad Dude" and his girlfriend had kidnapped him and another young guy at gunpoint. He had jumped from the car at the stoplight by our clinic and he ran for help.
Cops show up. Arrest "Bad Dude" and also take the 2 young guys into custody. We all get questioned on several occasions, first by the cops, then by detectives. Now a year later, we've all forgotten the details just when we're served court papers.
Now, my real issues with this are that we cannot put our family in jeopardy. We've already been told that the other witnesses including the "Victim" refuse to testify due to death threats. Obviously, we aren't really down with that. So, I've already contacted the DA's office to ask for anonymous depositions so that we aren't testifying on a witness stand. They're supposed to get back to me soon.
I am honestly willing to be arrested for contempt of court before I will publicly testify in this case. No, I don't want guilty people to walk free. But I have 2 kids to protect here. And a business. And let's be really honest- getting arrested once in my life is sort-of on my bucket list. :)
It was a pretty spring day when we were planting trees in the front of our vet clinic. Long story short, a young black male ("Victim") ran up to us yelling that "they" were trying to kill him and he needed to use our phone to call his mom. Now, he should have wanted to call the police which we realized when we spotted the bigger, meaner looking male ("Bad Dude") across the street with a gun looking for him.
Problems really start when the gun-toting fellow decides to cross the street and head for our clinic. The employees frantically start locking the doors and I head to the back to hide with our then 6-month-old baby and "Victim". This was my chance to ask how he got into this mess and why this guy wanted him dead.
He told me that "Bad Dude" thought he had stolen from him and that "Bad Dude" and his girlfriend had kidnapped him and another young guy at gunpoint. He had jumped from the car at the stoplight by our clinic and he ran for help.
Cops show up. Arrest "Bad Dude" and also take the 2 young guys into custody. We all get questioned on several occasions, first by the cops, then by detectives. Now a year later, we've all forgotten the details just when we're served court papers.
Now, my real issues with this are that we cannot put our family in jeopardy. We've already been told that the other witnesses including the "Victim" refuse to testify due to death threats. Obviously, we aren't really down with that. So, I've already contacted the DA's office to ask for anonymous depositions so that we aren't testifying on a witness stand. They're supposed to get back to me soon.
I am honestly willing to be arrested for contempt of court before I will publicly testify in this case. No, I don't want guilty people to walk free. But I have 2 kids to protect here. And a business. And let's be really honest- getting arrested once in my life is sort-of on my bucket list. :)
I hope you guys get this figured out WITHOUT having to go to court! Stressful. And by the way, I can't believe you are 20 weeks!!! Where does the time go? Excited you're halfway!
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