asterism
Congress != Progress
I was on a jury one time for a criminal trial (DUI), a call was made 2 blocks away, different brand vehicle-and color. The man in the car was sleeping, the car was turned off and parked (legally) in a parking lot. The man claimed he was a diabetic, and needed to rest before going home. The cop in the video would frequently turn the audio on and off, and when another cop approached the scene (who refused to testify against the suspect), the main cop told him to mute his mic when when he told him to, to talk undetected-and they actually did this.
The state of Florida tried the guy with DUI, even though he had an alibi (he was at work like a half hour before that, and didn't drink there), did have diabetes (medical records proved), and as I said one cop at the scene refused to testify (at the trial it came out he was asked to).
Long story short-after a 2 day trial it was obvious the state of Florida was covering their own officer's ass against this man who did nothing wrong. It took us about 5 mins to reach our not-guilty verdict. It was an eye-opening experience to say the least.
edit: forgot to mention the guy passed all the tests the cop gave him to determine sobriety-and did so on video (which we saw).
This must be Jacksonville.
Another story in Jacksonville - a guy took his employees out for some drinks after a really hard week. He had a total of five beers in 3 hours. Instead of driving home he sat in his car in the parking lot of the store he owned next door and dozed off. A cop knocked on his window and told him he was illegally parked. When the guy told him that this was his property and he was just waiting a little while the cop said that if he didn't move the car he was going to jail and his car was going to get towed. The guy asked if he could ask someone else to move it or call a tow truck to take him home. The cop said, "No, just move your car over there." As soon as the guy put his keys in the ignition the cop ordered him to step out of the car and he administered a DUI test. He blew a .08 and got arrested for DUI. His lawyer told him to fight it but that it would be expensive so he plead nolo contendere not knowing that such a plea is viewed as "guilty" in the business world. His business practice license was suspended and he had to give away half of the company just to keep from laying off 50 people.
And all because he wanted to reward his folks and thought it was a good idea to wait an hour in his own parking lot before driving home. The easy answer is, "well why didn't he just open the bar tab and leave?" Well I've done that and as it turns out it's counterproductive because the impression it leaves is that I'm "too good to hang out with the workers." I learned a lesson from my friend though, NEVER drive home from a company party. I was taking some medication for ulcers a few years back and I couldn't have any alcohol with it. I still got a ride with a private car service just because I knew walking out of a bar from a company party meant I had a target on my back.
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