Thoughtprints

And I won!!! That’s right, boys and girls, I went to court last Wednesday for the case over the bogus charges brought against my precious Cheyenne back in August (remember?), and I’ll be darned if I didn’t win!

Oh man! It was absolutely the most surreal experience of my entire life! (and I’ve had more than a few of those, believe me! lol) When it was all over with, it literally took days for the reality of it all to sink in. The whole thing was just so …. well, surreal! I might as well begin at the beginning, eh? OK, I walked into the courtroom with Hubs, my daughter, and the notes which I’d printed out the night before. We were the only ones there. We sat down in the front row and I proceeded to try and stop my hands from shaking and my stomach from doing constant flip-flops, but I wasn’t very successful. I kept looking over the questions I had put on paper so I wouldn’t forget what to ask the witnesses. About ten minutes later we heard the door behind us open, and we turned to see the woman who had accused Cheyenne of killing her cat walk in with her fiancé. They sat about three rows back from us on the other side. I didn’t want to appear nasty or insanely defensive, so I turned and said hello to them. They both said “hey”, but she seemed to be a little more forthcoming than he.

Just before court began, the side door opened and in walked the two Humane Society officers who had dealt with us, with them, and with Cheyenne. When I read the report submitted by the Humane Society to the City Attorney, I was quite happy to see that they had stated Cheyenne did not display any aggressive or vicious tendencies whatsoever. But then, why in the world would she??? She was INNOCENT!

Anyway, the City Attorney walked in only a couple of minutes later and called my name. I raised my hand and he told me where I should sit — at the defense table. OMG, now I was really nervous. Hubs sat with me at my request, but when the Judge came in and took the bench, he informed him that he would not be allowed to sit there since he was a witness in the case. Oh no … I was going to be up there all ALONE! Gulp!

The Judge asked if we had an opening statement, but neither of us did, so he told the City Attorney to call his first witness. I listened intently and then suddenly it was my turn — I had to cross-examine her. I took a deep breath, looked at my notes, and jumped in with both feet. And guess what? I was good! LOL After I was finished questioning her (the H.S. officer), the City Attorney called his next witness — the woman who had accused Cheyenne. I remained intent and professional, and didn’t roll my eyes or anything when she was telling her story. LOL When it was my turn to question her, I tried to be friendly, but firm. I couldn’t believe how well it was going! I was getting every witness to say things which were very helpful to my case, and was even able to introduce pictures into evidence of a dog that looked strikingly like Cheyenne and had been picked up by the H.S. just TWO days after the attack, but had never been shown to the woman. That, I believe, was one of the turning points in the trial. ANYway, I did and said everything I had rehearsed over and over and over again in my head, and managed to give a decent closing statement before the judge ruled. Imagine my IMMENSE relief when he ruled in my favor! The other party, however, was quite pissed. Well, her fiancé was quite pissed and gave my daughter a crusty; the woman was pissed AND emotional, crying as she left the courtroom. My heart really did go out to her, though, you know? I mean, she lost her beloved cat to a brutal attack. And as I said to my husband, she truly believes what she believes, which is that my dog killed her cat, but she was 100% mistaken. I hope in time she will realize that.

As we left City Hall I told Hubs that all those years of watching Law & Order, which he HATES, had totally paid off!! Yay!

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