Monday, December 29, 2008

The Whole Truth, and Nothing But the Truth...

When I go into traffic court, I swear to tell the truth. So does the defendant. I abide by that, even if they don't.

I had a defendant flat out lie in court this afternoon. I went through my testimony, as I always do, including quoting her comments to me at the time of the stop.

When it was the defendant's turn, she said I told her not to bother taking the ticket to court, and to just pay the fine.

Excuse me?

I guess the incredulous look on my face must have been pretty funny, because my colleagues in the bullpen were snickering.

I have never told anyone any such thing. I certainly didn't tell HER that.

What I actually told her, as indicated in my notes and as I had already testified, was that it was absolutely her right to take the citation to court.

It really spins me out when people lie in court to try to make me look like an asshole, in hopes that it will get them out of the citation. I truly despise liars.

Oh, and the defendant...

She was found guilty...

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Now, in the spirit of my previous post, and in compliance with NAFTA, I will repost this in Spanish and French for my non English speaking readers...

En español:

Cuando voy en el tráfico tribunal, juro decir la verdad. También lo hace la parte demandada. Que me respeten, incluso si no lo hacen.

Tenía un plano demandado a cabo se encuentran en la corte esta tarde. Fui a través de mi testimonio, como siempre lo hago, incluyendo citando sus comentarios a mí en el momento de la parada.

Cuando fue el turno de la parte demandada, dijo que no le moleste a tomar el billete a los tribunales, y sólo para pagar la multa.

¿Perdón?

Supongo que la mirada incrédula en mi cara debe haber sido muy gracioso, porque mis compañeros en el bullpen se snickering.

Nunca he contado a nadie tal cosa. Desde luego, no le dicen eso.

Lo que realmente le dijo, como se indica en mis notas, y como ya había declarado, era que era absolutamente su derecho a la citación a los tribunales.

Realmente me hace girar cuando las personas se encuentran en los tribunales para tratar de hacer que me parece un idiota, con la esperanza de que logrará sacarlos de la cita. Yo realmente desprecian mentirosos.

Ah, y el acusado ...

Fue declarado culpable ...

==================

En français:

Quand je vais en cour le trafic, je jure de dire la vérité. Alors que la partie défenderesse. Que je respecte, même si elles ne le font pas.

J'ai eu un défendeur plat sont en cour cet après-midi. Je suis allé par le biais de mon témoignage, comme je le fais toujours, en citant notamment ses commentaires à moi au moment de l'arrêt.

Quand il a été le tour du défendeur, dit-elle, je lui ai dit de ne pas la peine de prendre le billet à la justice, et à juste payer l'amende.

Excusez-moi?

Je suppose que le regard incrédule sur mon visage doit avoir été assez drôle, parce que mes collègues de la bullpen étaient snickering.

Je n'ai jamais dit à personne une telle chose. Je n'ai pas dit que la SA.

Qu'est-ce que je lui dit, comme indiqué dans mes notes, et comme je l'avais déjà témoigné, il était tout à fait son droit à la citation devant le tribunal.

Il me tourne vraiment lorsque les gens se trouvent devant les tribunaux pour essayer de me faire ressembler à un trou du cul, dans l'espoir qu'il les sortira de la citation. Je méprise vraiment des menteurs.

Oh, et le défendeur ...

Elle a été reconnue coupable ...

9 comments:

Berserk said...

I smell machine translation! :)

Front Porch Society said...

hahahahahaha!! Too funny! ;) I had no idea you were so well versed in French and in Spanish! hehe!!

Me said...

Ok...you made my night with the translations. That was hilarious!!!

Gigi said...

It's so nice to see an officer being so PC ;-)

Officer "Smith" said...

¿Por qué tiene que ser la traducción automática señor Berserk? ¿Por qué no puedo ser multilingüe? ¿Es porque soy americano?
====================
Pourquoi ne fait-il à la traduction automatique monsieur Berserk? Pourquoi je ne peux pas être multilingue? Est-ce parce que je suis Américain?
====================
Why does it have to be machine translation Berserk? Why can I not be multilingual? Is it because I am American?

Unknown said...

Interesting post. So are you telling us you've never seen another officer lie in Court? And if you have, did that bother you?

I have been in Court many times where a police officer has been caught lying. A lot of cops don't like it when other cops lie. And a lot of cops don't mind at all.

Captain Tightpants said...

Those are even more fun with discovery motions on trials - it seems they are the ones that always tell the attorney "Oh, I didn't say anything," and you get the motion and respond with a videotaped confession, signed statement and four witnesses to whatever they said... I love seeing the reaction to those.

And Albany Lawyer - from my viewpoint. Yes, I have seen cops lie on the stand - I have seen attorneys lie, and I have seen citizens lie. No group is perfect. HOWEVER I have always guarded my integrity in court as a sacred thing, and will quickly distance myself from any officer who does not do the same.

Just my 2 cents.

Berserk said...

Because the machine chose "ser" for the last sentence of your Spanish translation, when it should have choses "estar." Or fue and estuvo. Knowing that you would never make such a mistake yourself, I immediately deduced that it must have been the computer's fault.

The French, of course, was impeccable as far as I know. ;)

Officer "Smith" said...

I can thank Google for my (purported) impeccable French....

And the poor Spanish.