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Patience: It Really Does Pay Off

Ashoka the Great

Entry posted by Ashoka the Great

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Antagonizing a Judge When You're the Defendant  

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A few weeks ago I made a blog post about my charming next-door neighbor.

Today we had our day in court to get him evicted. Unfortunately, the hearing did not conclude so I am unable to discuss my testimony.

What I can say is that getting to the court at 0900 and waiting until 1530 for our case to be called was made extremely worthwhile by the last two minutes of the proceedings.

At 1625, the judge announced that she was adjourning proceedings until a future date owing to the time. (The court closes at 1630.)

At this point my charming neighbor jumped to his feet and started yelling about evidence he was trying to produce. The judge tried to ignore him, then cautioned him to be quiet and ultimately told him to leave.

Throughout my testimony, he repeatedly interjected with "You're a !@#$@#$ liar" and other such niceties.

As if to twist the knife, right after the judge told him to leave, my landlord's lawyer -- it's actually the landlord taking him to court, not me -- quickly asked the judge to advise the defendant not to make any noise that will disturb "this witness" (that's me, duh) between now and the next hearing.

The judge raised her eyebrows, looked toward my neighbor with an exasperated look, and said, "Mr. Xxxxxx, I am asking you to refrain from making any disturbances between now and the next hearing of this Tribunal."

"That'll be easy, since they're all lying! There is no noise to complain about!" he responded. (This was moments after we had played a video -- which the defendant posted on YouTube and later took down -- which showed him playing his drums with his stereo blasting. Good times.)

"That's exactly what I expected you to say," she replied.

I hadn't had a chance to leave the stand while this was going on. The judge collected her papers and, for a few moments, she and I shared what can only be called a 'look' while everyone else was leaving the courtroom.

"Welcome to my world," I said in a low voice.

"I think you're welcome to it," she said in an equally low voice as she exited the bench.

Can't wait for cross-examination.

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thedestro

It is painful to be patient. But oh how deliciously satisfying it is when the time finally comes :awesome:

I feel for ya bro, and I would watch out for that guy. I wouldn't be surprised if he lashed out when he gets evicted

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Schad

I've been lucky that my issues with neighbors have been confined to drunken idiots/door-slamming domestic drama, but the nice thing about thoroughly insane people like this guy is that they never realize when they've encountered a situation that can't be overcome through bluster and intimidation. Glad he met that roadblock sooner rather than later, though not soon enough I'm sure from your perspective.

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Ashoka the Great

Yay.

So did you retain counsel yourself, or is your neighbour's landlord doing all the heavy lifting?

The property management company is paying the lawyer's bill.

While I'm the person who filed all of the complaints, officially it's the building owner taking this clown to court.

So no heavy lifting for me. I'm just an observer of this particular trainwreck.

I didn't see my neighbor last night and I won't be home for a few days. (Right now I'm sitting in an airport departure lounge.....bored bored bored.) When I get back on Monday, no doubt we'll run into each other a few times between now and the next hearing.

That should be fun. :awesome:

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Haflinger

I didn't see my neighbor last night and I won't be home for a few days. (Right now I'm sitting in an airport departure lounge.....bored bored bored.) When I get back on Monday, no doubt we'll run into each other a few times between now and the next hearing.

That should be fun. :awesome:

Carry a camera and/or audio recording device with you at any time you might run into him. If he rants or throws things or whatever, it would make Great Evidence.

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Schattenmann

I had a similar situation with police once. A cop with a chip on his shoulder was reading me the riot act over some stupid stuff when his taller, older (greying) partner pulls me back a little (we were all walking) and whispers, "don't listen to this idiot." Take that, Officer Bonaparte.

Glad things are comign together on this, make sure to follow-up.

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