Based on client information, my petition for a restraining order said that a 17-year-old kid threatened to "kick" another kid’s "ass". Grandpa, my client, shuts the gate on him, to keep him from doing what he threatened to do. So17-year-old smacks Grandpa on the bridge of the nose.
Today is the hearing on the petition for a restraining order. And, with Grandpa on the stand, I just can’t get him to say why 17-year-old smacked him on the bridge of the nose.
17-year-old testifies. He says that the two families – his and Grandpa’s – were confronting each other. Somebody shoved his mother, but he can’t say it was Grandpa. So he punches somebody, and he can’t say it wasn’t Grandpa.
Game over.
It bothers me a bit that Grandpa didn’t recall why the punch happened. It makes me wonder if I got a skewed picture when I wrote the petition.
But justice was done. Because a 17-year-old just doesn’t punch an old man. Just doesn’t.
My client’s family doesn’t speak English all that well. His son thought that the judge had rejected the restraining order. He asked me to step out of the courtroom so he could complain. But with my broken Spanish and his broken English, I got him to understand that we had won. Then it was a smile and a handshake.
No comments:
Post a Comment