Tips for Court?

A

Astrogirl

Bluelighter
Joined
Mar 28, 2000
Messages
308
Location
Connecticut
Hello all. Tomorrow at 9 I have to be in court *sigh*. I'm not terribly worried since my lawyer told me there is a 90% chance of it being thrown out and striken from my record. I was arrested for disorderly conduct...long, stupid story I don't feel like typing out...

Anyway, this is my first time being arrested and to court. I've spoken to my lawyer Friday on the phone and I'm to meet with him an hour before I have to appear. He said he'd tell me at this time how to act, what to say/not to say etc.

After I hung up with him I realized I had forgotten to ask him how to dress and look.

I'm going to be wearing nice clothes, that's a given. Probably a pair of black pants and a grey sweater. Nothing tight or revealing at all.

I was planning on wearing no jewlery, nail polish, and minimal makeup. I have very long hair (waist-length) and was considering tying it back into a low ponytail or having it in a bun low at the base of my head. I have no tattoos and I'll be taking my eyebrow ring out.

If anyone has any suggestions as far as what I should/should not wear, please respond!!

Thanks very much!
~Astrogirl


P.s. I live in Connecticut in the USA.

:)
 
As you correctly note, dress respectfully and as conservative as possible. You want the judge to see you as his daughter, not someone he prays his daughter will never hang out with.
 
Let your lawyer do the talking. Do not speak to the judge unless he/she speaks to you first, and you are required to answer. If you have to speak to the judge, address them as "your honor".
 
Thanks to you both for replying!

I went to court this morning- I worried about my appearance for nothing! Every person there (beside the lawyers) was dressed down...jeans, sweatpants, and the like. Either way, I'm glad I dressed nicely. I was in front of the judge for a total of about 20 seconds and my lawyer did all of the talking.

My case ended up being dismissed!

Thanks again!

(mods, you may lock this thread if you feel it is no longer necessary, however I think any subsequent responses might be helpful to others.)

:)
 
I'm glad the charges got dismissed. Hope you didn't have to wait around too long -- many people spend hours and hours sitting in court waiting for their 20 seconds.

And thanks for letting us know how it turned out, I always appreciate that.
 
I was going to tell you that most ppl dress down, but its alot better to be safe then sorry. No matter what everyone else does, always dres up for court, it can never hurt.

Glad it worked out.
 
Yes... ALWAYS, ALWAYS dress up for court. You should dress in professional attire, just like your lawyer is. It shows the judge that you're taking the matter seriously.
 
Mahan Atma, I was afriad of waiting around too, but thankfully I was in and out in about half an hour. Myself, my lawyer, and my mom (she came with) entered the courtroom at 10 and sat down for about 5 minutes while my lawyer spoke with the prosecuting attorney. He then called us over to a corner and said that the case would be dismissed if I gave a $75 charitable donation to the Police Athletic League (sounds kinda crappy, I know, but it was either that or have to attend a few anger management courses!) We all then left the courtroom and went into a little office and I wrote out a check.

Afterwards we had to wait outside the courtroom while I guess the process was explained to everyone. When we were allowed back in, my mom and I sat down again, and I was called up first, which was nice because there were about 100 people there. My attorney gave the reciept of my donation to the judge and said that we agreed there was probable cause for the arrest. She just said "okay, dismissed", and that was that.

The whole thing was a pain in my ass, but I'm glad everything turned out the way that it did.

Through this I've learned two valuable lessons: 1)Police can be overzelous jerks, so don't argue with them and 2) I too, *can* get arrested.
 
He then called us over to a corner and said that the case would be dismissed if I gave a $75 charitable donation to the Police Athletic League
Click to expand...

I am fully aware that the practical thing to do here is to accept the offer and get on with your life. But isn't this extortion?!?!?!
 
You know, i thought of that briefly....I'm not sure if it is or not. Either way, I really did not want to fight the case against me or that...like you said, I just wanted to move on with my life with a clean record. Maybe if I had more money and could keep the lawyer longer i'd have caused a fuss...the reason I was arrested was a complete misuse of power (so said my lawyer) and I could have let it go to trial, but there was the chance that I'd end up losing and causing myself more annoyance.

I would still like to know if that's considered extortion or not...anyone know?
 
I guess if they arrested you solely with the intention of getting money out of you, that'd be extortion -- but legalized extortion....
 
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