This must be the 15th subpoena I receive. Some of you will remember that a burglary took place in the neighbourhood back in May 2013, a month after we moved in here and that a few of the guys were hiding in the backyard, so I had to call 911.
 
Despite being able to give only a very generic description of the suspect 5 minutes after the events, I've been harassed with subpoenas ever since. This one is for July - it'll be over 38 months since the incident...
 
Every time it's the same story - they never need me but they keep me on stand-by until the very last minute.
 
38 months without managing to close the case of a repeated offender caught red-handed. The word efficient comes to mind. Not.
 
Next time I see someone in the backyard, I go after them with the crossbow and kick their asses off my lawn myself. That'll save me some trouble.
 
I'm starting to understand why people don't want to get involved.

I recently got called before a grand jury to give evidence in an assault case - a guy across the street from me smashed a chair over another guy's head and then stomped on him repeatedly until he was paralyzed from the neck down. When I was in the DA's office before giving evidence, she showed me crystal clear video footage of the assault captured from a very close (and excellent quality) security camera, in color, showing the whole thing from start to finish with very clear images of the perp who even looked directly at the camera at times. You would think this would be enough for a conviction but no, apparently not. I find this unbelievable.

And now I have to wait and see whether I'll be called as a witness in the actual trial, thing is though the guys involved are from that "snitches get stitches" culture so it's putting me at risk and I don't really want to do it. At the time I talked to the cops I was a little shocked by the whole thing and didn't really think it through, now I just think I should have kept my mouth shut. Why would they put me at risk as a witness (and they know this to be the case) when the video is the best witness they could ever have? You're right, getting involved is just not worth it sometimes.

sharke
I recently got called before a grand jury to give evidence in an assault case - a guy across the street from me smashed a chair over another guy's head and then stomped on him repeatedly until he was paralyzed from the neck down. When I was in the DA's office before giving evidence, she showed me crystal clear video footage of the assault captured from a very close (and excellent quality) security camera, in color, showing the whole thing from start to finish with very clear images of the perp who even looked directly at the camera at times. You would think this would be enough for a conviction but no, apparently not. I find this unbelievable.

And now I have to wait and see whether I'll be called as a witness in the actual trial, thing is though the guys involved are from that "snitches get stitches" culture so it's putting me at risk and I don't really want to do it. At the time I talked to the cops I was a little shocked by the whole thing and didn't really think it through, now I just think I should have kept my mouth shut. Why would they put me at risk as a witness (and they know this to be the case) when the video is the best witness they could ever have? You're right, getting involved is just not worth it sometimes.

Pretty incredible. I felt the same about those guys who are involved - I want nothing to do with them. Plus, not only can't I identify them, but I did not see them commit any crime, other than trespassing. All the rest is circumstantial. For all I know, they could have been a couple of guys hiding after they'd broken a window while playing basketball... I can't put them at the scene of any crime, nor can I confirm that the guy I am called to testify against is one of the guys who was in my backyard.
 
I was involved as a witness once back in Quebec, an incident that took place in a bus, between the driver and a passenger. When the police came and asked who saw anything, I raised my hand. Then I looked around me. Even if I was in a pretty poor spot to have seen anything, I was the only passenger who'd seen anything. Quite miraculous - two people yelling and coming to hands in front of the bus and nobody looked in that direction, not even the lady who was sitting right next to the bus door, a couple of feet from the driver.
 
Nevertheless, technically, I do feel like I have to do my part as a citizen - and I believe I did when I called the cops, and talked with them afterwards. But when you do your part, you kind of expect that somebody will pick it up from there and do their part instead of just milking it.

Why do they call it the justice system?

So, let's see if I have this correct.  In Dave's case the law stopped too soon, in Rain's they don't know when to stop.  Wonderful.

Not everything about this day is bad though. On the positive side of things, there's a new member in this crazy household... :)
 

Awe!

Oh man if that collar was just a little bit darker shade of red....

Awwww...  How in the heck do you keep track of them all??!  I'm guessing you're into double-digits with animals by now, ya? 

sharke
Oh man if that collar was just a little bit darker shade of red....

It'll be changed - this one is the one they put on her at Animal Foundation.
 

craigb
I'm guessing you're into double-digits with animals by now, ya? 

 
Let me see... We lost one mouse and one cat earlier this year, so that leaves 8 cats, 1 mouse, 1 bearded dragon, 1 hedgehog, 2 sugar gliders, 2 dogs.
 
Besides the dogs, they're all pretty easy to take care of - besides the daily cat puke and hairballs, and the fact that they're on a mission to ruin the carpet. 
 
The dogs... Well, they've very needy, and you can't leave them without supervision for even a minute - the Dacshund is marking every chance he gets and he's very possessive and neurotic. The other one is a young half-pit bull half Dachsund - she's a bouncing rubber ball. 
 
I love them but they're the most dysfunctional pair of dogs I've ever seen in my life - and I've had a few dogs, big and small. Fortunately for me, they're both crate trained.