Night Court

This all started back on February 20 while driving on the Lloyd Expressway in Evansville on my way to visit Mayor John Tucker in Mt. Vernon. I was not in a hurry as the day was sunny but cold and I had just left Evansville Mayor Weinzapfel's office when I noticed flashing red lights in my rearview mirror. Pulling over, I rolled my window down and reached for my billfold and vehicle ID.

Looking up at the Police Officer and knowing full well that I was perfectly innocent of what ever it was he was going to say, I asked the usual dumb question -- "What did I do Officer?"
He promptly replied that my license plate on the car was expired, to which I promptly replied, "You got to be kidding me."

He wasn't. After he issued me a ticket he told me I could call the Court in Evansville and pay the fine or appear in person on March 31 at 4:30 pm.

I called the IACT office and talked to Bookkeeper Jenny telling her what had happened, at which time she said that we had not received any notices from the BMV for any of the IACT vehicles. After several calls Jenny told me to go to the BMV in Tell City and try to renew my plate, which I was able to do. After calling the court the next day and finding out the fine would be $110.50, I became even more angry and called Jenny again, claiming this wasn't our fault because as we all know, the BMV is supposed to send a notice in the mail before our plates expire. Jenny again called the BMV and they said it was their fault and that they would write a letter explaining that to the court. I told Jenny that we would probably never see that letter. But, on March 7 the letter arrived.

A few weeks later my court date also arrived. That day I put on some nice slacks pulled a sport coat over my IACT shirt as I wanted to impress the Judge. To say I was overdressed for the occasion would be an understatement. I arrived promptly at 4:00 pm in order to beat the crowd but just managed to get a seat in the court room that held about 250 people. After 15 minutes we were greeted by a stern-faced lady who I am sure had not smiled in several years. She loudly informed all of us to remove our hats, that no drinks were allowed in the court and that if you were a relative or friend of an accused you must kindly leave the court room. We were then asked to stand as she read us our Miranda Rights. I began having visions of my first night at the Branchville Correctional Facility, which thank God, is close to home.

She then began calling names and I was glad my name started with a G instead of a Z. In a few minutes we were all asked to rise as the Judge entered and made her opening remarks. Again, the look on her face brought visions of Branchville, as she would have made Judge Judy look like a saint.

More names were called, pleas were entered and the amount of your fine was given to you as you left the court. If you were under 25 you were told to go though a wood door, never to be seen or heard from again. I did know that fate would escape me as I am over 25 years of age.
When my name was called I strolled with confidence to the podium as the Judge asked me how I was going to plea.

"Not guilty," I said, "But..."

"But what?" she promptly replied.

I immediately handed the letter from BMV to the attorney who was standing beside me, who read the letter and handed it to the Judge. With a frown on her face, she also read the letter.
Her first and only remark to me was, "Ignorance of the law is no excuse, but I will dismiss your case."

I thanked the Judge, picked up the case-dismissed slip and quickly exited the court room with a smug grin on my face, turning down several offers to rent my sport coat as I left.

While driving back to Tell City in the pouring down rain I could imagine all of my IACT friends at the reception upon my graduation from the IU School of Law.
- Bill Goffinet