My experience with the Asotin Co. court system. . .

So, since most of you heard about my unfortunate ticket that I receive about a month ago, I thought I would post some closure to the drama. For those of you who haven't heard. . .here's the story.

So, I was leaving the hospital one morning after finishing my rounds and was heading to the clinic to start my day there, when all of the sudden I see flashing lights behind me, pulling me over. I'm thinking to myself, "what in the world did I do?". I had been driving 35 mph, which was what I thought the speed limit was, so I assumed that they were stopping me because I have out of state tags. Then another cop pulls up and I've got two cop cars with flashing lights pulled up behind me in plain view in this rinky-dink town. After they finished discussing my out-of-state tags (yes I can hear people talking outside of my car), the officer asked for proof of insurance and registration. I found the insurance, but was flustered because I was having a hard time finding my registration. When I had bee pulled over in KS last year, they just looked at the liscence plates to see my registration hadn't expired. So, I continued to be flustered and not able to find the paper, and the cop wasn't exactly very nice about it. He finally gave me a speeding ticket for 36 mph in a 25mph zone, which I want to point out is NOT MARKED going westbound on that street for almost 2,000 feet behind the hospital.

So, I decided to contest because of improperly marked streets. Everyone at the office thought I had a good shot too, because I was new and there isn't a speed limit sign anywhere close to the hospital. They gave me a court date which just happened to be smack in the middle of my work day, and it is tough since we have patients scheduled so far in advance. Another co-worker offered to cover for me while I went to court. Contested hearings began at 1:35 pm and the court clerk told me I should be out of there by 45 minutes later. She said she would put my name first on the docket. . . right!

I show up for court, ready to plead my case. After a couple who were divorcing and did not have their paperwork done correctly, several mitigation cases, and a harassment case, we finally got on to the contested cases. So, I should be first, right? NO! Every time a lawyer stepped into the room, their cases got pushed right to the front. To make matters worse, they were going through the cases by alphabetical order, and I was not put in the front as requested. At 3:00pm we still had not reached my case, and I really had to get back to the clinic. The judge called for a recess, and I just raised my hand and stated my predicament. He responded by saying he'd either give me a deferrment (which means I pay $25 on top of the ticket, which was already $132, and if I have no infractions in 6 mo. it doesn't go on my record) or I could wait around and he'd get to me when my name came up on the docket. I didn't really have a choice, so I paid the deferrment, and after some pathetic attempts at apologizing by the court clerk (she just couldn't figure out why I hadn't been put earlier, and really it was the fault of all the lawyers that showed up), I left, trying not to speed to get back to work in time to pick up my caseload. Needless to say, I am not exactly impressed.

I am still concerned about the fact that there are a lack of speed limit signs around the hospital. So many people come to visit friends and relatives there, and many of them have never been there before. How would they know? So, my plan is to call the county commissioner (the only helpful piece of advice given to me by the court clerk) and suggest that more speed limit signs will be put around the hospital going both directions.

So, you see that the drama of a small town really is just as interesting as life in the big city, right?