My prosecutor today asks for a postponement because the officer is on vacation. She just learned about it yesterday. I object. The judge says if the officer requested it more than 2 weeks ago he will grant it as the Court should have postponed the case. He asks her and she says she believes it was more than 2 weeks ago. She does not have a copy of the request, nor it turns out has she even seen it. I tell the judge I want to see the paper and he agrees, and the prosecutor’s supervisor walks across the hall and retrieves it from the police liaison’s office.
When I get a copy, it was filed June 30th, more than 2 weeks ago. HOWEVER, he was on vacation until Tuesday, today is Friday. Postponement denied. After she consults with her boss the case is dismissed. I will chalk up her cavalier assertion to being new and assuming everyone that tells her something is 100% truthful (as long as they work for the State). The case before mine turned into a guilty plea because of her same assertion. I have no clue if it was the same officer. That defendant paid a $1,000.00 fine and is on 3 years probation. My client filed an expungement. I knew she had never seen the paperwork and was making a guess, and I was not the least bit comfortable with her guessing. On the other hand, I guessed right.