Two weeks ago today my right eye gets bleary. I figure it is a cataract and I don’t think they are a big deal. I go to my internist for a flu shot and that is what he sees. Meanwhile I squeezed in an appointment with my opthomologist for last Monday. I see him at 9:00 AM and immediate him what is going on as we walk down the hall and he says you do not have cataracts that are causing this problem. He dilates my eye so that it is the size of a beach ball and tells me I have a detached retina. He brings in another guy to confirm it. He calls Wilmer Eye Institute at Hopkins and tells me I have an immediate appointment to see a surgeon. I tell him that I have a case I HAVE TO TRY on Wednesday MORNING, and he tells me I am not trying anything for a while.
I get to Wilmer and the surgical fellow examines me first and gives me the “bad” news. The tear is somewhat large, so…. they do not have to do surgery immediately. In other words it is bad, but that is good. The surgeon comes in and confirms. Her surgical time is Wednesday AFTERNOON. I tell her take me last and I will see her after court because I have to try this case. My client is suspended pending the outcome. I tell her I have to, and will win it, and if I don’t she can take her pen and stab me in the other eye Wednesday afternoon. I let my prosecutor know my scheduling issue so I will be out by lunch. I wanted to kid him that not only will I beat him with one eye closed, but also with one arm tied behind my back. He is a really nice guy, but new and does not know me, so I could not say that or his eye might explode.
We try this piece of crap “DV” case. It is the second one in AA County in two weeks. The last one was dropped when I showed up with a witness who the alleged victim failed to tell the State about, and who was there for the alleged victim’s breaking into the house and trying to beat the crap out of my client. The judge finds the Wednesday client Not Guilty and we go and expunge the case and off to Wilmer I go. When I get to my surgical waiting cubicle, the surgical fellow walks in and the first question is, “Did you win?” I give her the good news and she does not stab me in the right eye. My retina is repaired and I lay face down on a pillow for 4 days before I can go back to court. Part 2, the day I return, is next.