My Hijacked Blog Continues...Chapter 3: Court Appearance Number Two

A gift for my 46th birthday...

Hijacked? Yes, my blog has been hijacked. "I write to share ideas with colleagues and to learn from others." So my blog description states. This summer, that tag has been grossly inaccurate. It should read, "I write to share my experiences with bike trail injustices." And let's just be honest: my readership is way up.

So here is the next chapter of this outrageous saga: our pre-trial experience.

On Thursday, Lisa Schaa and I traveled to Des Moines--for the THIRD time--to appear before a judge for a pre-trial conference. I was unsure as to the purpose of a "pre-trial appearance," but I thought it may be where we set the date for our trial. Honestly, that is for what I hoped; I have learned that indeed the wheels of justice turn slowly, and these slow turns are taxing to my emotional well being. But Lisa and I arrived optimistic for the next step of justice.

It did have an ominous start. As we moved through security, Lisa is detained. "Miss, can you empty your purse?"  Yeah...she was packin' a Swiss Army knife. We returned the weapon to her car ("This one has a corkscrew and these aren't cheap!"), and begin again.

Walking back to the courthouse, a ponytailed man sporting sandals and mismatched socks approached us: "You two look like troublemakers," he said. It was Kim West, Lisa's good samaritan attorney; we immediately love him. My attorney finds us outside courtroom 202A: "Are you two the bicyclists?" Unfortunately, the answer is yes.

I pause a moment and reflect. It's funny, this congregation of strangers gathered to fight bike trail injustice. I smile at the idiosyncratic nature of life. However, reflection cannot last long; we're due in court.

It was anti-climatic. It seems the county's attorney would prefer to avoid a trial and wishes to try mediation first. Our attorneys seem to be amenable to this idea. So, chapter four will be mediation, and all involved parties, including our notorious deputy, will be there.

My advisor from graduate school left a comment on my Facebook page: "What is it you wish to gain from mediation?" It gives me pause...what DO I want?

I want justice. I want the truth. I want Deputy Dale Petersen to tell all: that we stopped at that stopped sign; that he acted inappropriately by harassing us to define what little, red, octagon signs mean and by threatening me with, "I'm gonna rain on your parade,"; to admit I had every legal right to ride around him when I had done nothing wrong. I want these haters on Facebook saying terrible things about me to hear these truths from Deputy Dale himself. And maybe....just maybe...I'd like him to apologize for causing this entire mess. That is what I want, Dr. Z.

And if this proves impossible during the mediation process, then I want a trial.

Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird

This courtroom scene may just be a remarkable proceeding. Our "hall of justice" could well be full of family and friends, and many students, there to support us and see this saga through. In fact, some strangers may attend, for our fight has become an important matter of principle for many thoughtful and compassionate people. Finally, there in that space, all three of us, Lisa, me, and our witness--who did not receive a ticket but experienced the entire spectacle with us--will tell our tale to a jury and a judge. For good or for ill, that is what will be, for if that is what the County wishes to do in support of their deputy, so be it. I am ready.

And it all will be in the Des Moines Register and  on the 6 o'clock news, for our local TV stations wish to tell all of Central Iowa what ever happened to those High Trestle Trail troublemakers!

Fear does fill me, but I am determined now to see this through. Boy! do I look forward to its completion, so we then can all gather to either commiserate or celebrate. And no matter the outcome, we will laugh and cherish this quirky life and its experiences.

These t-shirts were gifts awaiting us in Marshalltown after a grueling RAGBRAI day!

And thanks to friends with a wicked sense of humor, I already know what I will wear to the party!