Amani and Becca stopped talking and turned towards the door when they heard it open. Two men came into the interrogation room. a uniformed police officer with a file in his hand and a tall, thin man lugging a briefcase alongside him
"Miss Amani Parker?..." The policeman asked Amani who nodded in reply, with a questioning look on her face, wondering what was going on. Where is Mr. Hunk and who is the thin man
"This is your lawyer, he..." The policeman was saying when Becca interrupted him mid-sentence
"Wait, what!?... You must be mistaken!" She said sharply while the policeman who was interrupted looked puzzled, wondering who Becca was that gives her the right to be teaching telling him he was mistaken
When the police officer introduced the thin man he came in with to them, Amani already doubted that statement in her mind even before Becca protested. She knew Becca would never go out with such a man, not even to save her own life.
Amani and Becca shared a puzzling look between them before Becca directed her gaze back to the police officer.
"Where's Steve?..." She asked without even spearing the lawyer a glance
"Steve?... Who is Steve?" The police officer asked back in confusion since he didn't know what or who Becca was talking about.
"The lawyer I brought along with me for my friend... Tall, dark, good looking..." She described the physical features of her lawyer friend to the last bit
"Oh, he left..." The policeman replied
"He left!?... What do you mean by 'he left'? Why would he just leave without telling me?... He couldn't have left, you must be mistaken!... We came here together! I brought him here to represent my friend so how could he have left without doing his job?..."
"I'm sorry but he left! I don't know why and I wasn't giving any reason why he left... I would suggest you call him to find out the reason from him" The police officer said in dismissal to Becca and immediately turned to Amani.
"The Lieutenant asked me to get you a pro bono lawyer and here he is. He would explain everything you need to know about your case to you.
If you still insist on settling out of court after his explanations, then you would need to sign this undertaking for me..." The officer dropped the file he was holding on the table and pushed it toward Amani. "I'll be back in ten minutes, hopefully, he will have been done by then." He said finally and left
Becca who had not moved from where she was standing was lost for words, angry and embarrassed.
'He promised to help so we came here together! How could he have left without telling me!? How embarrassing! How could he have done this to me!?' She continually wondered to herself while the police officer was talking to Amani and as soon as the officer left, she excused herself and followed him behind
"Ama... I'll be right back!" She deftly said and turned to leave
"Becca wait!..." Amani got up from where she was sitting and moved toward her friend "Are you okay? Where are you going?" Amani was worried about Becca whom she saw had a frown on her face.
"I'm good! Don't worry about me. I just want to make some calls. You just concentrate on the situation at hand, I'll soon be back." She repeated and left some seconds after the police officer
"Okay," Amani said with a smile and went back to her seat.
"So hello!... I'm Amani Parker" she introduced herself to the lawyer who looked like he would rather be somewhere else than with Amani at that moment
"Joe..." He curtly replied to Amani with his own name. "Now let's get on with the reason why I'm here. I have a court hearing in an hour..." He told Amani so she would know he didn't want her to waste his time. He dropped his heavy suitcase on the floor, right beside his chair, and sat down.
"You were charged with a misdemeanor and reckless endangerment. Now, this is all you need to know about your case...
A misdemeanor is a crime that is punishable by a fine and/or imprisonment in County jail for one year or less. Traffic offenses are classified as misdemeanors when the offense results in injury to people or property, or when the offense does not result in such injury but constitutes a near-miss.
The term near-miss here is a narrowly avoided collision or accident, which had the potential to cause serious injury, death, or harm but did not happen due to chance, corrective action, or timely intervention." He paused for what he said to sink in before he continued
If you feel the charge laid against you is wrong then it's within your right to get your lawyer and challenge being charged with the offense by appearing in court and making a defense against the charge.
If our defense is unsuccessful and you're found guilty, you will be either convicted or penalized, depending on several factors, including the severity of damage to property or people, and whether you have a prior record of traffic convictions.
Punishments for misdemeanors include jail time like I said earlier, you might be asked to pay fines, you might be asked to reimburse the victim for loss of property, your license might be suspended and the offense will become part of your criminal record... And that's all there is to it. I hope you understand all I've said so far?"
"Yes, I absolutely understand and I already made it clear to the police officer that arrested me earlier that I do not want to go to court. I would rather settle out of court."
"Yes, I was made aware of that. I'm here just so you understand your rights and all the pros and cons you know, so later on in the future when you start to have regrets you wouldn't accuse anyone of browbeating you into doing something you don't want to do" He said while looking into her eyes.
"Nobody is browbeating me into doing anything I don't want to do and I understand my rights perfectly, including all the pros and cons that you've explained to me so far" Amani finished saying
The lawyer looked at Amami for a while, when he was sure that she was not going to change her mind. He opened the file the police officer placed on the table and glanced through it for a while before he turned it to face her.
"Here... Please read it carefully, no rush. If you're satisfied with the conditions given then we can go ahead with the signing"
Amani opened the file. The first page showed expenses that she would have to reimburse to the victim if the case was charged to court and she was convicted of the crime. Mere looking at the total amount of medical bills and the properties that were listed to be damaged nearly gave Amani a high blood pressure.
The second page was the undertaking that required her signature if she finally decided to settle out of court. She read through the undertaking and smiled when she saw the only thing required of her was to be at the victim's beck and call every single day for six weeks.
She was surprised when she saw the victim of her misdemeanor charge was the man her boss asked her to write about. Leonardo DeVille.
"Easy peasy," She said under her breath. Maybe I should just call him and explain about Fluffy ball to him? She thought. Who knows, he might be a dog lover himself and it might turn out that he would understand and even commend her for saving the dog's life. She thought to herself and looked up at the lawyer with a smile
"I never knew Mr. DeVille was the victim here. I was scheduled to write an article about him. As a matter of fact, I was on my way to his house when the accident happened. I'm sure if I call him to let him know I was the one involved in the accident, he will understand and I wouldn't need to sign this undertaking.
The lawyer sighed deeply and glanced impatiently at his wristwatch, a deep frown etched into his face
"Miss Parker, I'm sorry but your relationship with the victim is not my business and frankly, I don't have that much time on my hands to spare for you to call him. What I'm here for is to see that you understand your right before you sign either of two papers...
The citation, which is a promise that you will appear in court at a scheduled date for your misdemeanor charge, or the second paper which is the undertaking between you and Mr. DeVille. Now, which is it going to be? Like I told you before, I have a court hearing in..." He consulted his wristwatch again "in less than an hour!"