254 lines
13 KiB
Plaintext
254 lines
13 KiB
Plaintext
|
|
|||
|
|
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO oOOOO OOOO. OOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
|
|||
|
|
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO" .OOOOOO OOOOOo OOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
|
|||
|
|
OOOO oOOOOOOO OOOOOOO. OOOO oOOOO
|
|||
|
|
OOOO .OOOO OOOO OOOOOOOOo OOOO OOOO"
|
|||
|
|
OOOO oOOOO OOOO OOOO "OOOO. OOOO OOOOo .OOOO'
|
|||
|
|
OOOO .OOOO" OOOO OOOO OOOOoOOOO "OOOO. oOOOO
|
|||
|
|
OOOO oOOOOOOO..OOOO OOOO "OOOOOOO OOOOoOOOO"
|
|||
|
|
OOOO .OOOO"""OOOOOOOO OOOO OOOOOO "OOOOOOO'
|
|||
|
|
OOOO oOOOO ""OOOO OOOO "OOOO OOOOOO
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|
|||
|
|
| |
|
|||
|
|
| There Ain't No Justice |
|
|||
|
|
| |
|
|||
|
|
| #58 |
|
|||
|
|
| |
|
|||
|
|
|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|
|||
|
|
- "How do you Plead?" -
|
|||
|
|
-- or --
|
|||
|
|
- A Phyrric Victory Beats No Victory At All -
|
|||
|
|
by Tal Meta
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Wednesday, the 16th. 11 Hours to D-Day.
|
|||
|
|
---------------------------------------
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
I dunno. Maybe I should be scared. Maybe I am, a little. But I'm also
|
|||
|
|
cocky/arrogant. The evidence is that clear to me. I look at it, several
|
|||
|
|
times an hour. I go over it in my mind, I've been planning my cross
|
|||
|
|
examination for three days. I'm settling for general nervousness.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"Will the defendant please rise..."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
I look at the stuff the cops gave me when I called for discovery. The
|
|||
|
|
SprintDerf says I was trying to hack PBXni. He's wrong. If I had been, his
|
|||
|
|
pretty list of numbers should read like an endlessly repeating prankdial.
|
|||
|
|
It doesn't. It goes from 9860 to 9861 to 9862. A sequence of ascending
|
|||
|
|
numbers, never dialling the same number twice.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"I object!"
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
I know little about legal protocol. I watch the occasional episode of L.A.
|
|||
|
|
Law, does this make me capable of pulling this off? I hope so. The Sprint
|
|||
|
|
charges I can destroy, I can make the SprintDerf disprove his own point.
|
|||
|
|
Can't I? He'll have his $1000 an hour legal eagle from the company pool,
|
|||
|
|
and I'll have the light of moral certitude shining from within.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"This is all circumstantial evidence..."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The receiving stolen property charge no longer worries me. I know the cop
|
|||
|
|
who's pressing that charge, its purely a local thing. He hasn't a shred of
|
|||
|
|
evidence. Nothing. Unless he's holding something back, which will earn me a
|
|||
|
|
mistrial. And even if he does, if he obtained it AFTER the SprintDerf
|
|||
|
|
returned my system (did I mention that the VICTIM of my "crimes" took
|
|||
|
|
possession of my system, to do the analysis? Can you see the conflict of
|
|||
|
|
interest there too, or do I need new glasses?) I can say that the evidence
|
|||
|
|
was tainted.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"The police used to watch over the people. Now they're watching the people."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
There's a feeling like elation in my heart. I truly believe I can beat
|
|||
|
|
them, beat them at their own game. Me, some long haired cyberhippie,
|
|||
|
|
bearding the giants of Law and Order in their most private sanctum. I'm
|
|||
|
|
even considering changing my future plans, from programming to law. People
|
|||
|
|
need protection from this sort of persecution. If I win this thing, I'll
|
|||
|
|
believe I'm the person to do it. But thats a day away, yet. Alot could
|
|||
|
|
happen.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"I have no further questions for this witness."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
I have no witnesses. No evidence of my own. I don't think I need any. The
|
|||
|
|
incompetence of the cops and of the SprintDerf leaves me trusting that I
|
|||
|
|
won't need any. I should probably create some. A printout of the file I was
|
|||
|
|
REALLY making dialing all those numbers. Gotta remember to bring copies of
|
|||
|
|
FFejScan & CodeThief to court tomorrow, just in case I get a chance to do a
|
|||
|
|
demonstration. Gotta remember... epiphany...
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"You are in contempt!"
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
I have to remember to be humble tomorrow. To be quiet, and reasonable. So
|
|||
|
|
tonight, I am loud, and obnoxious. I say all the wild, troublesome things
|
|||
|
|
that could cost me the opinion of the judge I so desperately need to
|
|||
|
|
convince. Thats how I handle stress. Before the confrontation, I say all
|
|||
|
|
the things that would cost me points, loudly, to anyone who will listen.
|
|||
|
|
Then, when the time has come, I can be calm, and rational.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"Does your heart not hear the call to battle?"
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Rational is good. Long ago, when I created "Tal Meta" in my mind, he
|
|||
|
|
represented the coldly logical side of my being. The side that could stand
|
|||
|
|
in front of a gymnasium full of people and be spat upon, and take it. That
|
|||
|
|
happened, once, long ago. Harry Eldridge, I think his name was. Big ass
|
|||
|
|
wrestling dude. He could've broken me like a twig... and he knew it. And he
|
|||
|
|
knew I knew it. What he never comprehended was that it didn't matter. I had
|
|||
|
|
insulted him... over what, I can't remember. He wanted to fight me. I
|
|||
|
|
didn't care to oblige him. So he spat on me, right there in front of 50
|
|||
|
|
some odd people, one of whom was a girl I cared for deeply. She understood,
|
|||
|
|
though. She was a Jehovah's Witness... people spat on her all the time. Two
|
|||
|
|
months later, after he held me in a death's grip headlock over another
|
|||
|
|
slight, (which a coach had to come and break before he made me pass out, or
|
|||
|
|
killed me) I waited for him in a stairwell, and jumped on his ass from the
|
|||
|
|
second floor. I broke his arm. I didn't even get expelled. I was one of the
|
|||
|
|
"good kids".
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"I stand before you, draped in my sins..."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Thats the key, you see. On one level, I know, that since this is my first
|
|||
|
|
offense, the system is going to "go easy on me". But thats not what I want.
|
|||
|
|
I want to win, I want the system to bow before me. I've worked hard at
|
|||
|
|
becoming a "respectable" member of my community. Nobody really knows what
|
|||
|
|
I'm up to. If "Fred" insists on pressing his unsupported case tomorrow, I
|
|||
|
|
plan on destroying him on the stand.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"They agreed with that line from Shakespeare... 'Hang all the Lawyers'..."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"And just when did you become aware that a crime had been committed?" "Was
|
|||
|
|
that before or after Mr. Aninnos there had the evidence 'analyzed'?" "And
|
|||
|
|
where is your evidence of that crime today?" "Whats that? You say you've
|
|||
|
|
misplaced it?" "This is not Traffic Court, Officer Fred. Your word against
|
|||
|
|
mine is insufficient." "Your Honor, I move for this case to be dismissed
|
|||
|
|
due to lack of evidence..."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"Nothing has to BE true, but everything has to SOUND true."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
SprintDerf is another story. He's going to explain to the court how a PBX
|
|||
|
|
works. Then he's going to tell us how to compromise one. And then, he's
|
|||
|
|
going to explain to us how the evidence he's presented supports that
|
|||
|
|
picture. The beauty of it all is that he can't. Thats my plan, anyway. Alot
|
|||
|
|
can go wrong between now and then...
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Thursday, the 17th, 3 hours PAST D-Day.
|
|||
|
|
---------------------------------------
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
I went to court. I sit waiting... for what, I don't know. I wait as the
|
|||
|
|
caseload is called out... SprintDerf is nowhere to be seen. They call my
|
|||
|
|
name. I rise, and enter my plea. "No, your Honor, I'll be defending
|
|||
|
|
myself." I say. No SprintDerf in appearance. Am I happy, or sad? Shit. The
|
|||
|
|
Judge is a substitute. He doesn't want to be there, you can hear it in his
|
|||
|
|
voice. Says he has to be in another town by 3 today. (I wonder if he made
|
|||
|
|
it?) Every time he speaks he sounds like an auctioneer. Time passes. I
|
|||
|
|
watch those pleading guilty get their sentences. Fines mostly. One of the
|
|||
|
|
cops I know comes in... (Fred) The one with a complaint against me. During
|
|||
|
|
a break, I ask him one last time if he has ANY more evidence concerning my
|
|||
|
|
charges. He says SprintDerf has it all. I ask him to point out SprintDerf.
|
|||
|
|
I go ask him for more info. He says the cops have it all. But he's carrying
|
|||
|
|
this HUGE binder. The Binder has two things written clearly on it. U.S.
|
|||
|
|
Sprint, and my last name.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"Can you hear me screaming?"
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
I follow SprintDerf back to Fred. They converse, and tell me they're going
|
|||
|
|
to talk to the Prosecutor. They vanish for about ten minutes. I stew in my
|
|||
|
|
chair, wondering whats in that binder. I get called into the little room at
|
|||
|
|
the back. The Prosecutor offers me a deal. He says that he's got enough
|
|||
|
|
evidence to bury me. He shows me some. He might even be right. I complain
|
|||
|
|
that SprintDerf's binder is about eight times the size of all the data I've
|
|||
|
|
been allowed to see thus far. The Prosecutor wants to cut this deal though.
|
|||
|
|
If I take his deal, he'll drop the receiving stolen property charge, if I
|
|||
|
|
plead guilty to the other two. Says he'll push for minimum fines, and no
|
|||
|
|
restitution. If I DON'T take his deal, and ask for another adjournment to
|
|||
|
|
study the evidence, he'll press for maximum fines, jail time, and
|
|||
|
|
restitution. I ponder the odds. I ask about my equipment, and begin to form
|
|||
|
|
my counter-offer. The Prosecutor has no clue, so he calls back in Fred &
|
|||
|
|
SprintDerf.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"Stay Alert. Trust No One. And Keep Your Laser Handy!"
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Seems my "buddy" Barney has put in a motion for me to forfeit ALL of my
|
|||
|
|
seized equipment. I'm not amendable to that, so Barney gets called in.
|
|||
|
|
While we wait for Barney, we chat about world events. Somalia, and such.
|
|||
|
|
SprintDerf has a brain in his head. He's the epitome of evil in my world
|
|||
|
|
right now, but I still can respect that. Barney arrives. The look I gave
|
|||
|
|
him would have melted steel, but he seems oblivious. We "discuss" who gets
|
|||
|
|
what. Barney wants my laptops. (I guess his grandkids will be happy this
|
|||
|
|
Christmas...) He also wants my IBM. I want my Commodore system back. I want
|
|||
|
|
to trade him the cheesy word processor for a laptop, but no go. In the end,
|
|||
|
|
we all agree that I get my Commie system back (worth twice what the IBM was
|
|||
|
|
worth in today's market) and I get the mouse card out of the IBM setup. I
|
|||
|
|
get copies of all the software on the IBM. I get all the other software
|
|||
|
|
too. And my VCR, the phones, etc.. Oh Joy.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"Sometimes, in order to win, you have to lose a little..."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
I'm still stewing. I'm NOT guilty of what they want me to plead guilty too.
|
|||
|
|
It sticks in my pride like a white hot knife to plead otherwise. But it
|
|||
|
|
will get my equipment back. It will end this charade. It will give me my
|
|||
|
|
life back, to do with as I would. So I agree to this devil's bargain, and
|
|||
|
|
we go out to face the court again.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"Do you think you could twist the knife in my back a little to the right?"
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
I sit there, as another case is heard, and I want to scream. I would really
|
|||
|
|
like to hurt someone. Preferably SprintDerf. I watch them, Fred, Barney, &
|
|||
|
|
SprintDerf, all chummy on the other side of the room. The Judge calls my
|
|||
|
|
case again. I rise, and walk towards the bench, wishing I had a weapon. I
|
|||
|
|
stand there, mute, as the Prosecutor explains the deal to the Judge. He
|
|||
|
|
asks me if thats what I want. I say that I do, but anyone with an ounce of
|
|||
|
|
empathy would have known I was lying. I'm forcing myself not to snarl, like
|
|||
|
|
some caged animal who's been tormented by people he can't reach, and can
|
|||
|
|
only huddle in one corner and snap at them.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"Jesus wept. I prefer firing on full auto."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The Judge reads the charges, and unique as they are to these small town
|
|||
|
|
courts, he has to look up the penalties. He gets sidetracked for a moment
|
|||
|
|
by some obtuse ruling involving theft of electrical service, that carries a
|
|||
|
|
minimum $500 fine. I'm groaning inside, trying to visulaize myself paying
|
|||
|
|
off a $1000+ fine. The Prosecutor & SprintDerf look at one another, and
|
|||
|
|
silently agree that this shouldn't be considered under those rules. The
|
|||
|
|
Judge, who still wants to get out of here soonest, reads off the fines
|
|||
|
|
almost too fast for me to add them up in my head. In a mere twinkling, its
|
|||
|
|
over.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"Not with a bang, but with a whimper..."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
I go downstairs, and fill out a check. $400 isn't too unbearable. But I'm
|
|||
|
|
wishing this had made it to a probable cause hearing at the County Level.
|
|||
|
|
It all might have gone away there. But I suppose I can live with it. I
|
|||
|
|
guess I'll have to now. A career in law looks very appealing to me now. A
|
|||
|
|
chance to strike back. A chance to make a difference. But I probably won't
|
|||
|
|
do it. Ask me six months from now, and maybe I'll have a different outlook.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Maybe not.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
This is HOPEFULLY the last "Legal TANJ" I'll ever write. There may be more
|
|||
|
|
written by others, but I'm planning on covering my tracks well enough never
|
|||
|
|
to be in a courtroom again.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
<20> <20><> <20>
|
|||
|
|
<EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD> <20> <20> <20>
|
|||
|
|
<EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD>۲<EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD> <20><>
|
|||
|
|
<EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD> <20>
|
|||
|
|
<EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD>
|
|||
|
|
<EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD> <20><><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD>
|
|||
|
|
<EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD> <20> <20>
|
|||
|
|
<EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD>
|
|||
|
|
<EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD>
|
|||
|
|
<EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD>
|
|||
|
|
<EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD>
|
|||
|
|
<EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD> Phoenix Modernz Systems: 908/830-TANJ
|
|||
|
|
<EFBFBD>۱<EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD> The Syndicate: 908/506-6651
|
|||
|
|
<EFBFBD>۱<EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD> The Matrix BBS: 908/905-6691
|
|||
|
|
<EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD> First United Church Kalisti: 602/753-3784
|
|||
|
|
<EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD> The Cell: 817/870-1060
|
|||
|
|
<EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD>
|
|||
|
|
<EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD>
|
|||
|
|
<EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD>
|
|||
|
|
<EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD> <20> <20>
|
|||
|
|
<EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD> <20><><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD>
|
|||
|
|
<EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD>
|
|||
|
|
<EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD> <20>
|
|||
|
|
<EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD>۲<EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD> <20><>
|
|||
|
|
<EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD> <20> <20> <20>
|