Recognize Anyone?

Spouse? Boyfriend? Family member? Coworker? Neighbor? Your kid’s soccer coach?

Disturbing

Not that there’s ever a good time to be a prostitute, but now is especially not a good time to be a prostitute in Baltimore. See here and here.

I passed the WJZ van on Nanticoke Street on the way home this afternoon. They were across the street from Amanda Bishop’s memorial. Here’s the segment the did tonight.

Baltimore: Just About to Turn Its Life Around

So the fourth attempt at having this trial finally stuck and once again the ADA let me stay out of the courtroom and sit at home on standby. It was a nerve-racking few days waiting and wondering if I’d get the call to come in and say, “Yes, I made that 911 call…anonymously.” Fortunately, I never got the call to come in because the ADA said he wanted to keep the case “as tight as possible by having only eyewitnesses come in to testify.” After three days of jury deliberation, let’s take a look at how things worked out:

Sad Lane

Lady Friend and I ventured into the unSafeway on Scary S.Carey Street yesterday morning and our cashier informed us that they (the unSafeway employees) are taking up a collection for Ms. R, who just happens to be the nicest cashier you’ll ever encounter in Baltimore. She’s the cashier people look for so they can get into her check-out lane. Ms. R’s 19 year-old son was murdered early Thursday morning just five blocks away from the store. He was her oldest child. The collection is to help her with the funeral expenses. LF and I both stuffed some cash into the jar and walked out not really knowing what to say.

UPDATE: Recycled Post

The trial has been postponed for the third time. I’ll be re-summoned in May.

1st postponement - No courtroom available.
2nd postponement - No judge available.
3rd postponement - No courtroom available.
4th postponement - TBD.

Recycled Post

Will the third time be a charm or will there be another delay of game? I’ll find out next week. Since nothing has changed regarding this court case or my feelings about it, I am going to do something very green and recycle this post from January. Feel free to recycle your comments.

Another Delay of Game

The trial has been postponed (again). Last time it was because there were no courtrooms available and this time because there were no judges available. Looks like a new date has been assigned for mid-March. The prosecutor told me that I can expect to be re-summoned. I’m sure I’ll be recycling my 01/24/08 post around that time.

New Date, Same Anxiety

I got a new summons to appear next week as a witness for that attempted 1st degree murder trial. Fantastic! The case was postponed back in November because they couldn’t find an open courtroom. Let’s revisit the charges against the shooter, who lives just twelve doors down from mine when he’s not locked up:

Charge No: 1 ATT 1ST DEG. MURDER
Charge No: 2 ATT 2ND DEG MURDER
Charge No: 3 ASSAULT-FIRST DEGREE
Charge No: 4 ASSAULT-SEC DEGREE
Charge No: 5 HANDGUN: USE IN COMMITTING CRIME
Charge No: 6 HANDGUN ON PERSON: CARRY/WEAR
Charge No: 7 RECKLESS ENDANGERMENT
Charge No: 8 HANDGUN ON PERSON: CARRY/WEAR
Charge No: 9 POSS OF FIREARM/AMMO/MINOR
Charge No: 10 SHOOT DISCHARGE UNK CALB HG

I’m hoping the prosecutor will remove me entirely from this case. I still have nothing to add, other than the fact I called 911 anonymously during the night of the shooting. I’ve heard from someone directly involved with the case that the shooting victim has completely changed her story from her original statement. I guess this does not bode well for the prosecution, since she is the star witness after all. The new story is that she didn’t see a thing that night and she has no idea who shot her. There’s a lot more to this story, but I can’t get into the details at the moment. Maybe next week, depending on how things go. Let’s just say that there are no surprises though. It’s a pretty common story, actually.

So there’s a chance this guy will be released next week, which doesn’t exactly ease my mind. But then there’s also a chance he could remain locked up on the handgun charges. I’m not a lawyer, so I have no idea. I’m just relaying information here. Either way, I don’t want to show my face in court if I don’t have to. The gang this kid runs with have been involved in a really vicious beating and two shootings on my block…on my block as in right in front of my house. I’ll probably get another summons for the anonymous 911 call I made on the night of this shooting too.

Maybe next time I’ll embrace my Baltimore heritage and just change my story.

Right Name. Wrong Number.

There is a man in Baltimore City with the same name as mine and he has a lot of angry women looking for him. Since 1998, I’ve been getting phone calls from really pissed off women looking for this guy, but getting me instead. Way back before I had caller ID and became a dedicated recluse, I actually used to answer the phone. Most of the time it was my loan shark Sallie Mae, the stalker bitch who can’t find a way to quit me. (We’ll be dating until 2025, according to my payment schedule.) The other calls were usually from the women looking for the male version of me. The conversations usually went something like this:

Me: “Hello?”

Angry Female: “Who dis?”

Me: “You called me. Who’s this?”

Angry Female: “Who tha fuck is this? Where A– at?”

Me: “This is A–. You called me. Who the fuck are you?”

Angry Female: “Aw hell no. Where tha fuck is A–. Put A– on tha fuckin’ phone.”

Me: “I am on the fucking phone. I think you have the wrong fucking number.”

Angry Female: *click*

During one year in particular, I got a number of collect calls from the Maryland Correctional Institution for Women in Jessup. Whenever I’d see the D.O.C. pop up on my caller ID, I just had to answer out of curiosity because I was occasionally interested in what some of my ex-girlfriends were up to.

Me: Hello?

Automated Verizon Lady: “Hello. You have a collect call from: WhereTheFuckIsA–At?PutHimOnThaPhone. To accept the charges, press 1. Otherwise, please hang up.”

Me: *click*

I’ve gotten a recent spike in calls from aggressive bill collectors and a couple of really irritated women - all of them looking for a guy in Baltimore City with my name. Last night I had two semi-frantic messages left minutes apart by the same woman looking for the male version of me (I think). She didn’t say what she was calling about, but she strongly suggested that I call her back before midnight. I had to scroll through the mental lists of women I’ve dated just to make sure the calls really weren’t for me. Nope. I definitely did not know anyone by that name, although her messages had the Glenn “I’m not going to be ignored” Close à la Fatal Attraction tone to them that was all too reminiscent of the ghosts of girlfriends past.

I stopped answering my home phone some years ago and I’m not even sure why I still have one. I guess I still look forward to what kinds of messages will be waiting for the guy version of me when I get home.

Delay of Game

Today was the day I was supposed to be in court. The prosecutor called me on Tuesday and said I didn’t have to come in and sit around all day, but I had to be able to get to court in 45 minutes or less if they needed my testimony today. I just got a call from the prosecutor and, what a surprise, the case has been postponed until late January.

The first thing I wanted to know is if the defendant will remain locked up in the meantime and he said, “Yes. Definitely. You don’t have to worry about that.” The prosecutor also indicated that he’s going to try to get me removed from the case since I don’t have any real information to offer. He said, “There’s no reason you need to come in here, show your face to the defendant, and then have us not need you. I’d really rather keep you as anonymous as possible.” Thanks for that. Then he encouraged me to keep calling 911 whenever stuff happens. Sure. I told him I’ve developed carpal tunnel syndrome from calling 911 so much and that I’m about ten or fifteen 911 calls away from collecting disability. At least he got my joke. I hope I don’t get summoned for fraud.

I do have to say that my experience so far with the prosecutor, and the people in his office, has been a positive one. I’ve voiced my concerns clearly and I do feel like they’ve been heard. All of my messages have been given to him and all of my calls have been returned quickly. Perhaps it’s because of my soothing Lite FM Adult Contemporary Radio voice I use when I call that actually gets me polite service and zero attitude. Who knows.

So I won’t know until late January, which is right around my birthday, if I’m needed for this attempted murder trial. I’m hoping to get a notice from the circuit court that says:

Happy Birthday!! Wishes really do come true because you’re not needed!!

Hope you don’t hesitate to call 911 in the future!!

K.I.T.

xoxo,
Baltimore City Circuit Court