Ten days ago, a mother calls me absolutely hysterical that her (16 YO) daughter is being held in custody for the first week of school. Her Highness was arrested over the long weekend when the cops found her drunk in a car with her equally drunk boyfriend. I point out to her that this is the third similar incident in less than a year. She doesn't want to hear it: the on-duty lawyer was a "public pretender"- scores a lot of points with me- the probation officer didn't care about her daughter, the prosecutor was a jerk, the judge was rude, and anyway it was only one beer, Her Highness had a hard day at the fast food emporium, and why should we believe the PBT, and, and, and... and I need to get down to the courthouse and get her released before school starts tomorrow. I explain that it Ain't Gonna Happen- no doubt making me (on the 19th anniversary of my swearing in to the Bar) something less than a Real Lawyer.
I call around to see what's up, and discover that HH has DUI charges in two local courts that she didn't mention to anyone at Juvenile Court. In one, she was racing the same boyfriend on one of the main arterials- both drunk again- and lost control of her car. Luckily, she missed any other cars when she spun out and hit the curb on the other side of the street. When the same cop that busted her for that found her drunk in a car AGAIN, she became a guest of the State, bringing us back to the start of this story.
Yesterday I'm talking to HH, who is actually a pretty nice kid. I got her into Drug Court, and she's got her head straight and is ready to step up and deal with the problem (we'll see if she remembers that once she gets out). She mentions that her family has a history of alcoholism, and that Mom smelled of alcohol when she came to visit the other day.
AH HA. Suddenly this all makes sense!
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