Every Chip a Year

Tomorrow will be interesting. My sister is slated to be tried for two felonies at 9:30 a.m. When I researched the penalties a long time ago, I learned that they carried mandatory minimums of 3 and 5 years, with a total of 30 years as the maximum. That’s assuming I understood the charges correctly.

She can’t serve less than the minima if she is convicted. She can plead it down to something less devastating, but only if the victim, prosecution, and court agree. The problem is that when it comes to battery on a law enforcement officer, bargaining is less likely than with other offenses. And she has a bad record as a defendant. She was placed in diversion programs for her felonies and misdemeanors. She failed to complete the misdemeanor program. I think she failed the felony program, too. I’m not sure. She was arrested for failing to attend the required hearings. I don’t think the case would be set for trial, had she completed it. She also has a pile of unpaid tickets, so the court will know she has a bad attitude.

I’m thinking I’ll go tomorrow. I won’t be going to support her. She will be enraged if she sees me there. I’ll be going to find out what really happened, and what the disposition of the case is. I would never get the truth from her or her attorney. She has a misdemeanor trial the next day. Maybe they’ll play the video of the stop. I would like to see that. If she allocutes at the felony hearing, they won’t play it.

Tonight I ran an errand in the truck, and I looked through my Ipod for music to listen to. I had a hard time choosing, and I ended up picking James Taylor. I don’t know why. Then I realized the song I had chosen–Fire and Rain–was about suicide.

My sister has never been inclined to commit suicide. She has made plenty of threats, but that was just manipulation. She loves and admires herself in a very strange, somewhat idolatrous way. I would say she venerates herself, the way crazed fans adore people like Elvis or Michael Jackson. It approaches worship. Although she has always been willing to sacrifice others in exchange for small rewards, she wouldn’t harm herself out of shame or despair. But tonight it occurred to me that she is capable of doing absolutely anything out of spite. If she thought she was getting away with something–cheating justice and proving she can’t be told what to do–she might do it. Sort of like Hermann Goering.

My best guess is that she won’t get prison time. But I’m not a criminal lawyer.

I’m sure I’m more concerned than she is.

Anyway, I better get to bed. There is nothing more I can do.

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