Dad update

So I spent all of Monday and Tuesday in court for my dad's DUI trial. Ugh. While it started out interesting, it quickly got boring and repetitive and totally wiped me out by the end of each day, even though I was just sittng there in a freezing court room. I can't imagine it was any easier for Dad. Especially to have a night he'd rather forget dragged out and discussed in minute detail for two days.

The jury selection process was the most interesting part. The witness examination started out interesting but turned tedious when both attorneys asked the same questions over and over again, just in different ways. It also made me realize that I don't have enough patience to be a lawyer. You have to ferret out the tiniest details and ask the right questions in the right order and lay a foundation for the next set of questions. You have to spell everything out in detail because you can't rely on the jury being smart enough to come to the conclusion you want. You can't skip a step and it takes FOREVER to get from point A to point B.

Unfortunately, he was found guilty, which was what we expected, but the reason he went to trial is because the plea bargains they kept offering him weren't any good. Now we're hoping when it comes to sentencing at the end of January, my dad's time in rehab and three weekly AA meetings since May will help in making his sentence lighter.

On Monday, he was 175 days sober and that should hopefully make a good impression with the judge. I have seen on several websites that in Colorado, the penalty for a DUI with a previous DUI in the last 5 years is a fine of $500-$1,500, 60-120 hours of community service and jail time of 90 days to a year, with a minimum 10 days mandatory. So I am steeling myself (and trying to prepare Dad as well) that he'll have to at least spend ten days in jail because I don't think there's anything the judge can do about that no matter what kind of good impression he makes.

We're just glad it's over now and although it's nice to have another couple of months break before he's sentenced, we'd also kind of like to just be done with it and find out what's going to happen to him. We still haven't got the results of his MRI from last week and so that combined with his uncertain legal future, it's been a stressful time for all of us, but especially Dad. I'm sure worrying about the trial and now worrying about the sentencing are not helpful at all for his physical or mental health.

So that's the news on Dad, which is unfortunately, not really any news right now. Will update again when we get the MRI results and know what he's going to do about treatment.