It was a perfect summer evening. The sun was setting low over the horizon and the breeze blew gently across my face. My view over the harbor was spectacular. I didn’t think my life could get any better. Then my phone buzzed. It was my answering service texting me about an urgent matter. I try to remove distractions from my life, but this is part of the business. You never know when duty calls. The message oozed with peril and distress. I dialed the potential client’s number, prepared to hear yet another poor soul’s story. The call was picked up immediately by a man who was demonstrably upset. He was a doctor from another state who had just been arrested while vacationing with his partner in Barnstable County. The charges were serious: three felonies (two counts of breaking and entering and one count of vandalism) and one misdemeanor (domestic violence). He was scared. Charges like these could jeopardize his professional license.
If I’ve learned one thing in this business, it’s that things aren’t always as they seem. Bad things happen to good people probably more than you’d like to imagine. Misunderstandings are common. This was one of those situations.
So, the next day, I drove down to the court to meet with the prosecutor, a person whom I know to use his intelligence and position of power fairly. I persuaded him to dismiss the breaking and entering charges before the Doctor was arraigned on the theory that the charges were a colossal misunderstanding. That was the first major win. The second major win was an agreement to dismiss the remaining charges (vandalism and domestic violence) after a few months of proof that the Doctor was taking care of a few demons that needed to be tamed. And of course, as you can expect, he did what he needed to do and all charges against him have been completely dismissed and he’s on to greener pastures.
