As I followed the officers back to the police department, I called my law partner to let her know what was going on. She quickly told me not to say a word. When I arrived at the police department, the officers led me into an interrogation room. And suddenly, I forgot I was a lawyer and what Michele had told me on the phone. I developed an awful case of verbal diarrhea. I could not stop talking. No wonder lawyers make the worst clients. I even gave the officer a written statement...I know. I know. After about an hour, the officers let me go, and my husband and I decided to take the van to my client and call it a day. I was not going to push my luck trying to get her kids back for her. That would have to wait until Monday. I delivered the van to my client without incident.
Monday morning I decided I should be in the Judge's office waiting for him upon his arrival. I had a sick feeling all weekend that things were not going to turn out well. The Judge arrived shortly after I planted myself outside his office door. Before I could steal a minute of his time, his phone rang. I sat back down in my chair outside his door, and could not help but overhear his conversation...it wasn't good. It was the officer. Listening to the Judge's conversation made me want to vomit on my shoes. Finally, the Judge hung up and I stuck my head in his office after knocking on his door. I looked at him and said "I'm that lawyer you were just talking about." I swear to God his head looked like it was going to explode. Let's just say what happened next was not pretty...I got quite a tongue lashing. I may have even peed myself a little.
Once the Judge was done chewing on me, I left his office and made my way upstairs to the probate office to file a pleadings regarding the order (which I found out had been issued). When I opened the door to the probate office, all of the clerks stopped what they were doing and stared at me. News travels fast. I handed the clerk my documents to file and she said that the Judge had called upstairs and agreed to set my motion for hearing on Wednesday and that I did not have to turn in my client. She also told me that he had decided not to issue a warrant for my arrest for aiding in the escape of a confined individual. Maybe there is a God.
Wednesday finally arrived and my client and I appeared for the hearing. Her husband decided to represent himself. After the 2 hour hearing, the Judge withdrew the order of commitment and gave my client's husband a stern warning about abusing the judicial system. It quickly became evident during our hearing that my client's husband had falsely filed the affidavit for her commitment. My client got her kids back that afternoon.
Sadly, a few months later my client dismissed her Petition for Dissolution of Marriage and Order of Protection against her husband. To the best of my knowledge, they are still together.
