I have to go to court for some scamming weirdo!

[HotelMinion]

Ok, I don't think I've written about him before. Probably cuz I was a bit embarrassed to be tricked by him Well, like, 9 months ago, this...weirdo came by late at night. I think I've seen him before. He was dressed in drag like Rupaul and looked and acted just like him. Anyway he asked about a room and seemed very confident. Told him the rate and he gave me a card with a flourish. I asked for ID and made sure to photocopy it, because I thought he was paying cash, he had a whole wad of it out and ready. But he said he'd pay by credit.
So I ran it through and it was Declined! I say, Do you have another card? And he says no. He explained that he's been using his card all day and that's why. Many people said that, so I said sure. He says that he'll just call his bank and get the limit increased.
Now here where my memory gets iffy. Like I said it was a looong time ago. He then says that the bank said to put these numbers in the Auth box. I thought this was weird, like how did he know there was an auth box? Then I thought well, he probably worked in a hotel before. I was eager to get out him out of my face.
So I put the numbers he gave me and it goes through! Wow. That's weird, a minute ago it was saying it was declined. I assumed that our credit card software would be checking if this was a fake card, and tell me. So, I gave him keys and a reg card to sign.
I thought nothing of it until my manager tells me a few months later that he was a scam artist and he tricked me! WTF! It turns out it was a fake credit card after all and he got himself a free room. He's been pulling this everywhere and the police still didn't catch him. A policeman came and talked to me, and I gave a very good description of him since it's not every night a drag queen comes through your door. It was like something out of a movie.
I was sure the GM would fire me because I was an idiot to fall for his scams, but he didn't say anything. I figured that they wouldn't catch him cuz he told me that he was going to California, but now it seems they did and I am summoned to be a witness. WTF!
I have never been to court, ever. I'm kind of nervous. I watched lots of law and order and keep thinking it's like that. Plus it's in the middle of the day when I'm asleep! What if I see the scammer again? What if threatens me or something? I wonder how long he'll be put away. Or maybe he'll get a fine. And the summons says I have to go. HAVE TO. Why? Just throw him in jail already. You've got enough evidence, cops. Rrrgh. >_<

[sirwired]

Just relax. The most likely outcome is that the guy will strike a plea bargain before trial (well over 90-95% of criminal cases end that way.) If it does go to trial, he's unlikely to receive just a fine/probation... the state frowns upon obviously guilty people wasting the court's time with a trial; it has a tendency to aggravate your sentence.

If you want to know what it's like, try and find a weekday when you are awake and just go to a courtroom and sit in on a trial. Even a murder trial spends most of its time being screamingly dull; it's nothing like TV. Few judges would put up with the yelling, shouting, badgering, hostility, etc. in an actual courtroom; lawyers that tried that would get quickly thrown out.

It doesn't sound like this guy is exactly part of a large violent gang, so I don't think there's much chance of revenge here... and you almost certainly aren't the only person that will be testifying.

You are being summoned for one of two reasons: The prosecution wants you there to authenticate the evidence; if that's the case, your testimony probably won't last long. "Is this a tape of the fraudulent transaction?" "Is this the checkin record of the transaction?" "Is the accused the man you saw that night?" etc. Your testimony is unlikely to take long. Alternatively, the defense wants you there for any number of reasons... and the ability to summon relevant witnesses is one of the most basic rights of the accused; one you'd want if you were accused of a crime.

[bhskittykatt]

It should be fairly painless. I've never been called as a witness to a trial in-person, but I have over the phone for an unemployment hearing. They ask questions, you answer. It's not like courtroom TV dramas with all the shouting and stuff. It's fairly mundane, and very painless.

[Mr Hero]

Does your hotel have security footage from that long ago?

[emax4]

Going to court huh? "You Better Work..."

No, not a RuPaul fan. I only knew that from The Brady Bunch Movie

[thehuckster]

By the title of the thread, I was worried you were going to court as a defendant in a civil or even worse criminal trial. I'm glad you're just a witness, it's about the best place to be in a court, besides on the outside.

Just one word of advice: If you don't remember something with clarity, say it. If you try to remember things that you aren't totally sure of, you might end up contradicting yourself which could result in letting the scumbag go. Lawyers are very good at picking up on things that seem contradictory, and will interrogate you in the cross examination, and when that happens it's a horrible experience.

Stick to what you remember, and if they ask you about very specific things that you don't actually remember, like what time it was (just stick to what you know: "It was in the evening"), what the defendant was wearing (well, judging from your OP, you have a vivid recollection of that. ), just say, "I don't recall." They can trap you with those kinds of questions (e.g. "You say that this happened at 6:45pm, but according to the transaction statements I have here, it says it happened at 7:30pm. Can you explain yourself?").

[Catwoman2965]

Also, just answer any questions asked, but don't elaborate or embellish. "did this person give you a credit card on such and such a date" A simple yes is all you need to say. If they want more details, they'll ask, but if not, don't volunteer any.

[PepperElf]

My own recommendations:

If the prosecution hasn't talked to you yet, have someone play the parts of Prosecution and Defense with you in a mock setup. This way you can practice what you're going to say... so that you feel more confident in the court.


Lastly - some tips from my own witness experience. Lately I've been talking about my current jury duty, but about a decade ago or so I was a witness for the prosecution in a military case. So the lawyers gave me some advice on grooming etc for the case.


1) Haircut. You don't have to cut your hair short like I did, but I do recommend at least making sure your hair is neat.

2) Do not part it down the middle. I dunno why but the lawyer said it's a "reasonable suspicion haircut" or something like that. Anyway parting down the middle somehow means negative things for you. So consider a side-part, at least just for the case

3) Be neatly pressed/dressed etc. You might not have to wear a suit (ask the prosecution if you're unsure) but I'd recommend something professional. If anything, think of it like wearing court-armor.

For my case I didn't have to worry about what to wear - Dress whites - but I did have to keep them well pressed, or I'd face problems from the judge.


4) and now to random advice... turn the phone off when you get to court, or leave it in the car altogether. At my local courthouse, if your phone goes off during the trial it's confiscated and donated to charity. (plus you'll have a very pissed off judge)

5) Consider arriving early. If the courthouse is like mine, parking fills up fast. I usually get there at least 30 minutes early and have no trouble parking

6) And if you're unsure of something, I'd suggest asking for advice from the prosecution... likely they'll walk you through what's going to happen anyway, cos it sounds like they'e the ones calling you in to be a witness.

[Andara Bledin]

The comments about not guessing or filling in gaps and keeping your answers to just the questions asked is good.

I've actually been called as a witness (over the phone, not in court) once after seeing a traffic accident and given a recorded statement another time. I was definitely a bit nervous both times, but it was fairly painless. However, it's also worth noting that I didn't have any dealings with the other side, so there was nobody trying to find holes in my statements to my face.

^-.-^

[LillFilly]

For me 80% of the time they decide to forgo their hearing for a plea anyway. If you do go, be honest, and if you don't remember something, it's best to say "I don't recall."

Weird, I never thought about the way you part your hair as being suspicious in some way. Should I be worried my hair parts naturally in the middle?

[thehuckster]

The comments about not guessing or filling in gaps and keeping your answers to just the questions asked is good.

I've actually been called as a witness (over the phone, not in court) once after seeing a traffic accident and given a recorded statement another time. I was definitely a bit nervous both times, but it was fairly painless. However, it's also worth noting that I didn't have any dealings with the other side, so there was nobody trying to find holes in my statements to my face.

^-.-^

Hmm... I was under the impression that, no matter what, a witness had to appear in court, else it was heresay.

[depechemodefan]

So what was the deal with the auth. code? Was that stolen too or your computer on your end easily tricked or the credit card machine defective?

The guy who dressed in drag isn't going to dress in drag (well, who knows but if he's scamming he won't) at court. When I watch RuPaul's drag race, I couldn't recognize his guy self from his persona. Though most of the other drag queens I could.

[PhoneManager]

The only time I was inside a courtroom was for jury duty on a criminal case. Basically, the prosecution called witnesses to form a narrative of the crime. Then the defense attornies got a chance to ask their questions. Then it was the defense's turn to call thier own witnesses with cross examine by the prosecution. All in all the witnesses were treated with respect by both sides.

We did have a police detective who kept cocking a shot gun infront of most of the witness to get them to confirm it was the same sound as the gun the defendents used. And everytime the Defense objected but the judge let it go through.

The witnesses were also kept out of the courtroom during others' testimony, I imagine that would be boring.

[Andara Bledin]

Whether a deposition may be used in a civil or criminal case in the US is largely dependent upon the laws of the individual state. However, it's becoming more common that depositions are allowed in court for civil cases in particular, and more acceptable in criminal cases under specific circumstances, such as a witness turning hostile or being unavailable (sick, dead, out of the jurisdiction) by the time of the trial.

^-.-^

[scruff]

Hmm... I was under the impression that, no matter what, a witness had to appear in court, else it was heresay.

Around here, it's not hearsay if you've made a formal statement.