Late May update

Vincent also had an appointment with the psychiatrist that ultimately prescribed medication for him, which we got to late enough today that we had to reschedule it for the end of the month. Last time Dr. Knox said the medication he's currently on has enough side effects that he can't be on it forever. So now - at the end of June - she'll decide whether to try a new medication or have him go cold turkey. Since he's now 18, there's a little bit of ambiguity now as to whether we should be going in with him to speak with the psychiatrist and what happens if he really doesn't want to keep taking medication. The court order said he must keep on with counseling and medication unless behavioral health providers say it’s OK to quit. (It's over in Jeffersonville, IN, so maybe Stephanie and Vincent will go next month and not be late like Vincent and I were.)

Mom went to the orthopedic doctor and got an X-ray. The doctor is sending her for an MRI, recommending focusing on posture and taking hourly breaks to do back exercises, and pooh-poohing physical therapy or chiropractic medicine. They did not talk about surgery, which Mom isn’t enthusiastic about. Mom knows there are several things going on – back problems, knee problems, general health problems, also posture (and she says that sitting all day hunched over a computer is probably bad for her posture also) – but she is unsure how disciplined she can be about posture and daily exercise. The doctor, who is rather old, said that one reason he’s in this area is that he too has faced similar issues. Mom canceled her PT appointment. Doing more assessment first may be good, but I’m not a big fan of no PT or other kinds of treatment. Going in to PT at least forces you to do the exercises a couple of times a week, and to get additional instruction, which is better than nothing. Cost may be an issue here too (plus the time to go to PT – though Mom might do it on the way to or from work). This seems look progress on some fronts, but not others. (I’m not sure how much retiring would permit Mom to attack these challenges more effectively.)

(Mom said that Florida Governor Charlie Crist – hot off of announcing a run for the U.S. Senate – today vetoed a pay cut for state workers, who have not gotten a raise in four years. Pay stability restored and MRI scheduled, Mom will lead an induction of new officers for Tallahassee’s American Association of University Women branch tonight.)

Stephanie’s father will face another court hearing after Tuesday’s. His tenants are apparently suing him for allegedly changing a handicapped ramp. He can settle for a small amount or go to trial and potentially get settled with a much larger dollar amount. Stephanie urged him to settle and then sell the property. Most of his 3-4 remaining properties seem to Stephanie to be more trouble and expense than they’re worth, especially given the state of the Central Ohio economy, which means that most tenants can’t really afford to pay rent and the pitfalls are many (thieves ransacking empty apartments, tenants suing, etc.). Part of what Stephanie’s father is probably doing is carrying on a family business and like my mother resisting retirement.

(Pictured above is the Columbus South End’s Buckeye steel plant, where Stephanie’s father once worked, which – like the West Side General Motors parts supplier factor that Mom and I also drove by this past weekend - is completely shuttered now – endemic of problems with Ohio’s manufacturing economy.)

-- Perry

More appointments

Tuesday was a big day with Stephanie’s father in Franklin County court over a landlord-tenant issue that has been brewing for some time, and Stephanie’s mother and my Aunt June back to chemotherapy treatment. Then today my Mother was off to the orthopedist for the first of appointments with doctors and physical therapists about her back problems that her regular doctors just recognized a few weeks ago. Today I went back to work for the first time in two weeks and Stephanie’s school had their second annual International festival, which Stephanie helped organize. Tonight is our final Children’s Fellowship, which may be inside (thanks to the rain). Sunday is an outdoor Pentecost worship service (weather permitting) with me serving as head usher for the third and last time this month, after our final (bilingual) Sunday school class of the school year. I am tentatively slated to go to a training for hospital visitation at church Sunday morning and at least Stephanie to a Columbus Clippers baseball game with some former high school classmates Saturday night at the new Arena district stadium (pictured above) between downtown Columbus and Goodale Park. We’ll see which of these work out. Hope confronting medical and legal issues this week is going OK for our family members.

-- Perry

Bubble burst

I'm afraid Vincent's reverted a little back to old form this weekend - leaving the house early Saturday without going to help out with the church art and plant sale (which he had told Ian he would help with) without finishing his laundry and cleaning his room (as he'd told us he'd done) - and then staying gone for 30 hours - without taking his medication - until we came to pick him up and he complained and made us wait. (Stephanie also had to mow the lawn again this weekend partly because he did a mediocre job earlier this week - She's pictured above following up with pruning, with Frisco.) It was back to picking him up between Halloween and St. Patrick's Day, which I hated. Stephanie said it reminded her of picking Vincent up at his father's - waiting, not knowing if there was going to be a confrontation, not knowing if he was really going to come with us - which we used to do when we lived in Ohio, also, every Sunday afternoon. Vincent asked why we were picking him up early, and I said it was because he hadn't done his laundry or cleaned his room or taking his medication. (He also was hot from going on a walk with his friend in 90 degree weather with the black T-shirt and black jeans he had put on Saturday morning.) But it was also because that's when we were driving through and I figured - correctly - that having gotten up early Saturday morning (inexplicably) and probably gotten little sleep Saturday night, he was probably exhausted (and if he slept that off Monday and Tuesday and did 0 hours of school work, instead of his usual 2 hours - that wouldn't be good). Also - he originally had talked about doing something with a different Sam, a friend he hasn't hung out with that much lately, and I thought we'd get him back for that. Of course, although we've cleaned up the house (except for his room), we unfortunately had a hot house for him to return to - our main central A/C is ailing, and we hadn't had his unit A/C on in his absent - and, I'm sure with two days near 90 degrees it was blazing up there when we got home. We haven't exited him from our home or sent him off to the juvenile center yet.

P.S. Vincent's been asleep for five hours since we got home, which he apparently needed.

-- Perry

Top 11 reasons

Top 11 reasons why we probably wouldn’t turn Vincent in for contempt of court and a sentence at the juvenile center even though he’s not coming close to doing school work 20 hours a week and hasn’t done much to get a job:

11. He mowed the lawn yesterday (although he did a mediocre job with the front yard).
10. He said he did two hours of school work today.
9. He said he turned in one job application today.
8. He watched his mother try Wii Boxing last night.
7. He did some of his chores and laundry today without us reminding him.
6. He says he’s going to do stuff with two different friends – other than his girlfriend – including one friend from before the Denmark trip – this weekend.
5. He says he’s going to volunteer as a waiter at our church art and plant sale and proper English tea (a youth ministries fund-raiser), where last year he was a star, for two hours tomorrow morning.
4. I asked him to remember to keep the basement door closed when either of the turtles are out and to take his key and lock the door when he leaves the house and he didn’t argue.
3. He celebrated the end of the house arrest this week with lots of walking.
2. He visited with his girlfriend yesterday afternoon but still connected with us in time for dinner.

1. He went to the bank at lunchtime and then I took the dog for a walk, we rendezvoused – not explicitly purposely – and chatted as the three of us walked home together in the windy, 80 degree weather that reminded me of beach weather.

-- Perry

He's out!

Vincent, Stephanie and I went to court today and met Scott Cox, the partner of the original lawyer we worked with (Mr. Mazzoli – who turns out to be the son of the longtime Democratic congressperson from Louisville). Cox used to work in the U.S. attorney’s office. He’s tall and has an imposing presence. He explained that he’d read Mr. Mazzoli’s interview notes and talked with him. He asked Vincent a few questions, then went straight in to negotiating with the prosecutors.

Mr. Cox said the prosecutors wanted Vincent to do 24 weeks of anger management classes, which he said the court usually sends abusive spouses and boyfriends to, and which he said is an ordeal. They also wanted Vincent to plead guilty to something. But apparently he pushed – brandishing Vincent’s lack of previous problems with the law, his week in inpatient treatment, and his continued counseling with Jodi Klein (he said the prosecutors seemed to be aware of her and were impressed that that was who he was seeing).

What Mr. Cox came out with was quite different – a de facto year of informal probation – but, formally, nothing. He said the prosecutors would for all practical purposes drop the charges and would allow Vincent to seek to have the charges against him expunged from the record in a year, when he turns 19. The provisions would be: Vincent would have to keep going to counseling or keep taking medication as professionals recommended. Mr. Cox said de facto we as his parents would continue keeping an eye on that and in general, and so that if we came in and said he wasn’t taking his medication, going to counseling, or even not doing other things he was supposed to, that would be a problem for Vincent. Also, Vincent was supposed to stay away from the schools (Mr. Cox said Vincent going to JCHS to take the final exams for his on-line classes would be OK – but he did say don’t go to school functions like basketball games etc. – Brown has already gotten Vincent banned from all Brown-related events.) Mr. Cox encouraged Vincent to press on ahead with school and hopefully go to college.

Belatedly, Mr. Cox and then Judge Prather stressed that if evidence came up that Vincent was not doing something he was supposed, Judge Prather could hold him in contempt of court – meaning, I think that he could be jailed even without a trial – that only a limited amount of evidence could get him in trouble. Also, if in a year Vincent were to seek to have his record expunged, if it turned out that Vincent had gotten in any kind of trouble – particularly with the law – at any time in that year – it might doom his expungement.

Vincent and we asked a few questions, and then Vincent said he agreed to it. After chit-chatting with Mr. Cox for a few minutes, we were called into a courtroom, and, while we sat down, Vincent and Mr. Cox went before the judge. Judge Prather and Mr. Cox talked about the deal and – like I said – Judge Prather warned Vincent about the possible contempt of court option. He also asked Vincent in a couple of different ways whether he understood the deal and whether he was OK with it. “Yes, sir, I understand” – was a phrase Vincent repeated a couple of times.

We are to call Mr. Cox back in a year to try the expungment – assuming nothing goes wrong.

Vincent consented to having us take him out to lunch at Fourth Street Live, but then he was off to go visit with his friend and Pablo, who has just returned from Arizona. He was meeting them a little closer to school that we would like and going off without washing his hands or really without perfect clothes for this weather (he wore a new short-sleeve short Stephanie had bought him for Easter to court (plus had his old winter jacket). But he came back to mention that he was still interested in spending the night at Pablo’s (you’ll recall I reminded him that Samantha will have school Wednesday). We have mixed feelings about some of this because – as I mentioned – we kind of liked having Vincent around. Being able to go out will help him get more exercise, and hopefully he’ll still find time to do his 30-45 minutes of school work per day four days a week and maybe even look for a job. Our month of having Vincent back is apparently over. Hopefully, the better habits he developed especially in the past month about being more cooperative at home and even doing some stuff with us will continue a little bit. Now, he not only has the experience of doing stuff with us and getting along with us again, but he also has this de facto supervision we have hanging over him a little. The lawyer said – I’m still learning new things everyday, at age 49, getting a little wiser, and I’m sure you are too, to Vincent. May it be so.

Thanks to Stephanie for hanging with Vincent when I was ready to give up and for arranging for the mental health inquest and persuading Vincent to go to Jodi Klein, for all of the professionals at Kosair and Wellstone and others (Jodi Klein, Dr. Knox) for helping with Vincent – and Mr. Mazzoli and Mr. Cox, to Grandma Martha for helping us connect with the lawyers, and for many friends and other family members who provided advice, support, and prayers (including our pastor, Jane) during this difficult time. Good work also, Vincent, for hanging with (and staying calm during) the week of in-patient treatment, the four weeks of house arrest, and the two court appearances. With a year of informal probation, seven plus classes still to finish, and no job yet, Vincent isn’t out of the woods yet. But he’s a lot closer now.

(Vincent and Stephanie went today to get him a bank account separate from ours, and he still needs to register for the would-be draft. Stephanie also got a root canal this morning. Grandma is also trying to get used to (apparently) losing another of her portfolios, the one that gives her a chance to find equivalent scores for several different standardized tests.)

Belated happy birthday! Enjoy and be responsible with your freedom, and stay in touch!

-- Perry

Birthday

After I'd gotten back from presbytery meeting and errands and Stephanie had gotten back from tutoring, Culture Club, and a training in a new system, Stephanie, Vincent, and I went to Sakura, a Japanese restaurant in a nearby shopping center that our friends the Hardys had recommended. You might recall that for my birthday and for our Danish exchange student Jon's birthday we had gone to Kobe, a similar Japanese restaurant over the 2nd Street bridge in Jefferonsville, Indiana. Sakura was closer and had a broader menu, though our chef (cooking - as at Kobe - right in front of us) wasn't the same kind of showman and some of our food wasn't as good as at Kobe. We ordered sushi and Stephanie and I shared grilled chicken and scallops, and Vincent had something not on the menu at Kobe - grilled calamari.

We'd also gone out to Japanese for Vincent's 17th birthday - a more sushi-specializing place on Frankfort Avenue, with two of his friends (Aaron and what's his name) (this was instead of the 30 plus kids who were at Vincent's 16th birthday birthday party at Laser Blaze during Thunder two years ago). But a year ago Vincent wasn't on house arrest and was able to see his friends. Half a dozen friends from school and Vincent's father did call today to wish Vincent Happy Birthday. After dinner we went for a walk around the shopping center, bought worms for the turtles, and in the process essentially got Vincent job applications from two businesses we frequent: Feeder Supply (the pet store) and Borders Books and Music (Vincent frequents two different Borders locations, just as we used to frequent the Borders down the street from them in Columbus).

At home an ice cream pie from another prospective employer that we also frequented in Ohio - Graeters - and presents awaited Vincent. Apparently this was all a little of a surprise even though I feared that Vincent had figured out one of the presents. Stephanie put candles on Vincent's ice cream pie, that the Graeters manager had decorated, and Vincent had no trouble blowing them out.

In fact, I had a lot more trouble cutting the pie than Vincent had blowing out the candles. I ate too much, but it was good - cookies and cream with three oreo cookies on the top.

Vincent opened cards/notes from Aunt Penny and her family and from Grandma Martha - plus a box, card, and gifts from Meemaw Nancy and Papa Bob.

The pants and three shirts/sweaters that Meemaw sent seemed to fit (while a shirt I had bought Vincent in Guatemala was unfortunately too small - and I had really agonized about the size).

But a top gift was something Vincent had wanted for a couple of years and he had asked to get several weeks ago at the Target in Clarksville, IN (partly because a couple of years after being released they're stil very hard to find anywhere). I had said - correctly - that we couldn't afford it. But later that evening I had went and gotten the next to last Nintendo Wii gaming system as a birthday present for Vincent.

You'll recall that Vincent was essentially not allowed to play video games for most of his time in high school. He's had a series of Nintendo game systems, and most of the games he has can move up from the Nintendo Gameboy systems to this Wii system. Two recent games, however - Guitar Hero: Aerosmith and a generic Dance Dance Revolution - both Christmas presents - we got in versions that only work with his old Sony Playstation gaming system. Already, Vincent wants new games, but he may have to get a job to pay for that (he has gotten one check for his birthday - plus payment of legal fees). The basic Wii comes with the five-sport Wii Sports and uses a moveable controller to mimick sports actions. Vincent and we first tried Wii bowling which I have to confess I wasn't bad at.

Vincent then set up an "identity' with a name (Vince) and facial features (see below).

Vincent and I then tried Wii Tennis, which I liked. Lastly before going to bed, Vincent tried Wii baseball, which seemed OK.

Then Vincent went to bed and I started blogging. Stephanie was already asleep on the couch. Tomorrow is a big day. Stephanie goes to the endodontist at 7:45 a.m. and will probably have her first root canal (which will then probably be followed by our dentist drilling off half her tooth - which has bothered her for more than six months - and replacing it with first a temporary crown and then a permanent one - perhaps with the root canal coming against the advice of our dentist). Then Vincent goes for his big court appearance, at 1 p.m., immediately before which his lawyer will attempt to negotiate a plea agreement for Vincent with the prosecutors which the lawyers and we hope will not lead to Vincent having to plead guilty to anything. After that, Vincent hopes to be off house arrest and be able to visit/pal around with friends like those who called him (including a friend of his who's a bit of a delinquent like him - who also exited Brown this year, like Vincent - but who nevertheless has apparently managed to finish all of his on-line classes (unlike Vincent who's just about to finish his first of eight he's slated to take this year)). Later this week, we hope, Vincent will take and pass his Western Civilization final exam and will start job-hunting - even in this difficult job market - in earnest. We've enjoyed this 3 1/2-week period in which Vincent was not gallavanting around instead of working on school work (instead he was sleeping, watching TV and videos, and playing video games at home instead of doing school work) and we got to see him more and he was willing to do some stuff with us (and he was in a better mood - perhaps due to medication and counseling). (It was a bit like when Vincent was five, Stephanie said - or, as I put it, we got Vincent back for a little while.) We'll see if this all comes to a screeching halt after tomorrow - if the house arrest ends. As I mentioned, I've reminded Vincent that just because the house arrest doesn't mean that he can't still hang out with us some times. Either way, it doesn't seem that - even with his 18th birthday and even if the house arrest is lifted - that Vincent still seems gung ho about quickly moving out. (he tried to get our endorsement of him spending the night at someone's house Tuesday night - I told him we don't really know what will happen with the house arrest and - besides - it's a school night for almost all of friends - although Vincent implied that he'd at least let us know what he was doing rather than simply doing it and us finding out after the fact. ) (It also remains to be seen whether he and his friend will revert to the pattern of the last 3-4 months before the house arrest - of him hanging out at her house all of the time except for the few times she visited us.) We'll see if Vincent stays somewhat civil and cooperative whether we've dropped our dream of kicking him out (even if he doesn't get a job and make a monthly utilities contribution and even if he makes only very slow academic progress). (Either way, I can now figure out how to recycle an Ohio domestic law book I ordered about five months ago when I thought we might try shifting custody of Vincent to his father.)

Let's hope for appropriate, safe, and relatively pain-free dental procedures for Stephanie and a successful, not too too stressful court appearance by Vincent and his lawyer (and I guess let's hope for the end of the house arrest even though I kind of enjoyed it).

-- Perry

Friday update

We finally reached Vincent's lawyer, who said he'd talked with his law partner (pictured above) - and the two of them now recommended against a full-scale assault to get visit "supervised visitation" for just one week before the next court date (April 21). Instead, the partner, Mr. Cox, is going to check in informally with one of the prosecutors and see if they object. If they don't, one of the lawyer will drop by without us to ask the judge to amend the order. Otherwise, rather than risk irritating the judge, we'll just wait until April 21 to take all of this up and Vincent will have to make it one more week without seeing him. Vincent and Mr. Mazzoli also chatted for a short while after I had finished talking with him.

Incidentally, if I interpreted material on the Web correctly, Vincent's lawyer is the son of metro Louisville's longtime Italian-American Democratic Congressperson (who Republican Anne Northrop replaced for 10 years) and represented the bar owners who fought successfully not to oust the city's new smoking ban a couple of years ago but to include the race track Churchill Downs in that smoking ban. It also appears that his partner is representing the former University of Louisville education dean accused of misusing grant money.

We're supposed to hear from one of them early this coming week.


-- Perry

Surprises

After Vincent went with us to a movie Friday night and to the gym Saturday night, we weren't able to talk Vincent - still home under "house arrest" - to go to pizza and games night at church youth group Sunday afternoon. But it turned out that his father surprised him by calling and saying he was on his way south with his parents - who apparently are trying to return to Lakeland, FL. Vincent's father has been living with his parents for a couple of years outside of Columbus. But now his parents - neither in great health - are headed out on their own. Vincent's father said he has a roommate lined up, but I'll be surprised if he can stay in that house. Anyway, we've always suggested he come down to take Vincent's out to dinner, and so he and his parents did - Vincent apparently suggested one of only two Golden Corral buffet restaurants in Lousiville. They tried to go somewhere afterwards, but that didn't work out, and so Vincent returned home at 8:45 p.m. with two early birthday present pairs of shoes that apparently didn't fit. We chatted briefly including about the death of Vincent's former stepmother in a car accident, her child, and Vincent's half sister, whom Vincent's father hadn't seen in a couple of years. And then they were off on a dark, rainy night - driving straight through to Florida? Vincent's father said he might be back in a couple of weeks - or maybe he'd stay down in Florida.

Vincent had his weekly counseling session scheduled for Monday lunchtime. Vincent had engineered a couples counseling session with his girlfriend, who he hasn't seen in the two weeks of the house arrest. Her mother had called Sunday night to find out where she should go. But apparently Samantha's mother had second thoughts about pulling her out of half a day of school for someone else's 45-minute counseling appointment. Stephanie said Vincent seemed upset to get there and find Sam not there. But perhaps he'll reschedule an appointment so it's after school. Coming up soon: Vincent's Tuesday, April 21 court date, one day after his birthday. In the mean time, we've got to call Vincent's lawyer to find out if conversations with the prosecutors are going anywhere.

-- Perry

House arrest

After some confusion about how to spell Vincent’s last name, when our appointment was (it was supposed to be at the Jefferson County (KY) Hall of Justice [pictured above] at 1 p.m. today), and where Vincent’s lawyer was when they called Vincent name, Vincent, Mr. Mazzoli (pictured below), and the two of us went into a hearing room with a judge and a few other court personnel (after waiting for just about half an hour). Because this is a juvenile case, it is not public, and so there are not a bunch of people in there and one case is heard at a time. Judge Prather (sp?) wanted Vincent to be “detained” pending a real hearing date – perhaps Tuesday, April 21. Mr. Mazzoli objected, citing Vincent’s lack of previous record, having made arrangements with the school, etc., and so the judge agreed to “house arrest.”

This is more than Mr. Mazzoli was expecting, but he laid low to fight another day. He said he will speak with his partner to see whether it’s worth trying to work with the county attorney’s office to get that lessened. He did also say if Vincent did fine with that, it would be another feather in his cap – a la Wellstone – for when the case came up for real. In a way, Vincent already seemed prepared for this, in that he talked about getting a job in part so that he would be able to go back and forth from a job. However, now, Vincent is supposed to stay at home except when going to school or work (or church or doctor’s or counseling – we have to ask about that)? Vincent is not supposed to see friends anywhere – not at his home, their home, or anywhere else – even if we are there (no supervised visitation with his girlfriend). Vincent is not really even supposed to go out for a walk without us, it seems. We’ll see how this works out. We essentially get stuck enforcing this. In fact, to an extent this supposedly gives us the authority we wish we had in that Vincent can’t really go most places without us (since his school is at home anyway). We’ll see how this goes with Vincent’s state of mind. As you know, he can be rather volatile and he wasn’t in a particularly good mood about this afterwards. Unlike Wellstone, he will at least be able to talk with his girlfriend, Samantha, and other friends – and the lawyer suggested even Web cam-ing/Skype-ing with her so they could “see” each other.

Vincent also said his English portfolio has supposedly been sent to one of the alternative schools he was going to sent to, and so we have to try to track this down and retrieve so he and Jefferson County High School can get it.

We probably need to find out if Vincent is allowed to go to counseling down the street without us (probably), go with us to look for a job (Odd Lots – he said) and go there on his own without us if he gets one (probably – but this is a terrible job market and so he can’t count on getting a job applying to just one or two places), go to church youth group without us (probably), or go out to walk our dog without us (probably not). We’ll see what happens. Perhaps Vincent will even get some school work done.

-- Perry

Choices

Vincent came into town this afternoon to meet Stephanie and me and two different lawyers (Stephanie and Vincent pictured above waiting for the first lawyer). First off was Mr. M., the most recent lawyer who I talked on the phone with (one of three lawyers recommended by another church lawyer friend who called Monday). He was no-nonsense and quickly got us talking about the sequence of events behind the incident that got Vincent suspended and to be charged. He did a good job of engaging Vincent and – like the lawyer we’ve got an appointment with Friday but whose appointment we may now cancel – seemed pretty well versed/ experienced in criminal law and some in juvenile. He had tried to get us to see his legal partner too, who he said was even more familiar with juvenile issues, but this other lawyer must have been busy. It was a beautiful day and a nice walk down Main Street to the law firm office, next to the Louisville Bar Association. Mr. M. – who’d been more direct and being willing to talk with us for free one on one – also copied some paperwork related to the case and seemed prepared to take it on. The price tag, however ($1,500), is not at all small.

We then drove two blocks down the street, got out next to the Hall of Justice where we were 2 1/2 weeks ago to get Vincent’s mental health inquest warrant and where all three of us will be again this coming Monday for Vincent’s arraignment. We walked through the square and then took an elevator up to the 14th floor, where – after a while – another church lawyer friend greeted us and introduced us to one of her partners. We met with Mr. L. in a beautiful conference room with windows looking out on the south end of downtown and beyond. He was obviously exhausted from preparing a civil trial that had started and ended earlier in the day – and so he had ended up having to wait for us – where McDonald’s (?!) was his client. Mr. L. was obviously smart and creative, but less well versed in criminal and especially juvenile law. Having just come from the other guy, we were pretty up front about being shopping, which may have set a different tone. He was fine to talk with, but talked more with us than Vincent, doing less to engage Vincent. He had looked up some interesting case law connected with the case. He and our friend had obviously talked about a more favorable financial arrangement for us – flat fee or hourly rate, which ever ends up being lower. A smart, nice guy, but maybe not the perfect fit for Vincent and this charge. Vincent had already left the first office saying he wanted that guy (though he acknowledged that our second friend had helped us out). The third guy I picked off the Internet. He talked a lot with me on the phone and clearly knows a lot about juvenile and criminal court – even the exact charge Vincent will get (and he charges half as much as the first guy).

Afterwards, we walked to Fourth Street Live (pictured far below) and had -after listening briefly to a man play a bagpipe - a St. Patrick’s Day dinner at J. Gumbo’s, the Cajun chain. It felt like Derby week, with lots of people out in the 70 degree weather. Later Vincent stopped at his girlfriend’s and Stephanie and I returned the rental car and picked up the Camry and Vincent and I began sniping a little at each other.

As I’ve mentioned before, all of the lawyers have stressed the importance of Stephanie having put Vincent in Wellstone and him following up on behavioral health treatment. Some of them also stressed that Vincent’s demeanor in court will be key. Will he be able to smile politely and look respectful as judges and prosecutors lecture him? We’ll see. Mr. M. joined us in urging Vincent not to hang around near school – since, ultimately, the school may have to sign off on any plea deal whoever Vincent’s lawyer is tries to arrange, and if he’s irritated them by not staying far away from school, that could doom him. The lawyers talked about Vincent trying to avoid even a third degree misdemeanor charge, and this taking up probably three court appearances (plus later efforts to expunge the records). Apparently because Vincent is almost 18 any plea deal may involve Vincent essentially being on probation for a year, during which he must continue with treatment, etc. (and probably school) and not get into trouble in any other way. I hate disappointing people and hate having to make choices, but we’ll probably go with Mr. M., high price tag and all.

Up next: key dental work for me Wednesday, a Toastmasters meeting, a dentist visit for Vincent, parent-teacher conferences for Stephanie Thursday, and probably some calls back to these lawyers from me.

-- Perry

Round one

Stephanie, Vincent, and I went to see the court worker today (Stephanie and Vincent pictured above in the waiting room). The woman we saw was an African American woman who turned out to be very sweet. She ended up sharing with us about her bout with a brain tumor last year. However, some of her news was shocking. We thought she’d have discretion to divert Vincent to an alternative program. Instead, she said the county attorney’s office had checked a box meaning Vincent’s case was headed to court no matter what happened today. We set an appointment for next Thursday, but then changed it to Monday in a week and a half, when Stephanie has spring break and so doesn’t have to miss work. Suddenly, then, - with Vincent headed to see his girlfriend – we went back to my office and started working the phone and Internet to find a lawyer. It was tough late Friday afternoon, but we ended up with an embarrassment of riches: We called four lawyers from church and got recommendations from two, including one person who called back and we scheduled an appointment with. Before that, I found someone on the Internet (?!) who specializes in juvenile criminal defense work and said he actually called in a bomb threat to his college when he was just a little older than Vincent (and wound up in jail) – but today if someone did that they might not be able to ever become a lawyer (something Vincent has in fact expressed some interest in). So now we have appointments with two different people and calls in to a lawyer from church who actually does some of this kind of work and a call into someone else recommended by a different lawyer from church. Another one of the church lawyers called back this evening while we were in a (three-hour) movie. Some of these lawyers may charge by the hour, but many may charge a flat fee – which could range from $750 to well over $1,000. Both lawyers we made appointments with said a key thing is to try to get Vincent’s record expunged. The Internet lawyer sounded more like a lawyer – imagining different features of the case that might exonerate Vincent (mental health problems; the prosecutors may have trouble producing Vincent’s former classmates as witnesses). The court worker was more impressed with things that seem more significant and substantive to us: Vincent has changed schools and is pursuing (perhaps) graduation and Vincent went to inpatient behavioral health care for a week and is following up with counseling and medication. The Internet lawyer made one interesting suggestion: He encourages his juvenile clients to get jobs and help pay their own legal bills, instead of just relying on their parents. I hate having to make decisions like this (my Baskin Robbins dilemma), and we’ll probably have more lawyers call over the weekend and on Monday. The calling during the movie lawyer may help us vet some more of these lawyers. One complicated thing is that the church lawyer who does this sort of thing we think doesn’t like Vincent, which could complicate things. Besides costing us a fair amount – when we may be getting a new engine for the Camry also – this involves getting us out of work a bunch at a time when everyone is worried about their jobs. Between the court worker and the two lawyers I talked with, it seems while Vincent’s case is going on or later, besides going to juvenile detention, he could wind up in some kind of house arrest with or without a bracelet where he would be supposed to be home or with us or at work or school only.

-- Perry

Reprieve

Stephanie got a call back from the IN Department of Education today during school (IN state capitol and state government office complex in Indianapolis pictured above). They said she had a short, two-year IN teaching license because she had come from out-of-state and not participated in a mentoring program. But Stephanie was in a mentoring program when she taught in FL, and she had provided the IN school district with that information before. If she clears up some paperwork like that, Stephanie will apparently not have to take two graduate-level education classes within the next month to keep her license and her job. Instead, she will get her two-year license extended into a five-year license. She should also get credit for continuing ed-type programs she goes to periodically with colleagues in Indianapolis and Bloomington. She’ll still need to take some classes – hopefully sooner rather than later – but she may be able to plan them out so they configure with an effort to earn 30 more graduate-level credits, so she can get a raise. So, once she’s taken care of the paperwork, the pressure is probably off. Not so with boy, who has that 2:30 p.m. appointment Friday with a court worker about the possible terroristic threat charge. Vincent did OK at the meetings earlier this week, but he hasn’t impressed us with the amount of school work he’s done since then ((probably only a few hours worth at most) or walking the dog (the dog had an accident today). Hopefully, tomorrow will go more like the meetings earlier this week than the rest of the week.

P.S. It seems possible that the dates just announced for summer school at Stephanie’s school (8 a.m.-12 noon June 15-26) may complicate possible Mom knee surgery plans.

P.P.S. Mom went to her orthopedist today (even though she’s sick). Reported Mom: “[Dr. Fahey] says that, as long as I am getting along so well having had one knee done, there is no reason to do the other knee unless/until it gets worse. Good news!”

So maybe there’s no scheduling conflict with Stephanie’s summer schedule and I’ll have to find some other way to spend the furlough (though it may still involve being in Florida).

P.P.S. Stephanie reminds us how weak Mom was after the surgery last summer and wonders whether she'll be strong enough to recover from surgery if it's a couple of years from now.

-- Perry

Looking ahead

I talked with two people tonight at church events with insight into what might await Vincent Friday. Paul, a lawyer, said that Vincent might be diverted into community service and expected to write an essay explaining why he now believes what he did was wrong. I also talked with Chris, who used to work as a social worker with kids going through the court process. Chris said that once upon a time what Vincent said might just be considered a prank. Today, however - all the more so with several shooting sprees in this country and around the world this past week - "terrorist threats" might ultimately land one in Guantanamo Bay. Our pastor, Pastor Jane, also volunteered to go to court with us Friday. One of them - Chris or Paul - also said Vincent could use a character witness (like a pastor?). Ultimately, we might need a lawyer (and Paul is one of several in our church - and may be the one with the most kind of experience like that). I mentioned to Chris that Vincent had been in in-patient mental health care for a week, and Chris suggested that it'd be great if we had some paperwork from professionals at the health care facility saying they were releasing Vincent because they judged him to be neither a threat to himself or others. Both Paul and Chris asked us the million dollar question - exaclty where are we to go on Friday afternoon - whcih I had to confess I didn't remember. Where we go - whether it's to the Hall of Justice or some place less forboding - indicates to an extent what we might expect, they suggested. And the answer is . . . neither the Hall of Justice nor the other building they mentioned - It's the Republic Building (pictured above) - at 4th and Muhammad Ali - near 4th Street Live