nightmare in Oklahoma....part 2

David and I are now on our way to Lawton, and that 30 minute drive took forever.  remember at this point all we know is Matt has been arrested for assault with a deadly weapon and nothing makes any sense.  all I can think is I need to see him, there has to be something we do not know.  we get to the courthouse, find the sheriff's dept/jail and in we go.  I tell them I'd like to see my son, and they promptly tell me I can not. you'd have thought they said he's been transferred to Rikers Island already from the way those words, you can not, hit me.  it would seem that he had yet to be processed in, and until he went before the judge, we could not see him.  the judge only does this at 10am and 2pm, and we'd missed the 10am.  plus, there was no guarantee he'd be in the 2pm one, depends on when the arresting deputy would have his paper work filled out, and since they didn't normally do their paperwork until the end of their shift, well, you get the picture.  all of this is being told to us by the Sheriff himself, who seems a little more interested in telling us how Matt is over at the jail and that he is no longer in charge of that because someone thought he wasn't capable of handling it, and maybe they'd have more information.  evidently this still hadn't really sunk in with me because I looked at them as if they had 3 heads and said you don't understand, he has finals today!! then this sheriff, who I would not vote for, looked at me as if I were delusional and said you understand he pointed a gun at two women and then threatened them with a bat! I must have gotten defensive or aggressive at that point, I don't really remember, but I said what??  a bat?? did anyone find a bat?? because I'd forgotten about the softball equipment in the trunk of the car, it'd only been there 4 years. I'm asking what kind of gun he had, and this sheriff takes a step towards me, because I must be out of control and look ever so dangerous, and honestly I can't even remember what he said, just that suddenly he wasn't very nice and I had the quick thought that me making these people mad was not going to help.  anyway, the people in there are directing us to other side of the courthouse and as we are going to leave one of the women there looks at me and says "tuff love mom, sometimes you just have to leave them here so they can understand what they've done wrong".  to this day I still wonder if David hadn't wisely put his hand on back and helped me move towards the door if I wouldn't have ended up in a cell next to Matthew.

we go to where Matt is being held and of course they tell us we can't see him, that maybe he'll be on the 2pm docket and we can see him after.  we are now starting to realize we need help and call a good friend of David's who is an attorney in a neighboring town.  he tells us that we need to find a lawyer there, one of the good 'ole boys who plays with the DA, because if we can get someone in there to talk to the DA before Matt is charged and keep him from being charged with a felony it will help. it's politics and if you don't play, then you pay the price. 

we were given a couple names of local attorneys but no one was in their office, so we left messages.  we hung around until 2 to find out if Matt made it on the docket, after discovering he didn't and that he would have to stay overnight and that I could not see him, again, you can imagine how hearing those words hit me.  we still didn't know what happened, why he did this, if he's admitted to anything.  and, we still have no lawyer.  we come back home, because there is nothing else we can do, but wait.  I went back to the office, talked with my boss and he said go home, I'll make some calls.  about 15 minutes later I get a text from him telling me a lawyer would be calling.  and he did, David talked to him and the lawyer said he would take the case or he could contact someone in Lawton for us.  we decided to go with the attorney from Lawton because he was there and because he charged less. if we only known then what we know now, we'd have spent the extra money.  anyway, by now it's after 4pm, this lawyer says I'll take the case, but before I go to the jail and talk with Matt you need to pay me a retainer and in cash. now we are in a mad rush to get to the bank to take out CASH and get it to this man before 5pm so he can go and talk to Matt to make sure he hasn't confessed to anything.  by the time we got there the lawyer had already spoke to Matt, he said Matt hadn't admitted to anything and that Matt is saying these women were following him and he had called 911 for help.  so now we are really confused, because this is the first we heard of him calling 911. it would take to long to go over all the attorney said, I can tell you he was more interested in telling us who all he had defended and about how much he was going to charge.  His price was given and he stated that this is what it was going to cost us for him to represent Matt and that included a trial with only the judge presiding, but if it were a jury trial then he would need to charge us extra.  All that was agreed up, a document signed, and his words were "this is an open and close case and I love taking cases I know I can win!"  now remember, he gave us his price, that will be important later.

as we are driving back home, I guess it all hit me, I looked at David and said we just paid a man who defends child molesters money to try and keep Matt out of jail, what is happening?  the lawyer did tell us he'd call and let us know if Matt was going to get on the 10am docket, he knew Matt had finals and would try to get him on it.  he also told us not to be there tomorrow when Matt went to court, that he'd call us after.  I must have looked a little shocked at that because he told me that it wasn't something I'd want to see.  that Matt would be brought in to court in the orange jail suit and handcuffed.  I remember thinking that I must be dreaming, this could not possibly be real. how could this morning Matt been talking about being ready for his finals, how last night we were sitting together laughing about the mother son teams on fear factor, and now he is spending the night in jail.

by now we are back home, I've not talked to Matt, he doesn't know that they will not let us see him, he doesn't know we are doing everything possible to get him out.  yes, he has seen the lawyer, but he hasn't seen me.  I can't eat, there's no sleeping, and morning is here. I've been praying for the last 20 hours, non-stop.  I'm sure God was wanting Matt to be on the 10am docket so I'd let Him have a break! we are not planning to go to court, because  the lawyer told us we didn't want to see him that way.  9am and no word from the lawyer, finally a little after 10am they call, Matt will be on the 2pm docket. by now it has been over 24hrs and he has missed 2 days of college finals.  they tell us we can pick him up sometime after 3pm and suddenly I think no, no I am not going to wait here, no, I am not going to let him go to court and not see us there, just simply NO.  the thought of him feeling all alone is much worse than anything I could possible feel by seeing him with handcuffs on.  it was the right decision to make, but nothing can prepare you for that sight.  We were sitting on a bench, outside the elevators, Kristin and her mother were there too.  The elevators open and one by one the men who are on the docket start coming off, in orange jumpsuits, their hands and feet are cuffed, they are chained to each other. they shuffle out, chains clanking. like hardened criminals on a chain gang.  Matthew was number 6 of 9, and as he came off the elevator and saw me, he immediately looked at the floor. you could tell he was ashamed, and all I wanted to do was hug him and tell him I loved him, but couldn't. still to this day I do not know how I managed to not pass out, all dramatic like you see in the movies... the hand goes up to your forehead and you just swoon!  wouldn't that have been something.  but, I didn't pass out, I didn't fall apart, and I kept looking at Matt, waiting for him to look up and make eye contact so I could mouth to him, it's going to be ok. 

everyone in there had to go through the reading of their charges and pleading and so on.  Matt plead not guilty, we were not sure what he was pleading not guilty to, just that he plead not guilty.  that part is over, now we just wait for him to be released, and thankfully, we did not have to post bail.  so, downstairs, outside and around the building we go to wait, and wait, and wait.  thankfully, it was a nice warm December day.  finally Matt comes out, and we get to talk to him, and this is where it gets interesting.

when the police showed up at the clinic, Matt thought they were there because he'd called for help. so when this deputy got there and said we'll just let the judge sort it out, Matt thought they were taking him to tell the judge what happened. by this time K's mom has arrived and she is talking with the police officers saying this is insane, to which they agree.  the deputy tells Matt to put his hands behind his back as he pulls out his handcuffs and Matt is in shock!  he says why, and the deputy is all you are resisting arrest!  he has not been read his rights, just handcuffed and put in the car. and now he is in a panic because he has finals in an hour.  it's several hours later when he is told he probably isn't getting out tonight that he says what is going on?? he still hasn't been read his rights, they hadn't told him why he was there, and he honestly though he was waiting to tell the judge what had happened.  that is when they tell him he is being charged with assault with a deadly weapon.  you think his world didn't come crashing down at that moment.  it's not until 9pm that he gets his phone call, only problem is, like many, his numbers are all programed into his cell phone and he doesn't 'know' any of them. since he does not know they will not let us see him, he thinks we are too mad to try and help him. he said part of him didn't think we'd do that, but then again, he didn't know, all he knows is that we just hadn't been there.

we have a copy of the police report.  the report states that these two women claim Matt pointed a gun at them out on the hwy, 10 miles out of town, so they followed him.  they go on to say that they called Oklahoma Highway Patrol and reported it.  that the person who answered the phone told them to follow him!

first of all, if someone points a gun at me, I'm not following them!

secondly, why call the highway patrol and not 911, who just knows that number off the top of their head?

and third, there is no way you can make me believe that someone from the OHP told them to follow this person who just pointed a gun at them!

they go on to say that they followed him through town, because they were told to, until he stopped, and that then he came at them with a bat.  that's when they drove to the police station for help.

ok, am I the only one calling BS on this?

Matt did tell us he got the bat out of the trunk because he didn't know what they were about to do.  while he should have just gone on inside the clinic, because truthfully, what help is a bat if they have a gun, and they were obviously whack-a-doodle! I can certainly understand why he got the bat out, I'd have probably done the same if not more!  but lets be honest here, when dealing with people this crazy, it is best to just walk the hell away! if not run!!

here we are day three of the nightmare, Matt is not being charged with assault of a deadly weapon as there was no deadly weapon, but instead unlawful carry of a weapon.  the bat.  and why this charge, because they had arrested him, although he was never read his rights or anything, they had arrested him, and kept him. they couldn't just let him go and not charge him with anything because then we would have grounds to sue the county.  at least that is what we were told by a jail employee, the lawyer, and someone else that I don't remember.  not only would I have NOT done that, I didn't even know it was possible.

and now, I have the name of these women, and their address. that also didn't make sense to me, how Matthew was given a report that told who filed a complaint against him.  what if he really did pull a gun on them!  so, I creeped them on fb, and saw them posting all this mess about how someone pulled a gun on them and how scared they were.  and now they had people chiming in, including their brother, mouthing how they were going to find this ___ ___ ___ and show him what it was like to have a gun in his face.  did I think they'd do it?  who knows what crazy will do?  we had their address, did they have ours?  we all live in the same small town.

we met with the lawyer, he says it's a " 'open & close case',  we will have no problem winning this.  once I tell the DA you are going to fight this, they will drop the charges, they don't like to lose.  I can't wait to get these two women on the stand, there are so many holes in their story!  I'll get a copy of the 911 call Matt made.  As long as you had other softball equipment in the car, they can't make this charge stick"  

sounds great, right.  finally, some hope, a end to the nightmare. the lawyer, he was the biggest joke of all!

there is just no way to make this a short story, don't know why I thought so.   I will finish it up with my next post though, as this one has gotten way too long.

and on another note, this layout is from the first time we all got together at the big house in TX.  we made a sonic run and somehow I ended up wearing my cherry limeaid.  and somehow, some of you thought it was a perfect kodak moment!  could be why I love you guys!

Thanks for stopping by!