Maricopa County
Courthouse, Phoenix Arizona; 1993.
I went on trial for
possession of marijuana. This was the marijuana found in my luggage at Sky
Harbor airport 1992.
The chairs in the court room are very comfortable. They are unlike any chair I ever sat in. The chairs I refer to are the chairs for the lawyers. I bet the judge’s chair is the most comfortable of all. The chairs in the jury box were not bad. They were definitely a step or two down from the lawyers chairs and probably more than a few steps down from the judges chair in quality and comfort. When you get stuck in one of those for hours you begin to appreciate how comfortable they are.
My trial did not last a day. When it ended I was taken down
stairs to wait while the jury was out deliberating. No more comfortable chairs. I was given a sack lunch and
put in a cell with two other inmates. One of the guys was not too social. I
can’t recall much about either of them. What I do remember is being asked if I
wanted to get high?
What an odd question to ask someone in a jail cell. Get high in jail while the jury was out deliberating on my drug charges?
“Of course I want to get high”
If ever there was a time needing an altered state of consciousness it
was this time. Right now
When the offer came I wasn’t sure what drug he had but I said yes?
What happened next was as shocking as it was disgusting. Dude went over to the toilet. Dropped his pants. Sat down. Reached into his anus and pulled out a balloon of crystal meth.
OMG
I never expected this. I don't know what I was expecting when I heard the offer to get high? Unsocial guy was quick to weigh in with his commentary on what was going on.
“You gotta be kidding me. Stuck in this fucking place with this mother fucker”
He said to himself loud enough for all to hear.
Dude sat there on the toilet preparing things. He came over
with a couple of lines cut out on his legal pad. He handed me a paper
straw and I snorted a line.
“Hello”
I think I’d been in the jail for six months to that point. No drugs or alcohol in my system. The speed hit me like a freight train coming down out of the high Sierras.
Doing crystal meth in Sheriff Joe Arpaio jail while waiting for the
jury to come back with a verdict on my drug trial. The irony did not escape me.
Sheriff Joe Arpaio has only the best crystal meth in his jail. He must be so proud!
The jury came back fast. I did not get an opportunity to eat my bag lunch. For some reason I lost my appetite. I was taken back upstairs by the guard sent to fetch me. the guard remarked about my energy and attitude, considering the circumstances.
“You seem to be in too good a mood for someone in such dire straits”
“It’s the crystal meth I did down stairs” I told her (lady guard).“It put me in a good mood”
She stopped dead in her tracks. She made me stop too.
I said “I’m just kidding” with a smile. “What do you think, guilty or innocent”?
We began moving again. The deputy said in all seriousness
“Guilty as charged”
Yes indeed. I was found guilty as charged. My sentencing would not
happen for another month.
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