I slept pretty well last night considering I knew Mark's bail hearing was happening this morning. I only woke up once in the middle of the night. It was when I got up at 6 AM that my trouble started. I felt nauseous and started throwing up. I know it is was just stress.
Joe, Pat and I were all meeting at Chris's house at 7:30 AM. Pat didn't show up until 7:45 which made my stomach feel worse. We all were riding together to be at the hearing so we didn't have any choice but to wait. Pat drove us all to the courthouse in his car. We made it just as court was starting at 8:30 AM.
Judge Rapp was supposed to be the judge. He was the judge at Gun Club Hearing back in March that called Mark's message "scary" and gave him no bond. Judge Rapp wasn't there. Another judge was doing the cases today. I was bummed about that.
When we walked in and sat down in the courtroom. Mark sitting over on the left in a row of chairs for the inmates. He was in a blue jumpsuit with big letters that said 4X on the top right side. He was in handcuffs and shackles. He looked "gray" - like he hadn't been in the sun for a very long time. We locked eyes and then I immediately looked away. It was obvious that Mark was shocked to see all of the guys there with me.
The bailiff called the court to order. I started panicking because Jenica, the states attorney, and Susan, my victims advocate had not shown up. All I could envision was the judge calling Mark's case and dismissing it because there was no representation for the prosecution.
Mark is using the same attorney for his criminal case as he is for our divorce. I saw her come in right behind us. Fortunately, the states attorney and my victims advocate both showed up exactly two minutes before Mark's case was called. My stomach was in complete knots.
The judge called Mark's case. The judge asked both the states attorney and Mark's attorney a bunch of questions. The judge was NOT happy with Jenica (the states attorney's responses). He was upset that she did not have the appropriate documents at the hearing. In her defense, Mark had just changed from the public defender to the new attorney about a week ago. The judge didn't want to hear that. He said she still should have brought the documents with her.
The judge apparently is more of an advocate for the accused, or just doesn't like state's attorneys. I am not sure which. But, he really came down hard on Jenica. He scolded her 3 separate times in open court. By now my stomach was ready to hurl.
The judge asked if Mark had a psychiatric evaluation yet. His attorney replied that he had not. This shocked me, because back on March 19th, Judge Rapp had ordered a psych evaluation. I am learning slowly that nothing happens the way it is supposed to in criminal cases. I also am not privy to things behind the scenes. Susan, my advocate, informed me that more then likely the public defender was able to have the evaluation voided back then. Now, this judge is asking for another on Friday the 17th.
The judge told us all to be back in court on Monday the 20th after Mark's psych eval is completed on Friday. He slammed his gavel and it was over. In a way, I am glad it is rescheduled. I am hoping Judge Rapp is back on Monday. He seemed to be slightly more of a victim's advocate.
It took everything in me as we were walking out not to look over at him. I forced myself to keep looking forward and continue to walk out. I did not want to give Mark the satisfaction of knowing all of this is hurting me. It was empowering.
Jenica started explaining what happened when we all got into the hall. The guys were pretty miffed that they had to come back again on Monday. They understood that this wasn't her fault. The judge wanted the evaluation. The states attorney cannot order those. Only the judge and the defense attorney can do that.
The guys moved away and Jenica, Susan and I were talking. Susan asked Jenica why a representative from the North Palm Beach police wasn't there. Mark threatened to kill all of them after all. Jenica seemed shocked to hear that. She didn't know Mark had done that. How can she not know he threatened the police?
It's one thing to threaten my life, my families lives, my co-workers lives. But, it is quite another to threaten the lives of the police department. Courts do not take death threats to police lightly. This made me realize Jenica probably has not read all of the transcripts. It was then I really started to feel sick.
We left the court. The guys told me that Mark had been looking at me throughout the hearing. As I said I looked at him when I got there once. One other time I looked over at him. He was starting at me. I gave him a scowl then looked away and never looked back for the rest of the hearing.
The guys were also upset about the hearing. We all hope and pray that my attorney is better prepared on Monday. If she isn't, Mark could very well get out.
Anyway, we get to do this all over again on Monday after Friday's psych evaluation. This was more like a dress rehearsal. Maybe next time my attorney will be on time. Maybe next time I won't be so stressed since I already know what to expect.
Maybe they won't let Mark out.
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