Mark's and my court appointed divorce mediation was today at the main West Palm Beach Courthouse. It wasn't scheduled until 2:30 PM, so I went to work in the morning.
I decided to check the court docket to see if anything had been updated on Mark's case.
Of course, when I saw this I went into an instant panic. It meant that on Tuesday, in 5 days, the judge would decide of Mark would be out on bail.
I wrote an email to the states attorney. She let me know that they were about to contact me as they had just received the same information. She emailed me again:
I immediately called Susan, my victims advocate. She assured me that she would be there with me at the hearing. I told her I had moved back to my house a few days ago. And, though my restraining order states Mark cannot be within 500 feet where ever I am, it does not specifically name the house on the order. He does own the house too.
Susan suggested I come down to the courthouse to have my restraining order modified to include "exclusive use of the house." So, I followed Susan's advice and ran down to the courthouse and filled out the forms. The clerk told me that normally there would be a hearing. But, since the judge awarded me an indefinite restraining order the judge would probably just rule on it. She told me to call in the morning.
I got back to the shop around 12:30 PM. I knew I had to be at my attorney's office by 2 PM. So, I grabbed some lunch, finished some work, then went into the bathroom to refresh my makeup. At the time I wasn't sure if Mark would be in the room with me. I don't care what he thinks of me, but my pride wouldn't allow me to go looking dis-shoveled
Curtis came out of his office when I arrived and we drove in his truck to the courthouse. I had butterflies in my stomach. Curtis could see I was stressed and assured me that Mark and I would never be in the same room. That did help my stress somewhat. We got to the courthouse and walked to the halls to our mediation office. Mark's new attorney Jennifer rode up in the elevator with us.
The mediator told me she needed to "give me the spiel" when she came in the room. The spiel went like this, "You have heard of what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas? That is what is going to happen here. Everything you say in mediation is privileged and confidential, especially offers of settlement or compromise. No one can be forced to admit or repeat what they said in mediation unless you are planning a crime or abusing a child. I am bound, as well as your attorney to report the future crime or abuse. You legally may not leave this room and discuss with anyone the agreements made here today."
That being said, you will understand why I cannot post what was discussed at the mediation. What I can say is after 2 1/2 hours (paying my attorney $400/hour) at that mediation, the few things we did accomplish all benefited Mark. I can add that there were things asked by the mediator to me, questions from Mark, that scared me. I actually started to cry and Curtis grabbed my hand and had to hold it, because I was so upset. I can also say the reason we couldn't possibly agree on the items discussed during mediation is because he and his attorney believe strongly he will be getting out on bond on Tuesday. My attorney and I are praying he will not. Whether or not he gets out determines many things for the time being. His trial isn't for four months.
In the end the day was pretty unproductive and very expensive for me. But, at least it is over. Next up, the bail hearing.
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