SS20 had court this morning. Well, let me back up...

SS called DH last night and said that the lab results weren't back yet, for the baggie that was in his possession when he was arrested. And also, supposedly the judge his case was assigned to doesn't handle felony cases. So SS told DH that two things were going to happen. First was that when he appeared at 8:30am today, his case would be reassigned to a different court, and he would appear in that court at 1:00pm today. At 1:00pm, the case would be set off for 2 weeks, while they waited for the lab results. He would appear in court again on the 30th of January.

When his case was called in court today, everything was completely changed/different. He did a Rule 11 plea agreement, whatever Rule 11 is. But basically what the plea agreement from the state was is as follows:
1. Felony possession of a controlled substance dropped to misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia- so 2 misdemeanor charges of the same offense.
2. 4 years supervised probation
3. 100 hours community service, with a $60 workers comp fee.
4. Approximately $500 in other fees.
5. 5 more days in jail for a total of 20 days served.
6. 3 months to make his first fee payment and 15 months to pay it off.
7. *added cuz I forgot this* Substance Abuse Evaluation (guessing this goes along with probation, to see what is needed along with the probation.

The judge did get DH's letter, although she only got it this morning, so she had to take a few minutes to read it in court, after she was told the case was going to Rule 11 plea agreement. She nodded while reading it, and then turned to SS and asked him if he had a chance to read it, which he did. She asked SS if he knew why he was in the seat he was in today, his answer was "he chooses the wrong type of friends".

She gave him a very stern/serious talking to, about how this plea agreement was his one and only time for leniency, and he'd never get a deal this easy again, if he doesn't clean his act up. She said she has sympathy for him over what had happened in his past but that he's an adult now and has to take control of his life, make better choices and choose better friends. That it was up to him to become the driver of his life and not let others influence him to make choices that would get him in further trouble. That she hoped this was his only encounter with the court/judicial system. Explained to him that probation services was going to be a great resource to him, to get him the help and support he needs.

Not sure what changed or why but...I guess it's a pretty fair agreement. 4 years is a long time to possibly screw up again!

DH made a comment to me after court about "So we have 5 days to figure out where he's going to live". Oh hell no! I told DH "no, SS has 5 days to figure out where he's going to live". Probation services will have resources for SS to get counseling (hopefully), a place to live and a new job.

On our drive home, DH also commented about SS needing guidance. I reminded him how much guidance SS had listened to in the past, citing the saying "you can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink". We've been trying to lead SS to "water" for 2.5 years but we can't MAKE him do anything he doesn't want to. SS has to WANT to make better choices and has to WANT to choose better friends.

Do I think this is the end of his time in court...no I sure don't. But so far DH is sticking to the "SS is not welcome in our home" stance...we'll see what happens in 5 days though.