PRELIMINARY HEARING

EYE SITE

It was mid morning on Sept. 7 ,1994 that we showed up near the 
required time at the Local Magistrate's office. Our neighbor and his 
son and his wife had arrived before us. We felt it was prudent to wait 
outside while they sat in the lobby. While we were outside, Officer 
Williams came out to talk. He wasn't in a friendly mood. While we were 
all outside, a sports car pulled up and a man got out. Williams 
asked if we knew who it was and we said no. He commenced to identity 
him as Philip Lauer. Williams had this demeanor like we were supposed to 
be quivering. Anyway, WIlliams had gone inside. He had come 
out and stated that a plea to Harassment was being proposed. we 
discussed it and decided against it. There was something to the ritual 
of a hearing that would document the history of us being abused and 
something Karmic about crossing the bridge to sanity based on 
establishing boundaries. We went inside and sat across the lobby 
opposing our neighbor and his entourage. What was interesting is that 
Lenny's daughter-and-law asked him " how was your small aircraft ride". 
She asked in a tone to bring our attention to the question. It spooked 
us a bit since recently there was a small aircraft sort of barn 
storming our house and property. This could have been him. 
 
We were then called into the hearing room to wait for the proceeding. 
There was a hearing before us for , I think Speeding. When that 
concluded we were brought up. Scott was asked to leave the room while I 
testified first. This was all new to me. I had never done this before. 
In fact all this Legal stuff, being sued, reporting a crime was all 
new. Officer Williams, I recall, started the questioning. It was 
obvious that he wasn't comfortable. Remember, he was the Officer who 
told us weeks before that "he didn't approve of the Gay Lifestyle". 
After his conclusion of questioning, Lauer began his . We went through 
all the incidences mentioned in the Police report. What struck me was 
the impression I had gotten by how ill prepared he was. I believe, his 
presentation was very unconvincing and sloppy. I was very in the moment 
and made an effort to answer with clear "yes's" and "No's". Occasionally 
I had to spell a name for the court stenographer that Lauer provided. 
All the time our neighbors body language was miming his arrogance. His 
disbelief of us actually taking a stand was something he never expected 
and seem to be demonstrated throughout the hearing. I kept my eye on 
the ball. Then Scott was called to testify. He wasn't witness to all 
the events that our neighbor was being charged with. So the questioning 
wasn't extensive. There wasn't any elaborate explanation of the 
incidences. All the events were simple. Then the Magistrate made her 
decision to bind the matter over to Northampton County Court. The 
shock was visible on our neighbor and his family. They were in 
disbelief. We suspected that by hiring Philip Lauer, they believed that 
it would be a walk in the park. We were in disbelief. Finally, after 
close to a decade of being harassed on many levels and directions, 
Justice appeared to be on our side. It was a relief and it lifted a bit of the 
burden of carrying the helplessness and vulnerability. The ruling 
gave us a sense of Peace that we believe was stolen for years. We knew 
we were on our own, but not this alone. 
 
Any comments or suggestions?