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Page 5 of 98
JUDGE
You tried your best?
PETER CROSS
Better than that.
DA
Your honor, rules are rules!
JUDGE
You know as well as I do that I have some latitude with In Pro Per cases.
Peter Cross notices that there is a photograph on the judge's desk showing him with two young boys who appear to be his children.
PETER CROSS
Your honor, are those your children?
JUDGE
Yes.
The judge turns the photograph to face away from Peter and the DA.
DA
May we have the dismissal, your honor?
JUDGE
Mr. Cross, tell me why I shouldn't do that.
PETER CROSS
If you dismiss my case because of some failure of mine to comply with the strict letter of every legal rule, I'm dead in the water. I might as well put on a pair of Mafia concrete shoes and take a long walk off a short pier. My doctor says I have a "severe adjustment disorder" and he has agreed to testify as an expert witness for me. I've fulfilled the intent of the rules to the best of my ability even though I might have been a bit late. I object because the nature of my illness makes me unable to function normally. You may be expecting too much of me, your honor. I've been crippled and you should not hold me to the same standard of care as you would for an attorney! Dismiss me on that basis and I'll have good grounds for an appeal !
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