Witness

I received a document in the mail recently. The document was entitled “Writ of subpoena (summons to appear)”. If I understood it correctly, it said that I had to appear at Small Claims Court in three weeks to testify at a hearing. At first, I had no idea what it was about, but when I saw the names of my neighbors, Claude and Geneviève, on the document, I remembered. Last year, from my bedroom window, I was a witness to an incident in the street in front of my house: Claude’s dog bit Geneviève’s arm. I couldn’t believe it! I remember it like it was yesterday.

I almost regret telling Geneviève that I saw everything and that she could count on me for help. It’s really none of my business, and it’s going to cause trouble if I take sides in this whole thing. It really worries me. At first, I thought about not showing up at all. But after reading the document in detail, I realized that it wasn’t like a reminder for a dentist appointment: by law, I have no choice but to go!

Today is the day of the hearing. I was so nervous that I didn’t sleep a wink last night. What if they ask me questions that I can’t answer?

Ok, I’m finally at the courthouse. I found the courtroom, where my neighbors were already waiting. The one who was bitten, Geneviève, came over to greet me, but the other one, Claude, stayed in a corner and glared at me. I sat down. Suddenly, a person in a black robe, seated behind a desk up front, asked us to approach her. She explained that she was the court clerk and that she was going to have us sworn in. My neighbors, another guy who was with Claude, and I took turns swearing to tell the truth. Then the court clerk invited us to sit back down in the public seating area. She repeated this with everyone there. The judge came into the courtroom a few minutes later. She sat at the big table behind the court clerk.

We saw one or two cases before ours. I was happy to get a chance to see how it worked beforehand. Finally, it was our turn. We went to the bench. The judge asked Claude and Geneviève to explain what had happened on the day of the dog bite. Geneviève told her story and then Claude told his. While Geneviève was talking, Claude constantly interrupted her and tried to argue, but the judge got impatient with him and told him to wait his turn.

Finally, the judge asked me to tell her what I knew about the story. I explained as well as I could what I remembered about the incident. She asked me about several details. My memory of the event wasn’t as good as I thought it was. Actually, I realized that I had forgotten many details and after a couple of questions, I even started to doubt some of the things that I thought I had remembered. I should have followed the advice of my cousin Marc, who is a lawyer, and written down my recollection of what had happened. Maybe then I could even have avoided testifying. All the same, it went very well. After the testimony, the judge said that she wanted to take a few days to think about the case and give her judgment. She said that we could leave the courtroom. I went home, but I’ll never forget that day.