Today’s traffic Court was flabbergasting. I was stopped at 12:28 AM on July 8, after flying back from two weeks vacation in Washington DC, for a “California stop”. The young Officer who cited me sat there in Court and blatantly lied about what I’d said to him during the traffic stop: if he wasn’t lying, then he has something terribly wrong with how he hears what suspects are saying! Officer Steven Wilbon’s testimony said I had cussed him out during the stop, using foul language as part of the way I talk.

When I use cuss words, it is only ever to discuss their inapplicability to effective communication. Under much more stressful conditions than a traffic stop, I have not been a cusser since going through naval training. Addie was forever telling folks how I’d picked up swearing during boot camp in 1974, and then stopped when I was assigned to a Sea Command in 1976. Even when Addie was dying, I didn’t cuss out the doctors who were improperly treating her; it’s just not how I handle stress or get things done. Anyone who’s seen me get stressed knows how I become cold and fiery eyed, sometimes getting tearful and silent. My voice becomes a whip, rising but becoming a steady beat to get my position across. As it happens, I didn’t even become angry enough for that to happen that night. The cross Country flight home from DC had been too tiring for me to want anything but to get inside to bed. I decided almost at once that I’d take up my arguments at Trial, rather than waste time on a young fellow who was appeared at first to just be repeating phrases that he’d learned in training, completely recalcitrant. Even so, I had to write up the incident for my defense before I could get to sleep, and extending to incident was far from my mind!

The Judge today found against me, saying that neither he nor I could be absolutely certain that my car wasn’t creeping during the several seconds while I was stopped and reaching down to pick up and stow my umbrella off the passenger side floor. I don’t know how that logic balances with the concept of “preponderance of evidence,” but it is how Portland judges found in every case I’ve watched at the PortlandCourthouse. The false statements by Officer Wilbon were wholly unnecessary, and surprising to say the least, but ignored by the Judge. At least I got my day in Court!

I spoke with Officer Wilbon after the Trial. He appears to be unrelenting as to the accuracy of his statements in Court. If he has such a slanted view, he is a danger to the public. He apparently took the statements from an affidavit he’d sworn out on the day of the incident. He had been concerned that I demanded his name and a contact number for his Precinct, as I’ve been trained to expect of a suspect. He also converted my statement that ,”that’s not how I was trained to approach a suspect,” that he put in the affidavit that I’d said “you should let me off, as a fellow officer;” which is clearly not what I’ve been trained to EVER say!

I left him today after asking him how I should file a complaint that he made false statements in court. He said to make the same contact, his immediate Supervisor, as he’d provided when I demanded it after the incident. I asked him to speak with his Pastor as well as his Supervisor about what he’s done, but his response was an energetic denial and claims to be a God fearing and honest person. Before we parted, I took and shook his hand, and said “Good luck, son.”