Witness

Normally I'm use to talking to witnesses to crimes. As a criminal defense attorney, witnesses can be key to my cases and clients. I'm use to working with witnesses. I'm not use to being a witness, at least not until last night.

Last night was memorable for several reason. I had my first girls' night at my new place and had a wonderful time catching up with good friends. Before that though, things got a little crazy. When my first guest arrived, I went outside to meet her, but as I walked into the parking lot, I saw a man chasing his wife to her car, screaming at her, grab her, and pull his fist back to punch her in the face. There was a toddler screaming on the balcony, and another baby already in the car.

So what do you do? Ignore it, reassuring yourself that it's not your problem, that you don't even know these people? Or get involved? I chose to get involved. I started yelling at the man to let go of the woman or I was calling the police. The man let go and took off into his apartment. I walked over to the woman to see if she was hurt or wanted me to call the cops. That's when the man came back, got in my face, and started yelling at me. I really thought at that point that he was going to hit me. He was irate and threatening, but I didn't back down and the big coward did (luckily for me).

In a way, I shocked myself, but I couldn't just stand there, do nothing, and watch a woman get abused. I never would have forgiven myself. And while I'm a little shaken (and scared), I know I did the right thing, and I hope someone would do the same for me if I was ever in that situation.