Looking back on it now, it’s easy to laugh about it all. Sometimes you just can’t help but laugh at some of the absolute worst things that have happened in your life. I laugh because it’s so absurd just how badly two innocent individuals were treated. I laugh at the officer’s behavior, actions, and overall stupidity. I laugh at how inefficient and corrupt the entire prison system is. I laugh at how bad my Friday night and birthday were. I laugh at how difficult it is for innocent individuals to prove their innocence in a court of law. Sure, it’s frustrating. It’s very frustrating. But externalizing my frustration won’t make matters any better. So I tell the story, I laugh at how terrible it all is and was, and I move on.

There were many things that went our way in this ordeal. We were fortunate in that since criminal charges were leveled against us, it was the state’s burden of proof if the case made it to trial. We were also fortunate to have located a witness from the group of riders we presume the officer was intent on arresting to begin with. And we’re also fortunate to have crossed paths with a prosecutor who was wise enough to not want to bring the case to trial, and instead saw fit to do “the right thing” and dismiss the charges. And of course, I was fortunate to have a girlfriend who knew from the minute my dad called her that I hadn’t done anything wrong and was with me day in and day out to help with the legal research and court case preparations.

But there’s no ignoring all the things that went wrong. My girlfriend, my roommate and I all did enough research and homework to build a strong case. For over a month, it dominated my thoughts. Hours were spent researching traffic law, court processes, speaking with lawyers, and discussing the finer details of our defense. Gone were the free weekends with not a care in the world. Instead, I was an accused criminal, fighting to find ways to avoid an unjust criminal conviction.

While we were able to defend ourselves and prevent having to hire a lawyer, I still spent $125 to retrieve my motorcycle from the impound lot. That’s right, $125 to retrieve my motorcycle from an overnight storage that shouldn’t have happened. Then there’s the special trip several days later to the DPS office to retrieve my motorcycle jacket, gloves, and earplugs. Instead of having the items returned to me upon leaving the jail, we had to leave work to make a special trip during business hours to the main DPS office to claim our items. And for good measure, how about the request for the incident report, which required a $9 money order (no personal check or cash!) and yet another trip to an inefficient government office. Yes, can you believe it? Taking off from work yet again to obtain the police report two weeks after the incident wasn’t as easy as walking in and grabbing it, despite having called ahead the previous day. Can you believe it?

After all is said and done, is there a counter suit in the works? The answer is a firm “probably not.” Based on case history, it doesn’t look as though we would have a solid chance of receiving any sort of retribution for our lost time and money and the emotional roller coaster we were subjected to. Instead we’re left with our records on file at the jail, a riveting story to tell friends and family, and slightly less money in our wallets.

And that’s the way it may have to stay...