Dennis Groff, my
lawyer, showed up after his vacation, the night before my hearing. He had this
great deal for me. They were going to reduce the charges of stalking Pfeiffer
to disorderly conduct, if I would plead guilty. He was as giddy as a kid at
Christmas. He had it all worked out.
My reply to that
was NO. I wasn't guilty of anything other than exercising my
constitutional rights. He said they were going to put me in jail for a year. I
told him I didn't care if I had to spend a year in jail in defense of the
constitution. I told him I had an uncle who was shot up at the Battle of the
Bulge, and a cousin who bobbed around the Pacific while the Japanese were
trying to bomb his ship to scrap metal, a friend Teddy Baltezore who got killed
in Nam, not to mention two of my flight crew that didn't make it home and I was
not about to plead guilty to a charge I was not guilty of. He said that was the
best he could do and if I didn't take it, he would not represent me. I told him
I thought that was a good idea and that I didn't want him to represent me. Groff was mad as hell and stormed out. I
thought that was the end of him. WRONG!
Pete Cass, a very
good friend and a man who I had taught first grade with, came right after Groff
had left. We joked at the whole crazy mess and he encouraged me to fight it out
o my own. When I told Pete that Groff had quit and I had fired him, I will
never forget what he has to say. Pete said, I've never seen a man in jail look
so happy."
After my time was
up, Pete went back to Deadwood where he was driving tour bus for the summer and
I went to bed to rest for the next day. Little did I realize what new adventure
I was going to find.