Life can be pretty weird at times, right? You try to do something nice, but end up in trouble yourself, and then you even regret doing the good thing in the first place. As unfair as it sounds, it really does happen to people.
Just look at this teen who reported a drunk driver to the cops, but then he was the one who ended up getting a ticket. Apparently, he was driving past curfew while chasing the inebriated fellow. He got frustrated by the unfairness of it all, but Redditors came to his rescue!
More info: Reddit
Sometimes, you just try to be a good Samaritan, but it backfires and you end up in trouble
Image credits: pvproductions / Freepik (not the actual photo)
The 18-year-old poster was driving home one night when he noticed a drunk driver and called the cops, and they asked him to follow the guy
Image credits: throwaway_18701
Image credits: EyeEm / Freepik (not the actual photo)
After catching him, they asked for the poster's information and found out that he was driving past his 11 p.m. curfew, and gave him a ticket
Image credits: throwaway_18701
Image credits: Ahmet Kurt / Unsplash (not the actual photo)
He could either pay the fine or go to court, and netizens advised that he choose the latter and use a "justification defense"
Image credits: jet-po / Freepik (not the actual photo)
It basically states that a criminal action is necessary and therefore is justified under the circumstances, so he heeded their advice
Image credits: throwaway_18701
Image credits: prostooleh / Freepik (not the actual photo)
He collected all the required evidence and presented it to the judge, who could clearly see that what he said was true
Image credits: throwaway_18701
The tables quickly turned after that, as he was found not guilty, and he would even get his collateral back
Today’s story is quite something, as the 18-year-old original poster (OP) tells us how he ended up in legal trouble after doing something good. It started when he was returning from a friend’s house at night, and he noticed a person ahead driving in an extremely rash manner. He immediately called the cops, and they asked him to follow this driver.
When they arrived and caught the drunk guy, they also asked for OP’s license to get his information, and noticed that he was not allowed to drive past 11 p.m. He said that when he called the cops, it was before curfew, and besides, they’re the ones who had asked him to follow the man. However, it was all to no avail, as the cop said that the law is the law and gave him a ticket anyway.
Now, OP had to either pay the fine or go to court and plead not guilty. Super unfair, right? Even he was thinking along the same lines as he vented his frustration online, so Redditors instantly jumped to his rescue. They said that he should plead not guilty, and in court, he could use a justification defense by gathering all the evidence.
All those wondering about this big legal term, it basically states, “A defendant with a valid justification will not suffer the usual penalty for their actions because in the eyes of the court, the defendant could not have been asked to act any differently in this situation.” The poster must have been delighted with their help and agreed to do exactly what they had advised.
Image credits: Erik Mclean / Unsplash (not the actual photo)
He got copies of his phone’s call log to show the time he had called the cops before curfew, and also got the drunk driver’s criminal complaint. When the court started, the cops tried to manipulate things by claiming that he had been pulled over and confessed that he had broken the curfew. We all know that it was all lies, and OP made sure he told the judge about it.
First, he presented all the evidence that he had gathered, and then he brought up the justification defense. He argued that while driving past curfew was a criminal offense, the driver was more at fault, and he proved that it was the lesser of the two evils. The poster is absolutely right because devastatingly, in 2023, 12,229 people passed away due to drunk-driving crashes.
Quite horrifying, isn’t it? This just proves that the poster did the right thing, even though he had to break curfew for it. Even the court could clearly see it, and he was declared not guilty by the judge. In fact, his record was also completely cleaned, and he was also supposed to get his collateral back via mail after a few days!
I am pretty sure that he must be extremely thankful to the Redditors for the useful advice that they provided. Folks online were also equally delighted to read the update that he shared after 7 weeks. Some joked that they would have loved to see how the cops reacted when he was proven not guilty. Must’ve been fun, right? What are your thoughts about it? Let us know in the comments!
It's all thanks to the Redditors' wonderful advice that he was able to find justice, and folks were delighted for him
