We all make mistakes. I certainly have. Back when I was younger, I used to think a mistake was just a cost of doing business in life. You mess up, you shrug, and you say, “it happens.”

If you’ve spent any time in the courtrooms with me on The Courtroom Files, you’ve seen the pattern. People stand before the judge, they offer a half-hearted apology, and they try to brush off their actions as an unavoidable accident.

Take Natalie Brown, who stood before Judge McNally yesterday. She was originally charged with assault and battery, which was reduced to disturbing the peace. She was given a gift, a chance to keep her record relatively clean. All she had to do was follow one simple rule: a no-contact order. Stay away from the victim’s address.

She didn’t do it.

When the judge asked her what she had to say for herself, her response was telling. “I don’t know if I made excuses. It happens, but I won’t plan on the same thing occurring.”

It happens.

Let me share a Dan-ism with you: Life happens. Flat tires happen. Rainstorms happen. But willfully ignoring a court order and showing up at a house you were legally mandated to stay away from? That doesn’t just “happen.” That is a choice.

Judge McNally wasn’t having it either. He looked at her and said, “You seem like a very nice young lady, but you can’t act like a criminal.”

And there it is. The condition of the human heart is often masked by a polite demeanor. We want to believe that nice-looking people don’t do bad things. The car that takes someone to a forbidden address isn’t the root cause. The choice to get into it and go there is.

Natalie lost her protected status. The judge firmly revoked her Holmes Youthful Trainee Act (HYTA) probation status for ignoring his order. She ended up with 12 months of strict probation, anger management, and hundreds of dollars in fines on the associated charge. It was a heavy price to pay for something that just “happens.”

It is ok, in fact it’s expected, to face setbacks. But don’t grab onto excuses. Instead of treating a setback as a piece of bad luck, treat it as information. Find a better way. Because in the courtroom, and in life, accountability is the only way forward.

Thoughts on this? Please share them with me 🙏

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