Sentencing (continued)

We were ushered into the courthouse by the advocate. As we exited the elevator, the first thing I saw was Kathy Rojas praying with someone. I have always wondered what could she possibly been praying (especially since she knew her son was a guilty pedophile.) Would she actually pray for God to keep secret her son's crimes? As we proceeded down the hallway towards the courtroom I saw Patrick Rojas, Eddie Rojas, and the lawyer huddled in the corner. We went into a side room until it was closer to the start of the sentencing. The courtroom was packed. The judge even had people sitting up in the jurors area.

It was at the courthouse when the prosecutor told us there was a last minute request from Patrick's lawyer for a change of judge. Only the defendant can request a change in the judge. Instead of having a judge that regularly presided over similar types of cases, our case was now going before a judge that routinely sat over traffic violations. Unbelievable? Yes.

Judge Daniel Philips was now presiding over our case. He had literally just been handed our case files, which included a 40-page sexual-psycho evaluation that contained very relevant information. I started to panic a little when the judge stated he would take a 15-minute recess and read the evaluation and then sentence Patrick. After some back and forth between the prosecutor and the defense attorney the judge decided he would listen to the victim statements and reschedule the sentencing for the following week so he could review the evaluation.

To be continued......