BUSTED DAD GLAD OVER BOY'S CANDOR.Byline: Jesse Hiestand Daily News Staff Writer Just as George Bailey had an epiphany Epiphany (ĭpĭf`ənē) [Gr.,=showing], a prime Christian feast, celebrated Jan. 6, called also Twelfth Day or Little Christmas. Its eve is Twelfth Night. at the end of the 1946 classic ``It's a Wonderful Life,'' Keith Wallace came to terms with his own future after his 3-year-old son turned him in for possessing marijuana marijuana or marihuana, drug obtained from the flowering tops, stems, and leaves of the hemp plant, Cannabis sativa (see hemp) or C. indica; the latter species can withstand colder climates. . ``On the way to the Oxnard holding cell, I thought, this could be the start of a beautiful thing,'' said Wallace, a 25-year-old unemployed construction worker from Ventura. ``You have some fines to pay and some jail time but that's going to be time well spent. ``At least I have direction now,'' said Wallace, who pleaded guilty Tuesday to misdemeanor misdemeanor, in law, a minor crime, in contrast to a felony. At common law a misdemeanor was a crime other than treason or a felony. Although it might be a grave offense, it did not affect the feudal bond or take away the offender's property. By the 19th cent. charges of driving under the influence and child endangerment in exchange for prosecutors dropping drug charges. He was arrested after police pulled him over in Oxnard on suspicion of DUI, and his son handed officers a bag of marijuana he found in the car, telling them, ``Here - bad.'' Wallace was sentenced to 30 days in jail, which he will serve beginning Jan. 5, and pay nearly $2,000 in fines and fees for first-time alcohol offender offender n. an accused defendant in a criminal case or one convicted of a crime. (See: defendant, accused) school and parenting classes he must take with his wife. ``I thought I would be in the jail for the holidays, but the courts were gracious gra·cious adj. 1. Characterized by kindness and warm courtesy. 2. Characterized by tact and propriety: responded to the insult with gracious humor. 3. to let me turn myself in after Christmas,'' he said. As a condition of his three-year probation, Wallace is required to maintain employment. He said he has received several job offers following media reports of his arrest, but has had to tell prospective employers that he will be unavailable until late January. Wallace said he never felt resentment toward his son, who gave police the marijuana as Wallace was being given a field sobriety test after being stopped for speeding along Harbor Boulevard Harbor Boulevard is a major divided street in central Orange County. It runs from Costa Mesa through Santa Ana, Anaheim and La Habra before it ends at Fullerton Road in Rowland Heights just over the Los Angeles County border. on Dec. 17. ``I'm more than glad he did it,'' Wallace said. ``He's a little hero. He's smarter than his dad was.'' In fact, Oxnard police were so impressed with the boy's actions that they pinned him with a ``Junior Officer'' badge. Still, Wallace said he was dumbfounded dumb·found also dum·found tr.v. dumb·found·ed, dumb·found·ing, dumb·founds To fill with astonishment and perplexity; confound. See Synonyms at surprise. when his son, who authorities said should have been restrained in a child safety seat, handed over the bag of marijuana. ``I still don't have words for that,'' he said. ``There was never any anger, but there was that degree of shock. I was on the side of the road and he just pulled it out and I said, `Oh great.' It took a little while to sink in because I had a buzz on.'' |
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