Dennis April 13, 2005 Share Dennis Member April 13, 2005 Ok so yesterday my fiance was arrested for pulling a knife on someone. Heres the thing she never pulled one and didnt have one. The people that called it in are people that have been bothering her for years but everytime we went to the cops they did nothing. Anyway since they found no knife of course can she really be charged for anything? They gave her 6 accounts all together with 3 for each of the people that said she pulled the knife on. The witness that says they saw this gave the same exact story the other 2 people gave but says she doesnt know them. We know for a fact that that is BS. The chares were 1st degree assault 2nd degree assault and wreckles endangerment. now what i dont understand is isnt the wreckles have to do with your car? anyway if any of u guys could help with some advice or anything it would help. Oh and if it helps the state this is in is maryland. i just dont see hwo they can do this with no knife found since there was none. Anyway sorry for thsi being so sloppy im at work and had todo it fast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrX April 13, 2005 Share mrX GC Alumni April 13, 2005 First things first. Do you have statute/code numbers for the offenses? Makes it easier to know what exactly they are charging her with. If this were Ohio, even though no weapon is recovered, you can still be charged for having one. This is an alleged knife which takes away operability issues. Looking at the bigger picture tho, the "evidence" that the State would have does not include the weapon (an initial plus), but does include 3 witnesses. My first question would be whether the witnesses would even show up for a trial. Second, this would be a 3 to 1 story (assuming she doesn't have a record and testifies). Their word against hers. The more saying it is so would be more likely to sway a jury. That's why, in these situations, you have to dig up some dirt or really lock the witnesses into their stories. Get an investigator to look into backgrounds and talk to the witnesses. If they're not telling the truth, their stories will 9 times out of 10 change from what they told the police. Great stuff for the defense attorney. These are tough cases. I had one similar recently. A felony 2 burglary with 2 eye witnesses (a grandmother and her grandson). Both swore they saw my client in the house and identified him in court. But by going after them and showing their stories didn't mesh, we walked away with a "not guilty" verdict. Tough cases, especially since the penalty if you can't shake their story can be great (in this case, the kid coulda gone away for a minimum of 1 year, and max till he turned 21). Just a lotta risks in it, just know that upfront, and get as much info as you can to fight it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magruter April 13, 2005 Share Magruter Member April 13, 2005 Dang dennis this is crazy... ...I wish i could help but i'd probably get you into more trouble. Let us know how things go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dennis April 13, 2005 Author Share Dennis Member April 13, 2005 Well there were also 3 girls with my fiance also. so she has 3 people saying she didnt have a knife. another thing we have gone to the comissoners office about having problems with them and they have both been banned from the mall that we work in for bugging us. they also tried to run her off the road which she reported. so its not like there hasnt been a problem before. if you need more info i can get it later today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chamberlain April 14, 2005 Share Chamberlain Member April 14, 2005 The people that called it in are people that have been bothering her for years but everytime we went to the cops they did nothing. Do the police have any records of you contacting them or even taken a complaint? If so, you can use this against the people charging you since it should indicated that your family have had a negative past history with these people. By presenting the court that this is a vindictive move, it can lower the value of "thier word" which is being used to charge your wife. I do not think you can avoid going to court. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gOOters April 14, 2005 Share gOOters Member April 14, 2005 If she has as many/more witnesses, that changes things, I would think. See what X thinks about that and find the statute numbers...he's doin a little pro bono for ya here Too bad all it takes is a little slander and next thing, you are spending thousands on a defense attorney Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bear^ April 14, 2005 Share bear^ Member April 14, 2005 i dont know much about this dennis but good luck in your fight!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dennis April 14, 2005 Author Share Dennis Member April 14, 2005 X its her first offense...also we have documents with us complaining about them from the comissioner when they tried to run her off the road and also from the mall that has them banned for 3 months fpr bugging her there. now my question is this if she walks away from this with nothing against her can we turn around and sue for pain and suffering ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrX April 14, 2005 Share mrX GC Alumni April 14, 2005 Some States (maybe all??) allow for a suit for malicious prosecution. That's a little beyond what I do. My practice focuses on criminal defense and juvenile issues. You'd hafta speak to a civil attorney for that kinda thing. But it would sound as if something might be there. A professor in college always told me "sue solvent parties". If they haven't got any money, why sue? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dennis April 15, 2005 Author Share Dennis Member April 15, 2005 X thanks for everything one last thing....with what i have given u as far as the story and evidence goes do u think anything will happen to her and if so how major? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrX April 15, 2005 Share mrX GC Alumni April 15, 2005 If this were my client, and with what's here, I'd push for a trial. What you've explained here (as far as what could be used in court) paints a pretty good acquittal picture. If acquitted, nothing happens to her. To know what would happen if convicted, you'd have to know the judge/court in your area to know how they deal with it. Also, the offense level, be it felony or misdemeanor. Obviously, there's always a lot more detail to any situation. For example, you could have witnesses that come across as lying, even when telling the truth. But just the surface of this would incline me to take it to trial. You honestly just need a good attorney to straighten this out for you tho. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chester April 15, 2005 Share Chester Member April 15, 2005 K First of all sorry if im to late i just Noticed this, Uhm I would push for a trial i mean if u have had problems before no judge would take word for word it doesnt work like that i mean i live in Canada so it might be different, I was Charged with Assulting my Girlfriend (I DIDNT DO ANYTHING) and it was her word against mine and the Crown was threating me to take a plea bargain with a fine and Probation which i didnt do nothing so i said no i wanted to go to trial and they dropped it cause there wasnt evidence, So Im sure everything will be fine because its word against word. The only thing that might happen if there is a charge against the person or assulting them cause than they could use the she was the aggresser in this....Well Thats my opinion. Good Luck with Everything Chester Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now