Ok...first of all what I did was truly dumb. I was back at school partying and at the bars. We ran into a guy I knew and invited him to come watch the Michigan/OSU game the next day. My buddys house, where I was staying, has no furniture. This guy we invited has a porch full of chairs that they sit out on and drink...folding chairs and nothing more. On the way home we were walking by a series of houses and I asked all my friends which house was this guys. They pointed me to a house that they thought was it. I ran up on the porch and grabbed a few chairs to 'borrow' for the game the next day...hey, we invited this guy to come too.
Next thing I know my buddy goes "Hey wrong house man." I drop the chairs about the same time an under cover cop comes running up to me and arrests me for receiving stolen property! They cuffed me, didn't read me my rights and took me to jail. I tried to explain to this guy and he wasn't buying it...b/c I was intoxicated! So....I go to jail and they charge me $1000 to get out of jail and if I don't show up, they keep that! Well, school is about 3 hours from where I work and they are expecting me to show up for court which I know I have to do! Anyway....needless to say I am upset about this. Max. fine is 10k and 30 days in jail.

Curious: Can this be thrown out b/c they never read me my rights before they cuffed me? Second---what do you guys think the penality will be? Who can afford 10k and 30 days in jail?


I know this it OT...but I need advise!

Thanks,
SHUMAX

 

Well, the fact that they never read you your rights should definitely help you out. But given the fines/ jail time that could be involved, you should probably hire a lawyer.

 

supposely they have to read you the rights, or it dismiss everything.

 

But when I was it seemed every University had its own legal aid available to students for free.

Provided what you have told us is true and you have no other "contact" with the law, you'll probably get some sort of disorderly violation which is civil, not criminal. Though they may make it conditional based on your not having any other trouble for x number of months.

You better talk to a real attorney before you make your final decision, but you are probably ok to use a public defender. Again, the key is that you don't have a record and you weren't stealing those chairs. If you do have any kind of previous record you better get a criminal attorney because a misdemeanor will ruin your future without a doubt.

 

You know, I'm not a detective, but I think you are leaving out a few details about what happened.

I don't think you were involved in a "plastic chair sting operation", so why was the cop there? Why would he say you were receiving stolen goods? If you took them, you would be charged with theft, not receiving stolen goods.

Was the cop "staking out" the plastic chairs? Is that a high theft item in your area? If you were arrested for public intoxication, thats another issue.

Whats the rest of the story?

Don

 

was intoxicated but he didn't get me on that. He said he could smell it though. This guy was drivng, undercover, down the road and saw me do it. He stoped and got out of the car with his undercover buddy and came over to me. I think it was acase of wrong place, wrong time! But he never read the rights to me and the ticket CLEARLY says RECEIVING STOLEN PROPERTY. I hate to admit this..but I didn't receive anything, I STOLE it in their terms! I am at a loss. Never had any interaction with an attorney before at all. Can I just call one and talk the case over to see what they think? Or will they charge me? How much might something like this cost me?

Thanks,
SHUMAX
__________________

 

Technically, the cops dont have to read you your rights if they dont want to.

 

That's not true. But they do not have to read you your rights if you are not being questioned about the case. Your Miranda rights protect you against self-incrimination and advise you of your rights to legal representation.

I think it will help you, ESPECIALLY if he questioned you without Miranda.

Get an attorney. Not later, get ONE NOW.

/aac

 

Let me tell you, as someone who has had to deal with the Police being ***-holes on a regular basis, who cares what the lawyer costs. It will be cheaper than the fines, not to mention saving your *** from a having a record that will follow you around worse than that ugly girl you bought a drink for at the bar. I am president of my fraternity and believe me a lawyer has helped us out of MANY situations that we did NOTHING wrong but were getting the screw from the cops, and has even helped us out on the few times we actually did do something wrong. Consultations are usually free, and for something like this to talk to a lawyer and have him there when you go to the judge, depending on where you go, could run anywhere from $500- $2000 probably more like $1000, and most lawyers will want a little something up front, but are usaully relaxed about collecting the rest. Who's gonna jip a lawyer??? Anyways, as someone who gets it up the pooper by the cops all the time, I wish you luck!

 

just pay the fine, punk!

John

 

Im a licensed attorney and although I don't mainly represent crtiminal clients, I do so time to time for small atters like this (although, I'm sure it doesn't feel small to you). There are several things you can do (whether you hire an atty or not). Realize I am giving you generic legal advice not knowing your jurisdiction or other material elements involved in this matter.


You could do nothing and see if the cop shows up. He is the state's witness w/o him the prosecutor drops the charges and you win. Now if he shows, you have a right to ask him questions such as if he saw you, and how he knew you received stolen property (you may need to walk the fine line here witgh a creative license so you don't perjure yourself-kinda like Bill CLinton).

You can ask for a jury trial (which you should almost always do). This does two things for you. Usually gives you more time to prepare, increase costs for the prosecutor and wastes his time. In addition to deposing the cop and getting his work records etc, you will have a much better chance of plea bargaining your case to a simple misdemeanor which you will not have to disclose in job interviews, etc...

Someone above said that you could do something to have the criminal action dropped and have a civil action brought against you. Don't know where they went to law school but that's WRONG. When the state brings an action gainst you for a violation of the sttae penal code-taht's a criminal action. Civil action would be if the chair owners sued you ina coversion action (even if the won-it wold probably only command a $1 judgment for "nominal damages". If you don't want to hire an atty I suggest deciding what you want to do per the options above and start right away. Usually you have only a couple weeks to ask for a jury trial and with Turkey day coming up, that cuts into your deadline. GOOD LUCK!

 

First thing you want to do is look in your university directory for "student legal services" or something like that. Any good school has one and as long as you are a student you are covered. As far as the rights issue, An officer only has to read your rights if they are going to question you about the incident you're being charged for. They can ask you general q's like mane and such, but not stuff like "why did you steal the chairs?", withour reading your rights. The idea that they have to read them regardless is just tv bull****. Your best bet is... TT legal svc, get advice, see if they will rep you. Get friends to witness or sign affidavits, get the folks you were with to say that you were confused. Get the guy you were staying with to give an affidavit(sp) which is a sworn statement as to how close he lives to the other house, or get him to come witness. Also, tt person who owned chairs, get him to petition court to drop charge. Find out on what grounds the state can charge you with this when the person hasn't filed charges. Generally it is pretty hard to charge a person with something if noone is complaining. So far as the recieving stolen property, that is just wording. Depends on where you live. I live in atlanta and recently there was a case with some teens stole a car and they were charged with recieving stolen prop. Good luck!

 

the snitch wanted Steve McQueen to help him out as his buddy got 3-5 for "receiving stolen property."

I think you'll get off with a fine because your record is clean. Believe it or not, being intoxicated will probably help you, because it's very conceivable that your judgement was "impaired" as a result of the alcohol. Someone gave you misinformation and you acted on it. If you weren't impaired, you would have thought about it and left the chairs alone.