For anyone curious about my court case... I was arrested, along with my brother, for "Resisting Arrest" (148 a) under the accusation of "delaying an officer" because I told the officer I would rather stand when offered a seat. He immediately used force when I declined, and the situation escalated, mostly because of his influence and the way he attempted to rag doll me around the room. My brother was caught up in the situation and subsequently tasered for the regrettable crime of moving out of the way when the officer involved threw me on top of him. We were charged in December and both had to stay over night in a cell. We both lost just over $1,000 in order to pay bail, under the threat of being detained over the weekend (they arrested us on Thursday night but delayed booking until Friday so that they could hold us as late as Monday). Since the incident we have made multiple court appearances, usually between 3-6 hours in the court room, only to be told to come back at a later day. In total, I believe I went to court 8 times, and my brother went 6 times. Today our case was at a very unfortunate crossroads. The District Attorney refused to drop the case, even after our lawyers obtained information regarding histories of prior offenses of excess force in similar arrests by both officers involved. Instead, they offered to change our charge to Disturbing the Peace (415 PC). I would have declined the offer personally, but they bargain was only made under the condition that it was a joint deal. So if I had declined, my brother would not have been given the choice, and we would of gone to trial. Since my brother could not logically afford to pursue the case at trial, we both agreed to take the plea. Again, I would have preferred a trial, as I maintain that I did not in fact commit any crime remotely comparable to resisting arrest. Unfortunately we were told that a trail would take place at an unknown time, and it could be anywhere from 1-3 days in the "good room" or 7-12 days in the "slow room". I swear to you, this is the message that was delivered to us by our lawyers. By changing the charge, we would be responsible for the booking fee ($133) and the court processing fee ($215). Of course, this amount is doubled, as it is per person. It would also mean that any attempt to bring up a civil case regarding the matter would be incredibly unlikely to succeed. The alternative was not much better though. By missing what was described to us as the "likely" amount of time for the case to be settled (7 days) any minimum wage normal hourly worker would still lose between $200 and $400 for work missed. We also risked losing the case, which would lead to even more penalties and increase the amount owed. Essentially I was bullied by a police officer in my own home, sent to jail over it, lost over a thousand dollars to be able to keep my job, spent countless hours in court only to lose more money because I could not properly be represented as an individual without causing grief to my brother. Through the entire experience I can tell you that they bully you and accumulate fees that they then loom over you for the entire process. They warn you that guilty or not that you could easily find yourself in an even worse situation, threats of larger fines and even jail time are very common. They encourage you to plea out, giving them the ability to drain you finically with no chance of opposition. They trap you under vague and obvious misinterpretations of the law, share as little information as possible about the actual legality of the charge, and then cause you to lose time and money until you are no longer able to defend yourself. Honestly, I am completely disappointed by the entire experience and I sincerely feel like the phrase "innocent until proven guilty" is nowhere near accurate. Hopefully this clears up any questions anyone might have, as I no longer want to talk about my awful experience with the police or the court system.
Posted on: Tue, 30 Jul 2013 20:48:11 +0000
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