[ladyesoteric]

Okay I have a court date on the 7th because of a major screw up so immediate advice is needed!

Here it is:

In had an checking account opened in 1998 I believe and closed it in 2002 when I moved. Stupid me forgot to burn/shred the checks and just stuck them in a drawer at my parents with some othe papers and forgot about them. When I moved away with my fiancee my mother was cleaning and ended up dumping the stuff into a box and storing it in the garage. Someone broke into our garage and ended up finding the checks (And ruining some very important keep sakes) but no one had noticed until a friend of my dad's had called and said that I had a couple of bad checks out at this gas station. Well I came back into town and spoke with the girl who took the checks (One of my brothers ex girl friends) and she accused my brother of passing off the checks on my closed account. She said she hadn't questioned him it because he offten uses checks from my mom to pick up stuff. Okay they have video etc. so I go to the bank (in another town) and get affidavides signed for the checks that had come in. Then I go to the police and file a report for the stolen checks and forgeries. The officer asks if I would like to press charges on the person the employee has accused of the fraud and I did even though it was my brother because I didn't want to get stuck with it because I didn't do it. Okay I ask the cop if I need anything else and he says "Nope it was taken care of!" OKay so I go to the bank and set it up that if any more checks came threw they would notify the businesses that the checks were forged and they would call me to fill out more affadavides. I heard nothing from this point on. Fast forward three years later I get a court summons from this company saying I wrote owe them money from bad checks. I contacted their lawyers office and explained that the checks had been stolen and that I had created affadavids of fraud for the checks that the bank had recieved. So she informs me I need to fax them this info. so I obtain a copy of the report but have a difficult time getting the affadavids because 1 I am a single mom now who works 6am-5pm and have no transportation to go town to town and if I miss work it's taking food from my kids mouth get the point. So I contact the bank but have to end up waiting to get the affadavids until today. So I go to the bank and the only affadavids they have are for a diffrent business and say they never recieved other checks (Because the account had been closed for well over a year prior to recieving the checks) Well the summons for court I was served with was the first I had ever heard from this stupid company anyway! So anyway they don't have info but give me a letter stating when the account had been closed and until the company gave me more info they couldn't help me further. (The girl from the legal office didn't have copies of the check and couldn't even tell me which store the checks had been writen through!) So I end up at my aunts to fax the info I do have to the lawyer and one of her police friends from the town over comes in. She gives him a rough synops of my problem and he checks out the report. Guess what!!! The report ends up accusing me of filing a false report, aiding and abeting a crime, ect. I was like "HUH????"

So I take this report up to the police station and the officer who took the report three years ago is there. He comes out and say "Well their was an eyewitness that placed you out in the car at the time of the crime." "WHAT!!!!!!!" I wasn't even living in the same town at the time the crime was committed!!!!. I asked him why no one contacted me 3yrs ago and he just shrugged and said "I don't know" Okay so he tells me the statute of limitation on the report has run out so there wasn't anything he could do, and that the officer who had taken the witnesses statement was no longer there so there wasn't nothing else they could do for me! Oh but I don't have a warrent because apparenly the city hadn't prosacutted me!!!

I also find out that the girl who was the accusser of my brother as the thief, well her boyfriends name is all over my check along with his social and plate number.

So I have a court date on thursday that was suppose to be simple open and closed case now is a mess. I have no money for a lawyer and thanks to the police no evidence that I never did the crime! How can they place me at the crime anyway? I was never notified to be in a line up etc! I was never contacted at all! I was told it was taken care of and when no one contacted me I just let it go! What can I do? I can't afford to pay for this fraud stuff, and I didn't do it damn it! I don't even know the people of whom I was supposably placed with that night and was a city over anyhow. No one is giving me any info. and I don't know how to proceed. Please help please any advice about direction to take. I can't afford to miss work. I don't have any idea what to do about a lawyer and if it would matter anyway. Do I have any rights at all as a victim? This happend in south east Kansas and the court date is set for olatha kansas. I don't even know how I will make it to court!

[Mr. Knowitall]

Is this small claims court? How much money is involved?

You need to go to court with your evidence, which means official copies of the checks (or the checks themselves, if you have them), along with your witnesses, and defend yourself. If you fail to appear and defend yourself as described on the notices you received, a default judgment will be entered against you.

[ladyesoteric]

It is small claims. The two checks total $230 plus the $60 service charge plus $690.06 for damages plus $48 court cost and $350 dollar attorney fee. Grand total is 1,383.08. It might not seem like much to some but I am asingle mother and all my money goes just to survive. Plus I don't want to be attached to this debt at all because I'm innocent!

I am planning to go but I am not sure exactly what to expoect and how to proceed. I don't have a clue what paper work I need. Do I need something typed up. I don't even know who the witness was against me, when they saw me exactly or where? Can I request a copy of any police statements or reports that involve me or just ones I have filed? What info do the police or company have to divulge etc.

I'm so lost! And out of time. Can I ask for the judge more time or do I need witnesses etc. at the case help!

[aaron]

Here's information on Kansas small claims court procedure from the Kansas Bar Association and the Douglas County District Court (PDF Format).

[ladyesoteric]

No I'm really not sure. The case is filed with the district court of Johnson county? Is that small claims? I have no clue. They do have a lawyer and it was filed in a county way away from me. What kind of case is it then?

[aaron]

You said it was small claims. I haven't seen the court documents.

[ladyesoteric]

I'm pretty sure it is small claims court I just couldn't figure out how the company can have a lawyer represent them is that is true. If someone can tell me my case is schedualed for here.

http://courts.jocogov.org/dc_la.htm

It's listed under the 10:30 a.m. on thursday on the schedual. Is it small claims? Also can I legally get any other reports or statements from the police department involving this case even if I didn't file them?

Do I really have a shot at winning? I'm not trying to be defeated but really?
I am trying to find some sure footing. How can I prove I didn't do it to a judge what would I need to put the ruling in my favor? Will witnesses be allowed to testify? Also I had never recieved anything prior to the summons for court about the checks from this company. Legally do they have to send you a certified letter or something notifing you of possible legal action? I never got anything from them. Just a few more endless questions. Thanks everyone for the help I am so lost, confused and devestated. I've never had to deal with anything remote to this before. The closest to legal action I've ever come was a divorce and my lawyer handled all of that.

[Mr. Knowitall]

The page you provided indicates that, no, that's not small claims court.

You can try to get reports from the police department - check with the department for their procedures for obtaining reports. But unless you think you'll learn something from them, they're likely of limited use as I doubt that the court would let you submit hearsay documents.

What type of hearing is scheduled?

[ladyesoteric]

It's a bad checks case. I was wanting the report in which they mentioned an eyewitness. I have no idea when or where this was suppose to have taken place. How can I prove this as fraud from this point. I mean because of the witness BS. How do I approach this situation?