Harassment at School

[Rye]

My question involves criminal law for the state of: Texas
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I had a good friend in high school that I got into an argument with, that eventually escalated into harassment. It got out of hand and I went to the school administration to have it stopped. The administration couldn't do anything about it, and then the friend decided to go the police. The police pretty much separated us and told us (or more specifically me because the friend approached them first) to not speak to each other ever again or we would be arrested and charged. No legal action was taken, and no restraining order was made, we simply went our separate way and haven't spoken since.

This was over 2 years ago now and that is all personally water under the bridge to me. We were good friends for a long while and I was considering trying to make contact, however I do not know if by doing so I'd be doing something unlawful. I'm aware of what "ever" means, but that seems to suggest that 10 or 20 years down the road I contacted this person, I would be breaking the law. That doesn't sound right to me. I'm aware the SoL for this is 2 years.

What I don't understand is this.. if I were to send this e-mail, would this first initial contact be considered harassment regardless of the content/intent of the e-mail and I would thus be committing a crime? Or would the friend have to state again that they do not wish to speak to me, and then if I were to continue, then it would be harassment..?

Any clarification on this? Thank you in advance for the help!

[PTPD22]

§ 42.07. HARASSMENT. (a) A person commits an offense if, with intent to harass, annoy, alarm, abuse, torment, or embarrass another, he:
(1) initiates communication by telephone, in writing, or by electronic communication and in the course of the communication makes a comment, request, suggestion, or proposal that is obscene;
(2) threatens, by telephone, in writing, or by electronic communication, in a manner reasonably likely to alarm the person receiving the threat, to inflict bodily injury on the person or to commit a felony against the person, a member of his family or household, or his property;
(3) conveys, in a manner reasonably likely to alarm the person receiving the report, a false report, which is known by the conveyor to be false, that another person has suffered death or serious bodily injury;
(4) causes the telephone of another to ring repeatedly or makes repeated telephone communications anonymously or in a manner reasonably likely to harass, annoy, alarm, abuse, torment, embarrass, or offend another;
(5) makes a telephone call and intentionally fails to hang up or disengage the connection;
(6) knowingly permits a telephone under the person's control to be used by another to commit an offense under this section; or
(7) sends repeated electronic communications in a manner reasonably likely to harass, annoy, alarm, abuse, torment, embarrass, or offend another.

The cops warning not to ever contact this other person carries no legal weight. As long as your communication does not constitute a crime, you cannot be prohibited from initiating contact. So, as long as your email is not obscene, threatening, conveys a false report, or has language that is reasonably likely to harass, annoy, alarm, abuse, torment, embarrass, or offend this other person, you will not have committed the crime of harassment.

[aaron]

But if your past communication did constitute a crime, or the new combined with the old is sufficient, until the statute of limitations runs the police can pass the matter to a prosecutor for review.

[Rye]

My past communication did constitute a crime, however since I think both our actions qualified for it, and I think the standard policy in schools is to just separate the kids, no charges were pressed and that was the end of it. However, this was over 2 and a half years ago, and I know the SoL for harassment is 2 years in Tx.

I also received this response from another forum, I don't know if it holds any weight:

There really isn't any set statute of limitation in the situation you describe since there were no charges, no convictions, no court actions, or any type of protective order.

If you know her email address or her Facebook account (don't write on her wall), you could drop a short note just saying you wanted to say hi and ask how she is doing. If she never responds, then that is her answer that she does not want to stay in touch and you shouldn't contact her again. The reason that I recommend contact via one of these methods is that you will not be catching her by surprise, she will have control over whether or not she wants to respond, and you will have a copy of the low-key message you send (in case the worst happens and she would decide to contact the police).

What do you all think?

[PandorasBox]

I've gone that route before on my own. Send one message only, and let the other person decide. Greeting, apology, purpose of communication. If you never hear back, don't pursue it.....

[Rye]

Hm.. ok. It would still be nice to hear what someone else thinks of this.

[Dogmatique]

I concur with Pandy. Send one message, that's that. Exactly what Pandy has suggested.

That's excellent advice.

- - - Updated - - -

And listen to aaron.

[Rye]

Ok.. let me make sure I understand Aaron's statement correctly..

This did occur over 2 years ago.. so the SoL has run through. If I were to do this, I simply have to make sure that the content of the message would not be "with intent to harass, annoy, alarm, abuse, torment, or embarrass another," correct? Easy enough.. I don't intend to act uncivilly.

So I shouldn't be concerned about taking this action? The way I understand this is that this is no different than interacting with some random stranger since what occurred two years ago doesn't count.

Thank you all for the help.

[Mr. Knowitall]

If you remain unclear on what you should do despite what you've already been told, I suggest either (a) not making contact or (b) working with a lawyer to formulate a plan.

[PandorasBox]

Dear so and so

I hope this letter finds you well.

First off, I would like to sincerely apologize for (what transpired) two years ago. I regret my actions, and I regret the loss of your friendship. I would like to meet at (location) and catch up with you and your life during the past two years.

There.....you have your starting point.