Stalking Charges

[cmarshall]

Greetings,

I am in an interesting situation. A year ago(almost to the day) I had broken off a relationship with a significant other. One that lasted 4 years. It was a rough one. I had a problem with the other person calling repeatedly and trying to come see me(we lived a hour apart) when I didn't want to see them. I owned a business and she would call the business making it hard for me to do credit card transactions etc. Pretty much disrupting the business. My business partner called the local police to try and get her to stop calling. She continued to call a few more times. The problems faded away...

We are now good friends again and don't have any problems with "stalking" or things like that. I have not been contacted by the police in the last year wondering how things were going or anything.

She has now received paperwork charging her with Stalking. In Wisconsin its 940.32(2) a felony of 3 years and 6 months and fine up to $10,000.

I do not want this charge filed nor did I ever tell the police I wanted to press charges let alone stalking. I simply wanted to make a complaint in hopes it would stop her from calling. I understand this is not something I have control over..the issue whether charges are filed or not. I am not the plaintiff.

What can be done to get these charges dropped? Will me simply calling the DA and telling him be enough? Why would he file charges like this a year later without even notifying me first or asking if I belived she was stalking? She has a court appearence coming up because of this.

Not knowing what to do...

Any help or feedback is greatly appreciated...

[Mr. Knowitall]

Does your friend have a criminal defense lawyer yet? She should. Her lawyer should be able to get the police reports relating to the charges, and thus should be able to help determine both why the prosecutor opted to initiate the criminal charge and why it took so long for charges to be initiated.

I am reluctant to suggest that you contact the prosecutor, at least without getting the advice of a local lawyer.

[cmarshall]

She does not have a lawyer nor can either of us afford one. The paperwork does list some incorrect information too..it says

"Mr. Namehere said that he has known Ms. Namehere for a number of years and that she has in the past told him she has a romantic interest in him. He states that he recently ended a relationship and is now seeing someone else and believes that she now thinks he will be interested in her. He states that he has no romantic or other interest in Ms Namehere. He states he simply helped her out when she had difficult times in the past"

This is incorrect. It appears they did not understand that I dated her for 4 years and her and I was the relationship that ended.

Can they prosecute without me saying I was being stalked?

[cmarshall]

So an update that hopefully someone can provide feedback on..

I received in the mail my papers today about my victim rights, etc. Which is the first contact I have had since last August with the DA. I never informed him I ever wanted to press charges. The papers say that I will not be required to show up unless summoned by the court. It also says if I wish to talk to the DA i am to call the victim/witness phone number.

The initial appearence is in 2 weeks. What can I do to get these charges dropped? Neither of us can afford lawyers. Would they really proceed with these charges if I say I am not a victim of stalking? I have seen the complaint she received. Sure, if they want to get technical it may be stalking. Repeated phone calls and trying to come see me. Regardless, I was never in fear of my life and just simply wanting to scare her and have her to stop calling.

What can I do? Could the judge drop the charges if I show up with her in court? Any feedback is greatly appreciated.

[Mr. Knowitall]

Consider contacting the prosecutor at the number provided, and expressing your concerns.

[cdwjava]

The police are not there to "scare" people for you. When you call the police they tend to write a report ... and when they write a report articulating a crime, it tends to go to the local DA. If the DA thinks that a crime has occurred and they might be able to get a conviction, they file charges.

Please, in the future, don't call the police unless you intend to pursue charges should it get that far.

- Carl

[cmarshall]

Here is an update on this case:

I had my initial court appearence a month ago. I appeared with a lawyer. I was released on $5,000 signature bond and ordered not to have any contact with him. It is now a month later and lawyer just met with the DA before my next appearence in August. It was meant to resolve the case.

The DA that my lawyer met with is not the DA that filed the charges. That DA is out on maternity leave. So its kind of awkward to begin with. My lawyer said the DA is under the understanding now that they would not win a stalking case in court. He initially said they would let me plea to a misdameanor harrassment charge. My lawyer said this is not acceptable. He then said he would drop it to an ordinance violation of unlawful use of telephone. My lawyer tried to contact him(the alledged victim) but said he did not return his calls. He apparently called the victim withness line after he called to ask if it was okay to talk to my lawyer. He never called back after that. The DA then said he was concerned about me talking to him and said hed like some kind of restraining order.

So, my lawyer asks me if id agree to an ordinance violation and a civil injunction that we would write up. I have decided this is not the route to take. I do not need another 2 things on my record in a state where records are very open and anyone can view them on the internet. Not to mention I work in the telecommunications field and having a unlawful use of a telephone would cause me to lose job. I do not understand why my lawyer and I would draft up a civil injunction. I do not believe he(alledged victim) wants a restraining order and I believe this is the DAs way of trying to get some kind of pleasing from this case. Isn't a restraining order something he would have to put out against me rather than have us draft up?

I do not believe they could win even a misdeameanor of harrassment or this ordinance violation against me in court. Seems they are pulling at anything to get something out of this case because they know they have no case. A restraining order a year after the fact and after we have become friends who talk regularly is ridiculous.

Just an update on this case...as it was strange from the beginning.

Regards

[dsmith]

You know what really makes me sick about the stalking story?The fact that you seem to have a problem because the officer did his or her job when the 2 of you were playing childish games.The law states that if someone puts a person thru emotional distress which you originally claimed was happening the person has commited the crime of stalking and harrassment.I am indeed a victim of stalking and harrassment by my ex-husband who has got away with it for years because I lived in the state of Georgia and the police were to lazy to do their job and I dealt with my ex slashing my cable wires,harassing me and stalking me on a daily basis so that I had to leave the state with my child and I moved to the state of Pennsylvania which has an awesome state police force who will not tolerate my ex-husband's behavior on any level.I met a State Trooper named Trooper Gray who I honestly can't say enough great things about,as a matter of fact I called his commanding officer to let him know so Trooper Gray received a commendation because of his dedication to his job to protect and serve.People like the 2 of you is what makes it hard for the good officers out there to do their jobs and also for true stalkers like my ex to be prosecuted for their crimes.The police have enough responsibility to deal with without people that are playing games making big deals out of a simple lovers spat.