Acquitted of Crime , Now What
My question involves civil rights in the State of: oregon
Long story short I had consensual sex with a girl I didn’t know was married; she falsely accused me of rape after her husband found out. This ruined my life. I had a great job and it cost me my reputation and career defending myself. It cost me and my family over 120K to defend myself all the way through trial. I lost everything from house to every penny I owned. Tons of evidence in my favor, but The ADA just didn’t want to admit a mistake was made arresting me. The evidence was so over whelming in my favor to where the jury after the trial, not joking hugged and invited me to lunch after the verdict was read.
Since the acquittal I have been rebuilding my life. I have had several magazine articles and now a book deal on the whole story. Sounds great and all, but I’m hoping someone can help me on the next step. What recourse do I have? I have contact a local attorneys and no one wanted to touch this case. Do I just have to walk away while nothing happens to the Police, DA, hospital or girl that accused me of this? Any help or information would be great. All the local attorneys say you can’t get blood from a stone (suing her) and I can’t sue anyone else.
Re: Acquitted of Crime , Now What
Well my first rule in determining if I want to sue someone is: will I collect anything even if I win? If the answer is no, then why bother. Looks like that is how the attorneys are seeing it. Did the attorneys also say you would likely not be able to prove the falseness of her report? 120K is a chunk of change that's for sure and I would like to get it back too if I were in your shoes. I don't think anyone is going to be able to assist you here more than the lawyers you have seen. You could sue, get a judgment & then hope she wins the lotto...if the cause of action is a valid one in your state.
Re: Acquitted of Crime , Now What
Presumably the lawyers you have consulted have concluded that the police and prosecutor are immune from suit, and that the girl has no money. When you approach law firms and ask them to take cases on a contingency fee basis, they will only take the case if they can potentially obtain a recovery that justifies their investment of time and money in the litigation.
If you offer to pay a lawyer by the hour to sue the girl I'm sure you can find one who will take your money - but you may spent well into the five figures only to find out that you get a much lower judgment or settlement, and even with that in hand you may find that she's not able to pay much (if anything) toward the judgment.
Re: Acquitted of Crime , Now What
You may want to consider petitioning for a Finding of Factual Innocence:
Quote:
Finding of Factual Innocence and Affect on Employment
However, just because the process ended with a not guilty finding (or did not even get that far) does not mean that everything is back to normal. There is always a chance that someone, such as a prospective employer doing a criminal background check, will discover the arrest, and somehow believe that somehow, the accused “got away with it.” (i.e. prosecutorial incompetence, an all too convenient mistrial, etc.). Granted, one can always explain that they were found not guilty, but such a belief can have significant repercussions: an automatic rejection when applying for job, a lost promotion, the potential social stigma, and so on. But in the states where a finding of factual innocence is available, it can used to seal a person’s criminal record and shield it from prying eyes.
Source:
http://www.criminaldefenselawyer.com...-innocence.htm