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Conspiracy to Commit Burglary

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  • 02-08-2016, 08:35 PM
    sundrop
    Conspiracy to Commit Burglary
    My question involves criminal law for the state of: West Virginia

    The person I am speaking of was never summoned to appear for interview or trial in three years to this date. Someone was accused of a crime and this person was then tied in and almost charged with conspiracy to commit burglary to someone accused in a homicide investigation. The suspect was with a party of other suspects who were at the one accused of murder's house three days before the death of a mutual friend. Then this person volunteered her own version of what she experienced the day she had visited the house. She had no prior relationship to the suspect. She didn't even know who he was or his relationship to the victim. How can she be a witness in a trial three years after an incident she never witnessed in the first place, and all the details she found out after the fact?

    The charges of "intention to burglarize" the suspect were dropped and she has record of the trial procedure. They didn't spell her name right. Her lawyer handed her a paper and told her to sign it. It was a waiver to her right to testify on her own behalf in exchange for discovery. She never received discovery even after she waived her right to speak at a grand jury trial. She was made to believe they did this so as to not show partiality to the witnesses. But she is not sure how that's possible, and feels instead she is being targeted.

    She has been harassed for information by the police she believed was a clue to the case, and was a false testimony made by a drunk friend who wasn't even there. She was never made aware whether or not this was thrown out of the case! She has never been summoned to appear until this present date to anything! She has heard everything else word of mouth! Even though her lawyer instructed her not to associate with the victims' relatives or friends. So this whole thing has been nothing but stress and confusion. She was locked up in jail for three days in 2015 for using her headlights at night, and told that she had a warrant out for her arrest for being accused of a felony of attempted burglary just to show that they weren't being biased? It makes no sense, plus being hold on a $25,000 bond which no one could have paid except a wealthy relative or family member.

    That's straight up theft of dignity and time. How can she be expected to deal with this it has caused severe emotional distress, they refused her medication for Bipolar in the jail the three days she was incarcerated on a warrant for a crime she is now been told has been dropped. Can she invoke her Miranda rights, or write a statement as to the mistreatment, print it out and hand it to the judge so she can explain that she wanted to speak at the trial and is completely innocent and cannot provide any witness to crime related to defense?
  • 02-09-2016, 01:26 AM
    Taxing Matters
    Re: Conspiracy to Commit Burglary
    I don’t have any of the facts concerning the investigation, what evidence the police have, or even what is going on now. It’s not clear, for example, if she is currently facing any criminal charges. It would also be important to know what information the police had and what they thought her involvement was when they arrested her. If she is currently facing criminal charges then she needs to talk to her lawyer for advice on what to do.

    The jail is not going to give her drugs, especially drugs for mental conditions, without first having her examined and having the jail’s doctor approve the drugs. Three days is probably not long enough to get her a mental health evaluation and approval for the drugs. That’s unfortunate, but probably not going to amount to negligence or a violation of any of her rights. She may consult an attorney who litigates civil rights claims if she suffered any significant harm from it.

    Setting bond of $25,000 is not actually really huge, and whether it was warranted depends on the charges that were pending against her and other factors. If a defendant can’t make bail, she sits in jail until the criminal charges are resolved one way or the other. So long as the bail is not excessive is no violation of her rights that she can’t afford the bail and has to sit in jail.

    As to your question about her handing some judge a note, that’s likely not going to do her any good and might make things worse. The details would matter. Generally handing notes to the judge is not proper procedure and for that reason would likely be ignored by the judge. Is this the judge in some criminal case against her? If so she absolutely should not hand notes to the judge — her lawyer speaks for her in court. If this is some other court proceeding, what good does she think handing the judge some note will do her?
  • 02-12-2016, 06:51 AM
    sundrop
    Re: Conspiracy to Commit Burglary
    The charge was dropped related to the burglary. This person has been called to be a witness in a trial. The charges were supposedly to show that they were not being partial to the witnesses. Now she's been subpeonaed to be a witness, without any evidence presented to her regarding the homicide investigation. So I guess she'll just be re-telling her witness statement and what she saw that day, a week before the event. She didn't witness the victim doing drugs that day either and the other witnesses are saying things that never happened in her memory about her involvement.

    I repeat, she is not on trial. She is A WITNESS and she isn't sure what to expect.
  • 02-12-2016, 07:16 AM
    Taxing Matters
    Re: Conspiracy to Commit Burglary
    Quote:

    Quoting sundrop
    View Post
    Now she's been subpeona'd to be a witness, without any evidence presented to her regarding the homicide investigation. So I guess she'll just be re-telling her witness statement and what she saw that day, a week before the event. She didn't witness the victim doing drugs that day either and the other witnesses are saying things that never happened in her memory about her involvement.

    I repeat, she is not on trial. She is A WITNESS and she isn't sure what to expect.

    She is simply a witness. She doesn’t need to have any other information about the case presented to her and, really, she shouldn’t have because that might taint her testimony. Her obligation is to appear and answer the questions put to her truthfully. That’s all she has to do. Now, if the answers to any of the questions might implicate her in criminal activity then she might need to invoke her right to refuse to answer under the fifth amendment. If she has any concern that this might occur she should consult a criminal defense attorney for advice before showing up to testify so she knows what to do.
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