Robbery with Use of a Deadly Weapon
My question involves criminal law for the state of:
What is the likelihood of dismissal of charges?
My ex was arrested and charged with robbery and use of a deadly weapon. The incident happened in Sept in his hometown at a gas station. He was in town that night, we were separated and now divorced. He had spiraled down into drug use again (meth). I honestly don't think he did it. He has a burglary charge in his past. There was domestic violence in our relationship (due to meth addiction) but he has been sober since Sept. Working. Being an adult for once.
The reason I don't think he did it is the clerk stated the person as 5'7'' if he stood up straight (was slouched), had a hoodie and mask and all she saw was hands. My ex is 6'1''. Also before he went on his bender, he stole checks from his dad (reported but not pursued) and had spent about$3000 in a month. He had money that night. Had someone bring him whatever he was using then. I know he was in town that day he called from his friend's phone around 2 pm. But I think he left that night to go hang out with some other meth heads. I had his FB password still so I could see messages he was sending people during that time.
Anyway the cops have only focused on him and no one else. He has a past in that county and they have zeroed in on him in the past whenever something criminal happens. The only evidence they allegedly have is they got his DNA a month ago and supposedly it matches the hoodie they found in a dumpster with a toy gun. They had talked to me in Dec and I hadn't seen either of the pictures they showed me. A knife was involved as well.
Is it likely even a public defender could get this dismissed? I feel like DNA on a hoodie doesn't mean he was even there since he was bouncing around different people's houses and cars and anyone could have gotten that from him. Plus the description of the witness...and the cops constantly focusing on him only. Also he thinks they even questioned him is that the guy who brought him whatever that night got pulled over when he left town and the cops asked why he was there. He said he was visiting my ex and that he "had a lot of money." His dad found out about the checks a week later, reported it. But he said he never pressed charges and told the bank it was resolved. Honestly, I thought he'd get arrested for that when it has the most concrete evidence. They also only talked to me, his other ex wife, her mom and his dad. No friends. No one he was with that day or after. Not any other family. So it seems very shady and that they are just being lazy.
Oh and when they arrested him - they had his probation office lie to get him there about switching his case back to the county I live in. It's on an interstate compact right now so a different state owns it actually.
I feel that it could get dismissed but just wondering about thoughts. If anyone has ever been in a situation like this or not.
Yes I realize he's had a lot of issues and when I first heard only it was a guy in a certain hoodie I thought it was him but then the description takes him out of the pool I think. He's made a lot of changes and progress since I left him. More than he ever has and meth is a very hard drug to quit.
Re: Robbery with Use of a Deadly Weapon
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Quoting
sparks82
My ex was arrested and charged with robbery and use of a deadly weapon. The incident happened in Sept in his hometown at a gas station. He was in town that night... He had spiraled down into drug use again (meth).... He has a burglary charge in his past. There was domestic violence in our relationship (due to meth addiction).... Also before he went on his bender, he stole checks from his dad (reported but not pursued) and had spent about$3000 in a month. He had money that night.... I think he left that night to go hang out with some other meth heads.
It isn't difficult to see why he's a suspect.
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Quoting sparks82
The only evidence they allegedly have is they got his DNA a month ago and supposedly it matches the hoodie they found in a dumpster with a toy gun.
That's pretty compelling.
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Quoting sparks82
I feel like DNA on a hoodie doesn't mean he was even there since he was bouncing around different people's houses and cars and anyone could have gotten that from him. Plus the description of the witness...
If he hasn't yet claimed that his hoodie was stolen, I doubt that anybody is going to believe his suddenly making that claim. If he has claimed that it was stolen, the police and prosecutor nonetheless have found the evidence sufficiently compelling to justify their charging him, and aren't likely to change their minds.
I suspect that they probably also did at least a photo lineup with the store clerk, such that although he got the height wrong he likely did identify your ex's face. Of course, without having access to the police reports from the investigation, I am speculating.
Re: Robbery with Use of a Deadly Weapon
A photo lineup wouldn't work when the clerk said the guy was wearing a mask. She also grew up with his sisters (it's a really small town) and even with a mask she would have recognized his voice. She never once on Facebook or anywhere speculated that it was him. The cops heard he was in town and he has been their only suspect.
He said they came to the rehab once about a week after he got there and talked to him. I don't know if they asked him about the hoodie or not. I never said anyone stole it. Just that he was bouncing around from place to place and could have easily left it - if he even still had it - at someone's house. I haven't seen the hoodie in question in several years. The only one I saw him wear is one I bought him two years ago. He hangs out with a lot of shady people - well did - and someone easily could have gotten it from a house he left it at.
While they talked to him at rehab, one of the cops said he wanted a picture with him to show everyone at the office how much my ex had changed. My ex said "I'm not stupid. You want to be able to try to compare my height. So no." The cop admitted that's what he wanted it for. At some point they talked to the other ex wife and her mom. Neither of them have been around him in years. I guess she told them she talked to me about it so they talked to me. I told them we weren't together then. I hadn't heard from in a month by then. I heard about the robbery. Heard it was a guy in a certain hoodie and said that could have been him until I heard the description from the clerk. Also given the fact he had unlimited funds because of his dad's checks there's no reason he would've robbed a tiny gas station where he knew the clerk. I also don't think IF he were to do that he would have dumped the evidence across the street. No matter how doped up he was. When he and his friends robbed two bars in that town, they did it after they were closed. He only got caught because his "friend" narced him for a plea deal and his ex wife (then gf) gave information too.
I understand why they suspected him but they never tried to find anyone who matches the height she described. They heard he was in town and went after him. They also tried to get him for a robbery in a town 3 hours away from there and he wasn't even living in his hometown and was nowhere near that place then either. The entire county sheriff office seems shady as hell. They didn't talk to his friend whose house he was at that day. They didn't talk to any of his friends or family in that town or nearby. People who hadn't been talking to him were the only ones they talked to from what the investigator told me of who they talked to.
When I saw a picture of the hoodie it didn't even look like the one he used to have. From what I remember. The "gun" - wooden toy. Like something someone made. Never saw it at his friends or his family and none of his kids have toy guns at all.
There was another robbery in a town nearby a couple months ago and who knows? Could've been that guy. I just feel like IF his DNA really is on that hoodie, so what? And why didn't they talk to his friend or whoever he was with that night? Seems fishy.
Re: Robbery with Use of a Deadly Weapon
You are applying logic to a methhead? Well, that is your first major mistake with your postings.
Re: Robbery with Use of a Deadly Weapon
I've known him for 14+ years. I've seen him at his worst on meth. Even while he was on meth and he would lie to me to get money, etc, he was still pretty functional and would know where to avoid in those towns where he grew up to not get pulled over, etc. You'd be surprised how well this guy can function even while high and drunk.
I know him enough to know that no matter how doped he never would have dumped evidence literally across the street in a dumpster. And he probably would have called me to come help him even though he knows I wouldn't have. But thanks for your sarcastic post.
Re: Robbery with Use of a Deadly Weapon
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Quoting
sparks82
I've known him for 14+ years. I've seen him at his worst on meth. Even while he was on meth and he would lie to me to get money, etc, he was still pretty functional and would know where to avoid in those towns where he grew up to not get pulled over, etc. You'd be surprised how well this guy can function even while high and drunk.
I know him enough to know that no matter how doped he never would have dumped evidence literally across the street in a dumpster. And he probably would have called me to come help him even though he knows I wouldn't have. But thanks for your sarcastic post.
Nothing sarcastic about it. You don't know methheads or you would not think he would act rationally. I have seen MANY MANY methheads -- and not one of them was rationally thinking which is how they got caught. Even though people would scream and holler that they would NEVER do that.
Re: Robbery with Use of a Deadly Weapon
I know how my ex acts. I didn't say that is how all meth addicts act now did I? Can you point to where I said this is how all meth addicts act? No you can't.
He didn't get caught because he didn't do anything with that robbery. I have caught him lying to me because I had access to his FB after we split up because he's not very good with passwords. In fact, he is only charged at this point. He could very well get these charges dropped. Police arrest people all the time with very minimal evidence.
I also know he had thousands of dollars at his disposal from those checks so even doped up he would not have robbed a gas station. IF he was going to rob a place, he definitely would not have done it in his home town again after spending 3 years in prison for burglary.
It was a little sarcastic actually. I don't think he has ever said he wouldn't rob a place again - but he said he sure as hell would never be stupid enough to dump evidence across the street and anyone who knows him has said that.
I said you would be surprised how HE acts while on anything even drunk. I'm honestly surprised he's not dead yet.
Reading comprehension would be helpful in this case.
Re: Robbery with Use of a Deadly Weapon
If his DNA was found on the hoodie, that indicates he had contact with that hoodie. That the hoodie was tossed in the garbage can across the street from where the robbery was done also indicates he had recently been in the area where the crime was committed. If the clerk identifies the hoodie and toy gun as looking like those used by the robber then the state has a very compelling case to make that your ex was the one who committed the robbery. They’d be able to tie the hoodie and the gun to the robbery and the hoodie to your ex and the obvious conclusion one may draw from that is that your ex was the one who committed the crime. The police only need to get enough evidence to make a case against him that meets the probable cause standard. That's not a really high standard. From there, they just need whatever level of proof the prosecutor wants to file the charges and prosecute the case. The police do not have to chase down every person the suspect knows and interview or otherwise track down everything the guy did. They certainly don't have to go looking for evidence that might favor the defendant. The defendant can bring up that evidence himself.
The things you raise aren’t much of a defense. He’s a meth addict, and people on meth don’t think clearly. All they really focus on is getting high. You say that logically he wouldn’t do what the state alleges he did, but people on meth don’t think logically. He stole from his father so obviously stealing isn't something he seems to have any moral problems with. The fact that he stole from his father doesn't mean he didn't already blow that money and needed more to feed his habit or get whatever else his meth addicted brain thought he needed. You are obviously sympathetic to him and that may be coloring your view of things. Trying to argue that a criminal wouldn’t logically do something as a defense doesn't work because every day criminals do stupid things. Most criminals are not all that bright, after all. Especially when they are high on drugs or drunk on alcohol.
He needs a good lawyer. And probably needs a lot more rehab, too.
Re: Robbery with Use of a Deadly Weapon
Of course he had contact with it if he wore it but that doesn't mean he was the one who committed the robbery. Especially when he was at his friend's house all day and all night and the only time he left was with his friend to go get beer - using the checks he had. If he ran out of beer or meth, he would have went to the gas station and just wrote another check for cash or bought the beer there. I know how he worked when he was using. As long as he had alcohol and drugs, he wasn't going anywhere.
The clerk never saw the person's face. The guy was wearing a mask and the hoodie -and he must have had that gun in his pocket because if some fool came in a store I was working and pointed that wooden toy at me, I would have laughed at his face and said seriously? Gtfo. If I was working even in as small a town as that is I would have a bat or something for people like that. She said the guy was slouched over and if he stood up he'd be 5'7'' ish. Big difference from 6'1''. She never saw a face and she knows my ex so even at the least would have recognized his face.
The fact it was across the street in a dumpster does not mean he did it. Like I said, he was hanging around people who had nicknames of "sketchy." I wish I could find out how tall that guy was he called Sketchy because his stuff was in that guy's car for at least a day.
I think once this goes to trial, if it gets that far, it will get dismissed or he gets found not guilty. Especially when his friend testifies he was with him the whole night. I would think that as part of a 5 month investigation they would at least go check his alibi. Not go talk to all his exes and one of the exes mom and his dad - none of who were around him at all at that time. That's what I'm talking about. This is super shady on the part of the cops when they always suspect him for any crime in that county or even 3 hours away. He's not the only one who robbed those bars in that town. He was just the only one who did time.
I never said him being a meth addict was a defense. I know they don't think clearly. I've been on the receiving end of a meth rage because he couldn't get anymore right away. I never used the words "logically." I said knowing him for 14 years and how he is when he is high or drunk, I know that no matter how high he would not dump the shit across the street. He also stole checks. He had been writing them for 3 weeks before his dad found out. I thought he would have been arrested for that before this robbery. There's way more evidence for that. But the cops didn't even question his dad about that at all when they came to his house. Only the robbery.
Look if there was any more that could pin him to this like the description, video, fingerprints on the weapon, she saw his face, I wouldn't even bother with it. I mean I did divorce him because of his addiction. But he's actually been working on sobriety for the first time ever. Working. Taking care of his stuff like an adult. Finally. I would hate to see that ruined by some lazy ass cops who couldn't do their job. They had no problem sending State Patrol to come talk to me but they couldn't have the cops arrest him and lied to him to get him to probation? That's pretty shady and messed up.
I think he has a defense when he has an alibi, there are none of his prints on anything and he hasn't had that hoodie in awhile and it was in someone else's car.
Re: Robbery with Use of a Deadly Weapon
In all honesty, you were not there or anywhere near when this happened. People often devolve in the midst of their addiction and they become irrational and can act out in ways that they would not do if they were not high or seeking to get high. Meth is unique among the illicit drugs in that it causes people to radically alter their behavior in search of the next hit. How you once knew him when he was high or drunk is not proof of anything - it is, at this point, hopeful thinking.
At this point, the state will prevent their evidence and the defense will attempt to raise reasonable doubt. We (and you) do NOT know what evidence the state might have of his guilt. This matter will have to run its course. Depending on the laws in your unnamed state and his criminal history, he may be able to get lucky and be offered rehab and minimal incarceration.