Vop, Wrongful Arrest Due to Clerical Error
My question involves civil rights in the State of: California
To Whom it May Concern
I will keep this as simple as possible. I got a DUI in 2014. I purposely let it go to warrant due to living very rural, lack of transportation and funds at the time, and I could not enroll or do Work Release. In december 2015 I hired an attorney and decided to turn myself in and do jail time as my sentence instead of doing work release. I have the minute order that clearly states
"20 days JAIL may be satisfied by 20 days WORK RELEASE"
I turned myself into jail early February 2016 and satisfied my requirements to the courts. I also had 18 months probation I believe and 9 months classes. I completed everything. Since then I've become a local licensed contractor. I thought this was looooong behind me. I get pulled over christmas day 2019. I'm asked by the officer "is your name XXXXXXXXXXX?" I said "yes sir it is." they arrested me on the spot for VOP and failure to appear in court. I was dumb founded. I knew this was a mistake and pleaded this to the officer. He looked me up in his CHP car as i'm in the back and shows me my picture and shows I have a warrant. I go to jail on christmas and spend half a day in there before getting released approximately 11:00pm in shorts and a short sleeve shirt. I live very rurally, no taxis and no one could pick me up so I walked home over 10 miles.
I was incredibly confused because I knew I satisfied all of my obligations. I got all of my paperwork from the courts to do some digging. It turns out the court violated me for failure to enroll in work release. They never saw, or never looked, or didn't care that I did jail time instead. So they issued a warrant in august of 2016. Ive been living with this warrant for years with absolutely no knowledge of it. I even took a DOJ FBI background check April 2019 that came up clean. I had absolutely no clue.
I went to court this morning. The judge opens up my case like the other 40 in there all with public defenders. She says I violated probation in 2016 due to not enrolling in work release. I told her that is because I did jail time instead which clearly states in my minute order I can do. She looked rather dumbfounded. She looks at the clerk who is typing on the computer. The judge states she sees I went to jail in february 2016. After some silence, again looking confused herself, she says she is dropping or releasing this case, i'm not sure exactly how she worded it. I looked at her and said "so is this over with now?" she says "yes"
I said to her "your honor what kind of restitution will I be receiving due to this clerical error on the part of the courts." she stated they cannot give legal advice. My new minute order that I received today is a full admission of guilt on the part of the county in my opinion. On the first page it says
I am there for "the defendent is arraigned on the probation violation for failure to enroll in w/r"
on the very next page it states "Orders: other: Defendent served 20 days in the county jail in February 2016 in lieu of 20 days W/R"
I am so blown away right now i'm shaking. I am so appalled they can wrongfully arrest people that have fulfilled every obligation by the courts.
I have been embarrassed due to my picture being published, I went to jail on christmas 2019, I wasted my time yet again proving my innocence.
I want to sue and sue for the maximum financial amount to compensate for my constitutional violation.
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE, someone please help me fight for my rights. Thank you in advance.
I want to reiterate. I am not trying to get rich. I was held accountable for my mistake in 2014. I did every single thing the courts asked of me. Mistakes happen but the courts need to be held accountable just like i was. I will never get Christmas day back with my daughter. Ive wasted my time, i'm in mental anguish due to the fact the courts can arrest you whenever they want. My picture was printed and my information given out as a criminal when i was in my right the whole time. My obligations were fulfilled in 2016 and yet on christmas 2019 i'm in jail due to a clerical error. Where is the justice in this world? Is there no longer a constitution?
Re: Vop, Wrongful Arrest Due to Clerical Error
As discussed extensively at the other site where you posted about this:
1. You aren't going to get a big payday for a clerical error.
2. What help are you seeking from anonymous strangers on the internet?
3. Consult with a local attorney about filing a government code claim in a timely manner.
Re: Vop, Wrongful Arrest Due to Clerical Error
Pg1067-are you allowed to copy and paste links to other law sites? if so thank you for that.
1. did you read my post? Ive said numerous times I am not looking for a big payday.
2. I am seeking opinion and possible advice
3. as stated in my "extensively discussed post", which i disagree with, i've already contacted over 15 attorneys. This happened this morning, as far as the courts dropping everything and realizing they were in the wrong.
Re: Vop, Wrongful Arrest Due to Clerical Error
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jason.the.stove.guy
Pg1067-are you allowed to copy and paste links to other law sites? if so thank you for that.
1. did you read my post? Ive said numerous times I am not looking for a big payday.
As discussed in that thread on the other site (which is now locked) even if the court finds that your rights were violated, all you get compensated for are your actual damages (income loss, etc). You don't get anything for the half day you sat in jail unless by being in jail you suffered some kind of financial loss, e.g. you lost out on half a day's wages because those were hours that you were scheduled to work. So what financial losses did you suffer from this and what evidence do you have to prove it? In addition to your actual damages, the court can award you your attorney's fees in bringing the claim for damages. If you have no damages, then it won't be worthwhile for you to sue as you'd get nothing but perhaps $1 in nominal damages and get your lawyer's fees paid. Your time spent on it alone wouldn't be worth that $1, and you may have other costs that don't get reimbursed even if you win. If you have been turned down by 15 attorneys on this that's a pretty good indication this is not something worth pursuing.
The law does not provide you a remedy for all wrongs done to you. Even when there is a remedy, what you stand to get may simply not be worth the effort, and this case appears to fall in that category. You have to accept that you can't always get the pound of flesh you want.
Re: Vop, Wrongful Arrest Due to Clerical Error
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jason.the.stove.guy
Pg1067-are you allowed to copy and paste links to other law sites? if so thank you for that.
1. did you read my post? Ive said numerous times I am not looking for a big payday.
2. I am seeking opinion and possible advice
3. as stated in my "extensively discussed post", which i disagree with, i've already contacted over 15 attorneys. This happened this morning, as far as the courts dropping everything and realizing they were in the wrong.
The problem is that you are not going to get a big payday out of this. Therefore you are not going to get an attorney who is willing to take it on contingency. Therefore you would have to pay the attorney upfront, and its unlikely that you would get enough of a settlement to make it worthwhile.
I know its frustrating and wrong that you went through that and if you have enough money and its important enough to you to press forward even it costs you more to do so than it gains you, you CAN move forward with it. I have known people who have done so in similar circumstances. However it doesn't sound like you have the money to waste on something like that.
Re: Vop, Wrongful Arrest Due to Clerical Error
I do over a million a year gross in my business. I dont care about the money. I care about the fact i did everything asked of me from the courts. I understand people make mistakes. The problem is i went to jail for this, I certainly have mental anguish and stress from this, i've lost time and sleep over digging up all this paperwork and reading through it trying to piece it together even though i'm not an attorney. I am NOT looking for a big payday. I want a public apology from the courts. I want some monetary compensation as a form of an apology and acknowledgement of wrong doing. Again, I mess up and I served my sentence. The courts messed up, I want them held accountable. I've already talked to the probation supervisor who was supervising at the time of the incident. I'm now waiting on numerous attorneys opinions/ideas and am formulating a plan to go before the Board of Supervisors. I can not explain the frustration of being wrongly arrested. I paid for someone else mistake. This isn't an oops moments, I lost my daughters only 2nd christmas she will ever have again. Someone or multiple people need to be held accountable. Thank you all for your time
Re: Vop, Wrongful Arrest Due to Clerical Error
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jason.the.stove.guy
Someone or multiple people need to be held accountable. Thank you all for your time
I understand the frustration. But what you need to understand is that the law doesn't always provide you what you think you should get. You cannot force whoever made the error to apologize for it. You cannot win compensation for simply missing out on something or spending time on something. You get compensated for financial losses, physical injury, etc. If you don't have those sorts of losses then there isn't anything for which you can sue. That's just the way things work. If you have medical bills for the claimed lack of sleep or stress, you may be able to get compensated for those bills. But you get nothing for mere frustration and time lost, as much as you might like that to be the case.
You can always ask for an apology, and perhaps you'd get one. But no court will force anyone to give you an apology. And as for compensation, well, I've just told you how that works.
Re: Vop, Wrongful Arrest Due to Clerical Error
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jason.the.stove.guy
Pg1067-are you allowed to copy and paste links to other law sites? if so thank you for that.
1. did you read my post? Ive said numerous times I am not looking for a big payday.
2. I am seeking opinion and possible advice
3. as stated in my "extensively discussed post", which i disagree with, i've already contacted over 15 attorneys. This happened this morning, as far as the courts dropping everything and realizing they were in the wrong.
Given that you've "already contacted over 15 attorneys," and given that you've already been told that you might be entitled to some compensation (even a "shut up and go away" deal that exceeds the case's real value) and might be able to experience the unbridled joy of putting someone on the unemployment line, there is nothing that an anonymous stranger on the internet can do for you. FWIW, many of the same people who post at the other site also post here (and yes, I'm "allowed" to post such links because there is no rule prohibiting such).
By the way, yes, there is still a constitution. In fact, there are two that are relevant to your situation: the Constitution of the United States and the California Constitution. As you've been told multiple times, neither of them guarantees a life free of clerical errors.
Re: Vop, Wrongful Arrest Due to Clerical Error
So youre stating that the court can make an error, you can go to jail because of someones error and no one is held accountable? When you break the law youre held accountable. Is this not a violation of a constitutional right? I was arrested for something I knew I didn't do. If a citizen does this they go to prison. Are you telling me the courts can do this and nothing happens? This seems incredibly strange. Are there rights anymore? How can this not be a huge deal? What percentage of the population is wrongfully arrested? It must be incredibly small. Someone needs to be held accountable just like every citizen is held accountable for wrong doings.
Re: Vop, Wrongful Arrest Due to Clerical Error
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jason.the.stove.guy
So youre stating that the court can make an error, you can go to jail because of someones error and no one is held accountable? When you break the law youre held accountable. Is this not a violation of a constitutional right? I was arrested for something I knew I didn't do. If a citizen does this they go to prison. Are you telling me the courts can do this and nothing happens? This seems incredibly strange. Are there rights anymore? How can this not be a huge deal? What percentage of the population is wrongfully arrested? It must be incredibly small. Someone needs to be held accountable just like every citizen is held accountable for wrong doings.
There is nothing a message board can do to get you any of that.
Re: Vop, Wrongful Arrest Due to Clerical Error
cbg
Just to clarify i'm not trying to get that from a message board. I simply ran across a message board titled "expertlaw" and figured there may be some smart people or possible attorneys that post here. This is why i've already started the process myself. I believe if you want to get something done you hit it hard and from many angles. This is why i've contacted numerous attorneys and the supervisor of probation who I believe is responsible for a VOP when they never noticed I actually chose jail instead and had already completed my sentence 7 months prior to violation and issuance of the warrant. Ive also done my DD on filing a claim and have looked into whether I file with the local DA, the probation office, or The Board of Supervisors. It appears to me as the BOS may be the route it goes around here. I thought on top of all of that I should probably post on a message board because there may be some pretty smart people on them. I'm not looking for anything more than advice here or opinion and I can filter as I see fit.
Thank you all for your time and any response you may have given, I truly appreciate it.
Re: Vop, Wrongful Arrest Due to Clerical Error
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jason.the.stove.guy
So youre stating that the court can make an error, you can go to jail because of someones error and no one is held accountable?
No one has said that. There is a remedy for it that compensates you for the actual damages you suffered. But if you have no damages then you get only $1 in nominal damages; so without actual damages you get just a symbolic victory. Either way the court can award you your attorney's fees, but that fee award may not cover all your costs. So if you suffered no significant damages — had little or no financial loss — from this you end up spending more money than you win and spend a lot of time on the case too. And from a practical perspective that's just not worthwhile.
That same principle applies when suing pretty much anyone, not just the government. In our system you only get (with some exceptions not applicable here) compensated for the actual harm caused to you by the wrongful acts of others. If someone does something wrong but you suffer no damages from it, then you get nothing. Note that civil cases are very different from criminal cases, so you cannot directly compare the two. Your lawsuit against the government for damages here is a civil claim and thus its the civil rules that apply.
I understand you think you ought to get something just from the fact that government screwed up. But that's not how it works, and you're going to have to accept that. The government is only liable for the actual legally recognized damages suffered here, which pretty much comes down to compensating you for financial loss you suffered from this.
Re: Vop, Wrongful Arrest Due to Clerical Error
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jason.the.stove.guy
So youre stating that the court can make an error, you can go to jail because of someones error and no one is held accountable?
It's possible that no one will be held accountable. It's also possible that someone will be held accountable.
In the thread at the other site, you were told, "you may be entitled to some small amount of compensation (you might even get a 'go away and shut up' settlement that exceeds the real value of the case)," and that "[y]ou're obviously free to complain to the supervisors of the individuals involved. Someone might even lose a job over this."
In my prior response in this thread, I told you "that you might be entitled to some compensation (even a "shut up and go away" deal that exceeds the case's real value) and might be able to experience the unbridled joy of putting someone on the unemployment line."
I think most reasonable persons would agree that those things constitute someone being "held accountable."
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jason.the.stove.guy
Is this not a violation of a constitutional right?
What you described is not a constitutional violation. In the thread at the other site, you were asked what provision of the federal or California Constitution you think was violated. You seem to have ignored that question, which leads to the inference that you don't know of any such provision.
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jason.the.stove.guy
I was arrested for something I knew I didn't do. If a citizen does this they go to prison.
For starters, citizens (or non-citizens) who aren't law enforcement officers don't generally have the ability to make arrests. That said, your conclusion may or may not be true.
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jason.the.stove.guy
Are you telling me the courts can do this and nothing happens?
For starters, the court didn't arrest you, but I think I've been beyond clear as to what might happen and what isn't going to happen.
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jason.the.stove.guy
Someone needs to be held accountable just like every citizen is held accountable for wrong doings.
We've told you what to do to try and ensure that this happens.
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jason.the.stove.guy
I thought on top of all of that I should probably post on a message board because there may be some pretty smart people on them. I'm not looking for anything more than advice here or opinion and I can filter as I see fit.
That's great. The problem is that, when those smart people gave you responses you didn't like, you started arguing and engaging in ridiculous hyperbole.