Charged With Something I Didn't Do
My question involves criminal law for the state of: Michigan
For : False Incarceration/Police Brutality
I Hope theirs a lawyer or something on here willing to help me......I am looking at 2-5years in prison for something i didnt do....lets go back-let me take my anxiety meds before we go on this story still shakes me up-Last valentines day i was out for a FEW bud lights 6 in 6 hours to be exact including 2 shots so by all means i wasnt drunk....a friend calls another friend hat i havent seen in years and wants to hang out hes only a few blocks down and i have a designated driver to pick him up it was roughly 4am...so we go down a side street where there is no street lights,not a busy road,and surely no residential (no witnesses i presume) well i never got my wedding ring sized so it fell off and i went lookin for it next thing you know flahing lights....well im not worried at this point..im not doin anything wrong...the officers approach the car and tells everyone hands up opens the backseat drivers door(where i was sitting but on the passenger side) and tells me "GET OUT!" only words i say to the officer is "yes sir" and start nudging my way over to the door...I am then violently stripped from the car beggining with a knee to the mouth and thrown on the gorund to where they can kick or bludgeon me i was covering my head so i wasnt trying to see what they were doing...immediately they call for backup who arrives about 5 seconds later... these 2 "officers" run up(i am cuffed now) and stick a tazer in my throat and in my spine while the other two savages stomp on my right side of my face,ribs,leg,and arm...(the left side of my body was facing the vehicle) and i tucked my face toward the car as it was the only protection i had with my hands being cuffed...well the beating continues for a good 2 minitues as my two witnesses still in the car recall...after the beating im face first in a pool of blood with a fractured nose so i lift my head for a gasp of air only to be kicked in the back of the head and receive a rug/concrete burn across the side of my face..the officers drag me to the other side of the street by my cuffs and lay me down and just steps on me.I told him i had gallbladder problems so he decided to step and put as much pressure as possible on my gallbladder and ask "how does it feel now" The whole car ride their i keep askin "whyd yall beat me up?whyd yall beat me up?I was just lookin for my wedding ring!" they told me to "shut the **** up" so i did...appon hitting the station they rip my ear ring from my head strip me of my wallet and cigs and FINALLY find out a positive ID on me....i have a bench warrant for violation of probation =/ im then thrown in a cell and stripped of my socks and shirt also and am givin no blanket or food or toilet paper.....all the other inmates received these....days go by i keep aski what im in their for and hey wont tell me except "youll find out when you get to court" i can hardly move my right leg my ribs are battered as is my arm...their are now scars from the tazers on my throat and spine and a huge scar on my right cheek my right side of my face is swollen..they had also made contact with my temple right where my ear and jaw line up so i can not chew for days...when i finally reach court i find I AM BEING CHARGED WITH FELONY ASSAULT ON 2 POLICE OFFICERS! my jaw dropped knowing i had done nothing wrong....well this case has been adjourned by my lawyer twice but my doomsday date is in 20 days....i have two witnesses which i was told i COULD NOT bring into the court...they gave me a plea bargain admit to one assault and well give you a 6 month misdemeanor or plea not gulty and serve a 2-5 year felony charge for both of them....im thinking that their just using that not guilty plea because they have no case but the not guilty plea is like rollin dice...but, at the same time admitting to something i didnt do seems so wrong in itself i already have a bad record as is i dont need this on their too...this whole case has cause physical damage (scars especially on my face) mental damage (i know have to see a psychiatrist for BAD anxiety problems) loss of wages , defamation of character , and worst off time away from my family....if i go to jail my family dosent have any income i support them all....in my city their have been 3 tazerd to death incidents in the past 6 months and quite a few beating and shooting to death without probable cause by are law enforcement i dont know who to go to....if you cant trust your local pd who do you go to? my lawyer seems crooked he offers no advice,everytime he talks to the prosecutor it just gets worse,and he dodges my phone calls!please please please......i am begging for any help at all ive fallen on the worst time of my life and have nowhere to go....
_sorry its so long but it ALL needs to be heard to avoid any questions/resolutions that i have already thought up or brought up
Re: Charged With Something I Didn't Do
If I understand your story... The police pulled the vehicle over and instructed you to put your hands up and open the car door. Instead you stayed stooped down looking for your ring, creating a bona fide concern that you might be about to come out with a weapon. The police reacted accordingly. They claim you assaulted them and resisted arrest; you claim you did not and they assaulted you.
You need to be working with a criminal defense lawyer, and investigating whether any of the patrol vehicles had video and, if so, whether any of this was caught on tape. It's also possible that some of it was recorded in audio form. But you've waited a long time to get started with trying to preserve recordings, so get on it.
Re: Charged With Something I Didn't Do
actually the first thing i asked of my lawyer was for the tapes from the cars....witch coincidentally neither of the cars had....also youve got the story wrong as soon as the police car turned its lights on i sat up hands visible...im unable to afford another lawyer i could barely cough up the 1grand for the one i have....I did everything i was instructed to do and was beaten into oblivion...I am beginning to wonder how they can charge me with this when its just me and my two people against the 4 police officers word (no physical evidence?)...or at least the original two that pulled us over....for all the other squad car could have known They may have actually thought i had resisted...but even if what they did to me was wrong saying i was already "detained"(face down on the ground cuffed) while they beat me...and they quick arrival makes it seem like a setup
Re: Charged With Something I Didn't Do
Honestly, this entire story seems a little fabricated. Police usually dont beat up people for fun, but there are some rare cases. If you didnt follow their instructions and acted crazy in any way, they did what they felt was necessary. But the entire, they told me I cant bring the two witnesses to court, that is a load of crap. They cant just say no to a witness. Not in any state. Now, as far as while you were in jail. Sounds like you were in a holding cell? Most jails wont give you blankets and all the fun stuff while in a holding cell. The no food thing, it isnt a bakery where you get some just for showing up. You should know this bc you obviously have been arrested before. If you went through meal times and they didnt feed you, make a complaint bc everything in a jail is recorded and they can review the tapes to see if this was true. Something tells me you had more alcohol than you describe and dont really know what happened. Everyone always wants to justify them as a good guy. Not usually the case. Sorry I am sounding like a jerk, but the entire story seems off big time. And 1K for a criminal defense attorney on theses types of charges. Is this person a real lawyer? It is hard enough to get a lawyer for 1K on a DUI let alone assault on PO.
Re: Charged With Something I Didn't Do
The police force in my city is KNOWN for beating on people for fun.I didnt act crazy...why would I knowing id done nothing wrong?They said I couldnt bring my witnesses into civil court(if i pleaded guilty) but in felony court(if i pleaded not guilty)I could.I dont do drugs if thats what your getting at the only Narcotic I ever take is Xanax and I was prescribed this AFTER the incident.The other inmates got to keep their socks,shirt and received a blanket and all of these necessities.Saying it was a holiday weekend and we wouldnt be going to court until the following Tuesday to where we would be shipped to county.The 1000 dollars i payed for this lawyer is a friend of a friend.....this guy grew up with my buddy Dave.But he dosent seem like much of a lawyer...Yet Dave swore up and down he was the best.This is what makes this case hurt all the more because the only people that ACTUALLY seem to believe me and my 2 witnesses are the people that were actually there and my ma who knows id never lie to her.....I came here for help not to hear more accusations about how i must of did this or that...I was a victim of police brutality and theirs nothing more to it now my only question to the people here is if i plea not guilty how am i supposed to prove i didnt assault these officers.....i was thinking maybe a polygraph? or a dental mold?(they said i bit one of them) I really cant think of much else but i highly doubt the courts gona cough up the money for either of those...
Re: Charged With Something I Didn't Do
Ahh- they are telling you that you cannot bring witnesses to court if you plead guilty. Of course you can't- there is no trial- you are pleading guilty. Duh.
What did or did not happen to you in the jail is inconsequential- it will not be brought up in the trial, as it has absolutely nothing to do with whether or not you broke the law. The fact that you weren't fed to your liking, or that you did not get a blanket, or got to keep your socks does not matter. Do not concern yourself with irrelevancies.
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how am i supposed to prove i didnt assault these officers.....i was thinking maybe a polygraph? or a dental mold?(they said i bit one of them) I really cant think of much else but i highly doubt the courts gona cough up the money for either of those...
The court doesn't pay for your defense, you do. Polygraph isn't admissible. Dental mold only works if they have an impression of the bite on the cop's arm. Even then, I am not sure that will work for you. Many variables.
Your attorney will put your witnesses on the stand, and will attack the credibility of the police officers' testimony. The jury will then decide. I can tell you that you better have a REALLY good lawyer, and you better hope that the cops don't show, or that your witnesses are the Pope and the President, because juries tend to believe the cops more than other witnesses.
There are 4 cops that are going to testify against you, and you have two witnesses who were drinking with you. Not good odds, there.
My first thought when I read your story is that there is more here than you are letting on. Regardless of what you think, cops just do not ride around and beat people up for kicks. Whether you agree with my opinion or not, remember that the jury you will get most likely feels the same way. Argue here all you want, it is them you must convince, not me. Perhaps you should be speaking with your attorney.
Re: Charged With Something I Didn't Do
The whole holding cell thing IS irrelevant to the case but relevant to let you know just who these guys are....they are just regular people who chose the profession to be an officer...they are not the iconic,pure,law bringers that they are made out to be....some are no doubt....but my main concern is with exactly that their are 3(citizens) against 4(officers) people are going to lean to the officers side if all that happens in court is some he said , she said.But i thought they couldnt prosecute without physical evidence....I need something concrete and if i could get me and my witnesses to polygraph i think thats all ill need or maybe even the officers....but im highly doubtful they will agree to it...I call my lawyer once a day and leave a message i can NEVER contact him and pre-trial is on the 23rd of this month....and even if and only IF i had bit a cop for no apparent reason :confused: Im pretty sure their job is to only subdue the suspect and not beat his face into the ground and taze him after he is laying face first on the ground cuffed and not moving OR making any noise....there is ABSOLUTELY no way to justify that....
EDIT:also for the whole more than im letting on i had already previously stated i do not have a good criminal record with assault charge on an off duty cop on it and all that plus the bench warrant. id thought about this may be the reason (still dosent justify what they did) that they did this.BUT they didnt have a positive id on me until about 5 hours after the incident.Also saying that we were never tested for intoxication (more than likely because we didnt appear intoxicated) i dont think they can use that against us.Thats why i keep begging for my paper work from my lawyer I need to see what their "claims" are and everything inside the discovery packet, police report, and investigative report myself.
And i should add this before i get bashed for this too..but the assault on the off duty cop ended up getting dropped as it was in self defense.
Re: Charged With Something I Didn't Do
I am going to be blunt:
Again, polygraph is not going to do you any good.
Sure, cops are not supermen, but what they are is more objective and believable than a car load of drunks.
Since you are offering to get a dental mold means that at least one of the cops had bite marks. That is gonna hurt you. The police do not need physical evidence (or else how could anyone ever be pulled over for speeding, or arrested for assault?) but I wold say that officers with documented injuries and their testimony is gonna hurt you.
As to whether or not the force they used in arresting you was proper, again- that does not mean a thing in your criminal trial. If you battered a LEO, you battered a LEO; them tazing you or hitting you does not absolve you of that.
IIRC: they cannot use the assaulting a LEO charge against you, unless you testify. Them MAY be able to do so then, to attack your credibility. You need to stop attacking cops, because you are going to pay dearly for it one day.
Re: Charged With Something I Didn't Do
The whole problem is I didnt "attack" anyone.Period. And that other offense was just some asshole lookin for a fight and thought he could get away with it because he was a LEO.Also, when i think of Defining drunks I think someone who does not stop before they are too wasted to talk,stand,or remember what happened the night before.I was just out for a night with some old friends and had a few beers and played cards....I havent done a thing wrong but to get anyone to believe me is close to Impossible.This is my dilemma.That is why I am here for legal advice...not to be battered some more.Trust me ive heard enough of it already.My lawyer even said himself he knows I didnt do it...and "felt sick to his stomach when he seen my booking picture" It seems I was at the wrong place at the wrong time and it could have happened to anyone coming around that dark corner of the neighborhood....a Victim of chance perhaps?But what I really need is something helpful.Some leverage if you will.I can probably swear up and down and no one would believe me...But lets at least pretend you do.How would I go about proving I was wronged.Im trying to contact the ACLU...The three of us have written complaints..As for the actual bite marks im not sure if they were even recorded I believe that to be a claim.But i will not know unless i get my discovery packet from my lawyer ASAP.Also the ex-detroit Officer aforementioned I got in contact with and he is setting me up with UCC and a tribunal card.He claims it will help my case alot.As an ex-officer he has seen alot of wrong doings this is actually why he quit the force....its detroit/slum city.And he is a hell of a good guy to help a complete stranger with my case free of charge(ive even offered him money)but karma comes in more ways than currency I wish the best for his family for the help.I am not a bad guy by all means I am a family man who works 2 jobs and supports a family of 4.Not that this means anything in court BUT it maybe will give you some insight that i HAVE changed my life around from when i was an ignorant adolescent.Into a hard-working family man.Of course your gona question why i was out on that day and the answer is simple..(it was my first day off in months and I wanted to catch up with some old friends for a relaxing night of Hold'em)Again the only reason i am tellin you this is because your obviously got my old persona mixed with my new..And again I still dont see why a polygraph would not hold up in court?Yes,the plea bargain for pleading guilty is a good deal and I would be crazy not to take it if i HAD in fact did what allegations are being pressed on me.But it feels so wrong to admit to somthing I did not do....Maybe i should just take the plea bargain But then again in my heart i know its wrong.I want to fight it.I want to see justice.We do not need people like this as are LEO's...and its not only for my own saftey its for others also.I mean if this is what they are doing to innocent civilians (like myself) whos to say they wont keep doing it.Or worse get me again driving to work at night by myself next time.With that on my record it would be case closed.
Again Sorry so long but i am literally pouring my heart out...
Edit:Also did I not say I had a Designated Driver...not a DUI driver,also in my research even if i had "bit" one of them look up "resisting unlawful arrest" it would actually justify me defending my self if I am suspected I am being a victim of police brutality all the way from assault on a LEO to shooting one.but im not sure if i can plea guilty and throw that in as a defense?
Also if i plea guilty to the assault will i still be able to press a lawsuit for the misconduct or not?One more thing that really struck my interest was that for it to be a Felony assault wouldnt it have to of sent them to the hospital?And on a side not their IS a possibility that my teeth marks could have been on either the one officers knee from his contact to my mouth,or the cop that literally kneeled down and punched me in my face...to where either of these locations of my teeth would be suspect as to their locations....saying it was possible that when their "blunt force" hit me in my face my mouth would have clamped shut...Thats the only way i can see my teeth marks being on their person.And another Fact that was a need to know that i forgot to add was it was simply 8 seconds roughly between the stripping me of the car knee to the mouth,thrown on the ground,and cuffed.Now in that time frame how could it have been possible for me to retaliate...especially saying i was unbeknown to what was to come as i was scooting to their side of the car hands in the air...I figured it was going to be a routine stop...check if i was of age(if they could even tell alcohol had been in my system) search the car and be done and on are way.
Im sorry but more and more comes to mind as i think about this and i figured every detail I present to you and the others on this forum.The more you all will be able to understand Myself,Are Law Enforcement,and the case in general.I have many questions and am unable to ask my Lawyer for the fact he is unable to contact otherwise i would be presenting these questions to him and not be so bothersome on your forums...By the way i would like to know if the people here actually have went to law school,are currently lawyers,or are just some people with basic knowledge and opinions.
Re: Charged With Something I Didn't Do
Again, nothing in your post means anything to this case. The court doesn't care that you claim you have changed, doesn't care that the booking photo looked bad, and the court doesn't care that your attorney "knows you didn't do it." The court doesn't care what you think the definition of a drunk is.
All that matters is what the prosecutor can convince the jury. The facts are pretty clear: you resisted arrest with force. The arrest was lawful. You had a warrant, you refused a lawful command.
Your own testimony is going to be attacked, as is the testimony of your friends. You were intoxicated. Period. Whether you believe you were or not, your opinion doesn't matter.
Don't like what you are hearing? I will refund every cent you have paid for my time- which comes to-
nothing. Go talk to the lawyer you are paying. He has to be nice to you, he is your employee.