Can a Demand Letter You Send in a Civil Case Be Used in a Criminal Case

[Sire]

Disorderly Conduct and Disturbing the Peace, pro se

I sued the business that made the false allegations and had me falsely arrested. I sent a demand letter to its attorney. I feel it would be unlawful to use this demand letter in the criminal case against me. Any thoughts?

[free9man]

I've forgotten across all your endless threads: What are you charged with? Why would the state wish to use this letter against you in court?

[Sire]

Here:

Disorderly Conduct and Disturbing the Peace, pro se

Letter:


I know that your client wronged me and that my case is valid. I can start submitting motions. I suspect that the judges at the trial level will often abuse their discretion and deny my motions. I can appeal every single motion denial. I am indigent. It will all cost me nothing. Eventually, I will win because I am right. This will be very costly for your client. I do not want to do that.

I did not intend to offend your client in anyway. I was honestly hurt and was letting your client know that I would not allow her to disrespect me. I was leaving the cafe when I honestly feared that man might physically attack me.

I have many things that I want to do. I do not want to spend more time on this case.

I will happily motion for an immediate dismissal if your client will write letters to SPD and the DA requesting that they not pursue the criminal case against me.

Also, if you don't, I will be filing a complaint against you with ACAP because you have twice now displayed a lack of mastery of English that indicates that you are not qualified to practice as an attorney.

After a hearing, I granted her wish for a conference. During the conference she ranted about how horrible it was to call someone a cunt and threatened something bad happening ("everything will come out") if I didn't stop pursuing the civil case. Later, in a filing, she lied and stated that at that conference I had said that I wanted to extort her client for money.

[free9man]

Wow. Just....wow. You sent that letter after you had been charged? BIG mistake.

[Dogmatique]

Here:



Letter:


I know that your client wronged me and that my case is valid. I can start submitting motions. I suspect that the judges at the trial level will often abuse their discretion and deny my motions. I can appeal every single motion denial. I am indigent. It will all cost me nothing. Eventually, I will win because I am right. This will be very costly for your client. I do not want to do that.

I did not intend to offend your client in anyway. I was honestly hurt and was letting your client know that I would not allow her to disrespect me. I was leaving the cafe when I honestly feared that man might physically attack me.

I have many things that I want to do. I do not want to spend more time on this case.

I will happily motion for an immediate dismissal if your client will write letters to SPD and the DA requesting that they not pursue the criminal case against me.

Also, if you don't, I will be filing a complaint against you with ACAP because you have twice now displayed a lack of mastery of English that indicates that you are not qualified to practice as an attorney.

After a hearing, I granted her wish for a conference. During the conference she ranted about how horrible it was to call someone a cunt and threatened something bad happening ("everything will come out") if I didn't stop pursuing the civil case. Later, in a filing, she lied and stated that at that conference I had said that I wanted to extort her client for money.

Q4P

Insert "horrified but mildly amused" emoticon here.

[Taxing Matters]

You feel it would be unlawful for what reason? This is an issue that is governed by the rules of evidence. In order for the state to get the letter admitted, it would need to show two things. First, it must show that the letter is relevant to some issue in the case. Since you discuss your intent in the altercation that is the basis for the trial, the DA may be able to show relevance here.

Second, because the letter is an out-of-court statement, the state has to be ready to show the statement is not prohibited under the hearsay rule if a hearsay objection is raised. In general hearsay is any out-of-court statement that the person wishing to use the statement intends to offer to help prove the truth of the statement being made. For example, a letter written by Judy to a friend in which states that “I saw Joe kill Mary” would be hearsay if the state wanted to use that letter to help prove that Joe killed Mary. Under the hearsay rule, that letter would not be admissible unless some exception in the rules allowed for it. (This rule is why the affidavits that you wanted to submit in lieu of your own testimony in court would not be admissible.)

However, out-of-court statements made by one party to the case (e.g. a defendant in a criminal case) that the opposing party (the DA) wishes to use against the party that made the statement are expressly defined as not being hearsay and would not be blocked by the hearsay rule. So, if Joe wrote a letter to friend in which he stated “I killed Mary” that letter is not hearsay and would not be blocked by the hearsay rule.

So, the letter from you to the business would not be hearsay when it is the DA wishing to use it against you in the trial. Assuming that the letter is relevant to the case, the letter presumably would be admissible. I won’t go into a discussion of the principles underlying why the rules are this way, as that really doesn’t matter; the rule is what it is.

These rules can get complex, but you need to know them if you want to succeed at trial. Massachusetts has done an admirable job of going beyond just posting the text of the evidence rules and providing a more detailed Massachusetts Guide to Evidence. I suggest you start getting familiar with it.

[Sire]

I have read Massachusetts Guide to Evidence. I may need to spend some more time with it.

Of course not my intent, however, I suppose I'm concerned that the DA will try to say it was extortion or possibly witness intimidation.

You feel it would be unlawful for what reason?

I'm not certain.

[Taxing Matters]

Of course not my intent, however, I suppose I'm concerned that the DA will try to say it was extortion or possibly witness intimidation.

That would be a different problem than whether the letter could be used against you in the trial on the disorderly conduct charges. Certainly the letter might be evidence to use as part of an extortion or witness intimidation prosecution, but that case would be brought separately. For what it is worth, your letter came on very strong and does seem at least to be bullying. I would certainly never recommend a client send such a letter. That sort of letter is rarely effective; rather, it tends to aggravate the other person and make them even less responsive. And, in some cases, it can lead to additional legal problems. One ought to take great care before making threats to others. It can end up hurting you far more than helping you.

[Sire]

So, the letter from you to the business would not be hearsay when it is the DA wishing to use it against you in the trial. Assuming that the letter is relevant to the case, the letter presumably would be admissible. I won’t go into a discussion of the principles underlying why the rules are this way, as that really doesn’t matter; the rule is what it is.

The letter was to the business's attorney.

That would be a different problem than whether the letter could be used against you in the trial on the disorderly conduct charges. Certainly the letter might be evidence to use as part of an extortion or witness intimidation prosecution, but that case would be brought separately. For what it is worth, your letter came on very strong and does seem at least to be bullying. I would certainly never recommend a client send such a letter. That sort of letter is rarely effective; rather, it tends to aggravate the other person and make them even less responsive. And, in some cases, it can lead to additional legal problems. One ought to take great care before making threats to others. It can end up hurting you far more than helping you.

Aren't all demand letters bullying?

I am concerned that if I testify they will ask about the letter. I think this will not be so harmful for this case. However, perhaps it would make an extortion or witness intimidation case stronger.

Do you really think that that is extortion or witness intimidation?

[Pringle]

You should be more concerned with how rude you were in your previous threads. The fact that anyone here is helping you at all is astounding, and a testament to how helpful they are.