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  1. #1

    Default False Accusations of Vandalism at School

    My question involves criminal law for the state of: Washington

    I attend a public school in a pretty "Beaten Up" part of Washington. I'm 15. I consider myself a good Student. I'm an athlete, and I have no previous Dicipline on my records.

    Today I was brought to the office, and shown a video from 2 weeks ago. In the video, me and about 4 other students are standing in front of a sink. While being interrogated by Campus Safety, he kept claiming that I took a set of Headphones and put it in the sink, and turned the water on. The video is to blurry to see what happens, and I was scared and couldn't really remember this happening. I wrote down and signed that I didn't think I did anything wrong, and the video helps prove it.

    Campus Safety told me I may soon be speaking to law enforcement and have to pay $400.00 fines for Vandalism.

    What do I do from this point forward?

    (I was told by some of the people around the sink that the headphones were brought out of the bathroom and left by a kid who was there when they received water damage, and he then stole them.and went home...)

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Dec 2009
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    Default Re: False Accusations

    Tell your parents about this. They are the ones who can help you.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
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    122

    Default Re: False Accusations

    I would hire a lawyer to subpoena the video. If they cannot 100 percent identify you then the charges should be dropped. If there were any witnesses such as your friends then I would have them write down a statement, sign it and give it to the Principal. Perhaps there were other vandalism charges against you or you were involved in another incident at school they suspected you.

    Yes I would be telling your parents. $400 is quite a bit for a teenager.

  4. #4
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    Default Re: False Accusations

    Quote Quoting Villageboy95
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    While being interrogated by Campus Safety, he kept claiming that I took a set of Headphones and put it in the sink, and turned the water on. The video is to blurry to see what happens, and I was scared and couldn't really remember this happening. I wrote down and signed that I didn't think I did anything wrong, and the video helps prove it.
    Your statement at this point suggests that the headphones were destroyed in the incident. If that's the case, your statement suggests either that you were the one who put them into the water, or that you were feigning a lapse in memory in order to avoid identifying the person who did put them into the water. There were five of you present, so surely at least one of you remembered what happened?
    Quote Quoting Villageboy95
    Campus Safety told me I may soon be speaking to law enforcement and have to pay $400.00 fines for Vandalism.
    That could be because (a) they concluded based upon the video and witness statements that you did it, (b) they are trying to scare you into telling the truth, (c) they believe that you were part of a group of @five students who should be held collectively responsible for the damage, (d) they had another reason that is not immediately apparent, or (e) some combination thereof.
    Quote Quoting Villageboy95
    I was told by some of the people around the sink that the headphones were brought out of the bathroom and left by a kid who was there when they received water damage, and he then stole them.and went home...
    But for some reason you forgot what they had told you when you were asked about what happened? If you are claiming you were told this after the fact, given that these people have details that were apparently unknown to you, did you share the information and their names with campus safety?
    Quote Quoting travelplus
    View Post
    I would hire a lawyer to subpoena the video.
    You can't just "subpoena" something -- you need a court case. If juvenile court proceedings are initiated and a request is made, the video will be provided to the defense.
    Quote Quoting travelplus
    If they cannot 100 percent identify you then the charges should be dropped.
    Sorry, that's incorrect on two levels. First, they don't need 100% proof to reasonably identify somebody from a video. Second, from what we have been told it is reasonable to infer that the OP has made a statement admitting to being the person in the video, but claiming no memory of what happened.

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