Arrest, Search, Seizure, Warrant I want to sue the cop who stole my baby and arrested me

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fustrated

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I want to sue the cop who made a huge mistake when he arrested me and turned my child over to cps to be horribly abused in foster care. My baby was 8 months old reported as healthy and happy when they stole her. She was develpmentally on target and a perfect beautiful child.

A officer drove down a main street in town looking and profiling vehicles hoping to catch an arrest. My friend had parked a van he just bought from friends a few days prior, he parked the van in front of a room I rented for a few days. My friend had given me a ride to the hospital the night before where I was visiting my childs father who had a brain hemorrage recently. When my friend dropped me and my baby off after the visit he left with another friend intending to come back for his van in a few hours.

The officer drove down the street and saw the van on private property of a decent motel and it was parked about aprox 400-450 ft from the street he drove on all the way at the very end of the parking lot since I had the last room. The van was an older model but in no means junky looking 85 or later model. The officer decided to check on the vehicles dmv status and ran the license plate numbers which came back alerting the officer the last paid for registration was in 2002. He looked at the sticker from his car never really got up close to see it. The current years tags were the same dark blue color as the previous years 2002 tags. The officer thought the tags were stolen so he proceeded to get into the van and search to see if anything else was illegal inside and to find out who might own it. No permission given he accessed the van by an unlocked side door because the front doors and back doors were locked. (other people staying at the motel confirmed these facts) He found paperwork inside that had my friends name on it. He knocked on the door next to mine first the guy inside asked who was it the officer lied and said randal who was my friend. The man next door said through the door that he didnt know a randal you must have the wrong room. Then the officer said is this your van parked here. To which the guy replied it was a friend of the next room.

By this time the officer had called for back up which just arrived before he knocked on my door. I asked who it was and had been crying about my childs dad's medical condition so when the officer said randal I just unlocked the door and walked away. Three cops burst into my room telling me I've committed a felony. I said what your joking I haven't done anything wrong and thanx for waking up my sleeping baby who was on the bed. They started searching my room without permission or consent and questioning me about this van parked by my room. I told them it wasn't mine but a friend had left it the night before and was coming to get it soon. They acted as if I had committed murder with it or something. It wasn't even registered to my friend yet and I never even drove the stupid thing but got charged and arrested for this bogus charge of displaying stolen tags which were not actually stolen.

My parental rights to this child have been terminated after I did all the classes and case plan, cps found a lesbian couple who wanted to adopt my child. Instead of putting her with family as I requested they put her into foster care where I have proof of them abusing my poor sweet child, they restrained her to a car seat to prevent her from walking to claim her special needs and get more money from the state.

These charges were dismissed in court I had my friend drive the van to court to prove the tags were in fact 2002 tags the judge dismissed the case. I asked for my child back and cps makes me sign into a reunification plan and services to help me get her back. They do nothing of the sort they are a violation of my rights to enforce upon me when I never abused my child nor have they proven me to be an unfit parent. The cps caseworkers falsified documents the entered into court against me and terminated my parental rights for which I'm fighting in appeals court.

what do I do? I can not believe the heartache caused by this officers mistake. My poor child was kept from her loving parent to be sold at auction for financial gain not to protect her from harm they used me and her to line their pockets. so unfair what kind of lawyer do I need to sue these family wreckers? I have a good life now where I'm stable married and own a home on 15 beautiful acres. My husband stands by me 100% and loves my child as his own. He is the only dada she ever knew since her father is brain damaged and they didn't pedrmit him to have visitation because of that.
please help me by letting me know what I legally can do.
 
A officer drove down a main street in town looking and profiling vehicles hoping to catch an arrest.
Really? And you believe he was illegally "profiling" vehicles and people, how?

One of the jobs of a police officer is to look for violations of the law and suspicious people and take enforcement action. That is what they are paid to do, is it not?

My parental rights to this child have been terminated after I did all the classes and case plan, cps found a lesbian couple who wanted to adopt my child. Instead of putting her with family as I requested they put her into foster care where I have proof of them abusing my poor sweet child, they restrained her to a car seat to prevent her from walking to claim her special needs and get more money from the state.
And, you have consulted an attorney over all of this, correct? Since the charges occurred so long ago, chances are the statute of limitations has long since passed. If the tags were valid for 2002, then this matter is 5+ years old, correct?

About all you can do is consult an attorney on the matter. No one can give you a magic pill since this is likely to be a very fact specific matter, and one that can not, and SHOULD not be handled by outsiders who have no knowledge of the details.

I doubt you can sue the police officer for a host of reasons I will not outline here, but if you can prove intentional malfeasance on the part of someone at CPS, or foster care, you might have a claim (provided the SOL has not passed).

Consult local counsel.

- Carl
 
Ditto. Knowing the timeline is helpful. Also, I feel like something besides the stolen tags is being left out of the story. I find it hard to believe you would lose a child for so long over stolen tags on a van that wasn't even registered to you.
 
Either we have to assume that the police here were completely inept, or, there is a lot more to this. I can play out this scenario in my head a hundred ways and if it is as the OP writes, I come up with something missing. Heck, once the officer ran the plates he'd have found that the car was registered - why would it take the owner until trial to drive to court with the tags to show that it WAS valid?

A lot of something is missing here. And one does not lose their child solely for being arrested on a theft charge ... sorry, it just does not happen.

- Carl
 
My poor child was kept from her loving parent to be sold at auction for financial gain

I'm curious as to what that means.

. . . and we still don't know when this happened, or it seems, where it happened. . .
 
I am trying to figure out how adopting a child can be "financial gain"?! Heck, I lose money with mine! I even lose money with foster children, and the state kinda compensates me for them!

- Carl
 
The cps caseworkers falsified documents the entered into court against me and terminated my parental rights for which I'm fighting in appeals court.

Are you still fighting in appeals court? And then right after this, you write:

I have a good life now where I'm stable married and own a home on 15 beautiful acres. My husband stands by me 100% and loves my child as his own. He is the only dada she ever knew since her father is brain damaged and they didn't pedrmit him to have visitation because of that.

. . . so now it sounds like you have your child back.

And. . . I'm also curious about you saying that since her father is brain damaged "they" done permit him visitation. Who is "they?" Do you or don't you have custody of your children now?

Please take a breath and try to write something cohesive and comprehendible with some semblance of correct grammar.
 
I didn't even see the part about her living on 15 acres, and the new husband, etc. Now I'm totally confused.
 
The whole thing is confusing.

- Carl
 
I was arrested nov 2006 the van had 2002 tags on it the same color as the 2007 tags which was current for that year.

And a vehicle parked with no one around it with no dents or other issues aside from a slightly faded paint job there was no reason for the cop to check this van out on private property when nothing was going on or looking suspicious. I know he profiled my friends van and have several witnesses that will testify as to him driving up and searching the inside without cause or consent.
 
I was arrested nov 2006 the van had 2002 tags on it the same color as the 2007 tags which was current for that year.
Okay, so it DID have bad tags on it. If it had 2002 tags, then it had false evidence of registration (or whatever the equivalent charge is in your state).

And a vehicle parked with no one around it with no dents or other issues aside from a slightly faded paint job there was no reason for the cop to check this van out on private property when nothing was going on or looking suspicious.
Apparently the officer thought something odd about it, so he checked it out. Oh, and it is not so private property. The parking lot area is open to public access, and the police can wander anywhere that John Q. Citizen can freely access.

So, he saw a van that looked suspicious, and he found bad tags on it ... that's a good reason to make some further inquiry.

I know he profiled my friends van and have several witnesses that will testify as to him driving up and searching the inside without cause or consent.
So, what did he FIND in the van? Is that what led to the seizure of your children?

- Carl
 
thank you for all the advice

again I'll state the date of arrest was nov 2006 the tags were very expired obviously. But the vehicle being on private property a complaint from the owner would have to have happened for the van to be towed. Since the owners didn't complain it was left when I was arrested.

I'm in santa clara county california you know where the lawyer representing parents in dependency court committed suicide after a huge investigation into his firms lack of proper representation of parents. Look at the series in the special news reports section of mercurynews dot com its titled broken courts broken families how rushed justice fails children in foster care.

I'm not paranoid nor am I joking about the stupidity of this case. I'd really appreciate some help if you know what your talking about. I thought that this forum was answered by legal pro's.

obviously I know I should consult a lawyer which is my plan anyways I thought to look into what options I might have to see what can be done about this injustice.

No I do not have my child back. I am currently in the court of appeals fighting for her still, good chance I'll get the case reversed and remanded back to the lower court. Cps messed up all the way through my case and in very obvious ways. They .....meaning the case workers do not care about these kids in foster care they just want to grab more and more and put them in the system, they recieve money from state and federal funds for the care of each child more if the child is special needs which they made my child into by restraining her daily. She is walking now she got moved out of the abusive foster care. There is no reason I can't care for my child I've never been found unfit and from the visitation logs this whole time not 1 single negative or concerned report was made in regards to my parenting or interaction with my child. The cps caseworker also gets a huge bonus when they adopt children out. There is no money in keeping families together no incentive at all, but to keep a child in the system provides many people jobs and referals to therapists classes and so on.

I am sorry my post was confusing I tried hard to just summarize what happened and since I've not seen my child since may when my rights were terminated .......I just can't always think as clear as I used to. My hearts been ripped out for no reason as I never abused my child I was just arrested and couldn't find anyone to come get my child for me.

childs father was an undiagnosed diabetic who woke up sneezed 4 times and had a massive brain hemmorrage leaving him in a coma and brain damaged for the rest of his life he will remain hospitalized. He can not walk any more but he can talk now. Cps would not allow him visitation as it was too much trouble to take her to him or arrange to transport him to the office. I think he would have had a better chance of more recovery acheived had they allowed him to visit her.

seriously read the mercurynews series they did a great job telling it like it is in these courts.
 
he found paper work with my friends name on it and some dirty clothes as far as I know. Maybe some tools but nothing illegal, that might of ticked him off since he searched for a good hour witnesses said.
 
my point to that comment about my new husband and home is I now have the support I need to get justice for this stupid case that never should have gone so far.

I was at the time of the arrest very easy prey.......now I'm far from it! My husband and I are very happy together but would be alot happier with my daughter home where she belongs.
 
it was not trial that cleared this case it was arraignment the next morning this was dismissed. But cps would not give me back my child.
 
again I'll state the date of arrest was nov 2006 the tags were very expired obviously. But the vehicle being on private property a complaint from the owner would have to have happened for the van to be towed. Since the owners didn't complain it was left when I was arrested.
But, the police can still run the plates, and look into the vehicle from the outside. A search would require some articulated probable cause.

Since you make such an issue of the search of the interior of the van, I can only assume drugs or something pretty damning was found. If nothing was found, then the search of the van is a red herring and entirely unrelated to your CPS issue.

I'm not paranoid nor am I joking about the stupidity of this case. I'd really appreciate some help if you know what your talking about. I thought that this forum was answered by legal pro's.
Well, you have not been entirely forthcoming with the details - nor should you be on a public forum. But, CPS does not remove children from custody and convince a court to terminate rights because someone is arrested for false tabs on a parked vehicle ... a little more openness on why you were arrested and the nature of the allegations surrounding the removal of the children might help.

No I do not have my child back. I am currently in the court of appeals fighting for her still, good chance I'll get the case reversed and remanded back to the lower court.
If you do not have an attorney, how are you in the court of appeals?

seriously read the mercurynews series they did a great job telling it like it is in these courts.
Wrenching story ... I read it when it was originally published. But, why was YOUR child adopted out? What charges were you arrested on?

Once again, if your child was removed from your custody and adopted out in about two years, obviously there was some concern about you or your living situation. This concern was either based upon the nature of the original charges (whatever they were) or your situation after release. It would help to know some of that.

If you do not wish to be more forthcoming, believe me - we understand why you would not want to be. And if that's the case, then all we can really do is wish you and your child good luck.

- Carl
 
it was not trial that cleared this case it was arraignment the next morning this was dismissed. But cps would not give me back my child.
What reason did they cite when they went to court?

- Carl
 
the charge is neglect because I had no one to take her when I got arrested. There was no drugs in the van. I don't know why they were even able to make me responsible for the stupid vehicle. My baby was healthy not a tox positive baby she grew healthy as she should have and I even breast fed her for her benefit.

Now I do have past history which perhaps plays in effect against me but no usage for almost 4 years now. I help run a simular to 12 steps group called pro active 12 steps its not a replacement for the original words just a different perspective and more on personal responsibility rather then some spirit taking away personal defects of charactor. I guess if you have any moments of stupidity when your young it can stay with you forever. I did some time back in 2000 over and very much done with the scene. This was obviously years before my child was born april of 06. This is opinion and speculation no factual or physical evidence to base their claims.

I didn't bring it up not to with hold facts but basically that was over and should be done with and I posted the facts on this case I'm fighting now.

I thought too much information would just loose you regardless your lost any way. sorry

I have been down in my luck, I've scraped by and I've done a great job at keeping it together. I have a wonderful life mate and best friend and we can not have anymore children. I'm being robbed of this one because of "possible future harm if I ever relaps" which they think it like old faithful and destined to happen any time once an adict always one.......even if you only tried it a few times and just got unlucky enough to get busted rather quickly.

Bottom line I don't deserve to loose my kid because of their opinions and no evidence supporting any conclusion I would ever harm my child.

yes I do have an appeals lawyer but as any one in the legal field knows every seperate issue has a special attorney for just that rarely do lawyers cross over and cover every type of case.
so far my case is going well in appeals they have granted several motions requested I've filed my opening brief and now await county counsel's response.

I just wanted to ask before statue of limitations might come up......if it hasn't passed yet. The case workers down at cps are a joke most are incompetent and don't hold a degree. Yet they can change your life if they don't like you.
 
the charge of 4462.5 showing improper vehicle registration (he thought the tags were 2007 but were not they were the last registered year for the van. It was non op through dmv until my friend registered it later) I was in court the next morning and my friend was waiting in the court room I told the judge what the facts were and offered to show him the van if I was out of custody of course. He dismissed the charges and shook his head he thought it was stupid of the cop not to examine closer before arresting me. He also didn't understand why I was being charges as it was parked, I was not driving it and clearly I didn't own it they had on the police report the reg owners names recorded on my paperwork.
 
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