Order of Protection against Me

[chattykaty]

To make a long story short. A juvenile in the neighborhood has been vandalizing my home. The police have done nothing about it. I have called the police no less than 3 times on him and his mother is pissed. I received an Order of Protection from the sheriff last week. She does not know my last name and it has my boyfriends last name as mine (we are not married yet). The order has a hearing date on it.

I went thru a horrible time in court involving a very abusive relationship many years ago and CANNOT go to court or risk a nervous break down. I am leaving the area for good and will never return so I will not see this person or their family ever again.


IN GEORGIA IF I DO NOT SHOW UP FOR THE HEARING WILL A WARRANT FOR MY ARREST BE ISSUED??

 

[Duranie]

Not going to court will not solve anything, and you cannot avoid court for the rest of your life. If you do not show up in court then the RO will likely be granted and you can be arrested for violating it.

 

[CdwJava]

To make a long story short. A juvenile in the neighborhood has been vandalizing my home. The police have done nothing about it.

I'm going to take a wild guess that there is no real evidence proving the neighbor kid actually vandalized your home, correct? What proof do you have?

What kind of vandalism are we talking about here?

IN GEORGIA IF I DO NOT SHOW UP FOR THE HEARING WILL A WARRANT FOR MY ARREST BE ISSUED??

Maybe.

But, if you do not show for the hearing they will not issue the r/o ... unless there are other witnesses or plaintiffs.

- Carl

 

[chattykaty]

I'm going to take a wild guess that there is no real evidence proving the neighbor kid actually vandalized your home, correct? What proof do you have?

What kind of vandalism are we talking about here?


Maybe.

But, if you do not show for the hearing they will not issue the r/o ... unless there are other witnesses or plaintiffs.

- Carl

3rd Degree arson. Trespassing on 2 occasions including once at 1:00A.M. The circumstantial evidence is overwhelming. The police are morons. And I don't understand your last statement? I talked to a paralegal today and she said that no, its not a criminal case and that no warrant would be issued.

Look I am the VICTIM! I have done nothing to these people.

 

[CdwJava]

3rd Degree arson. Trespassing on 2 occasions including once at 1:00A.M. The circumstantial evidence is overwhelming. The police are morons. And I don't understand your last statement? I talked to a paralegal today and she said that no, its not a criminal case and that no warrant would be issued.

Look I am the VICTIM! I have done nothing to these people.

I'm not saying you are not a victim.

But, what may be "obvious" to you may not be obvious to a jury. The police can only pursue cases for which there is evidence. Your animosity with the neighbor and subsequent damage INFERS the neighbors involvement, but it does not PROVE it.

To bring a case to trial the DA needs to believe he or she can prove a case beyond a reasonable doubt. Without evidence - witnesses, forensics, confessions, etc. - a first year law student would be able to create reasonable doubt without breaking a sweat.

You can claim the police are "morons" all you want. But what PROOF do you have that it was the neighbor? And I don't mean that you KNOW it was him, or that he was happy to see the damage, but PROOF. Unless you want the police to make things up, what do you expect them to do?

As for my last statement, I don't know whether R/O hearings are criminal or civil, or whether you could be issued an arrest warrant or not. If it's civil, and GA does not issue warrants for failing to answer a subpoena in civil matters, then your failure to show will only weaken or destroy a case for the issuance of the order against the neighbor.

- Carl

 

[chattykaty]

I'm not saying you are not a victim.

But, what may be "obvious" to you may not be obvious to a jury. The police can only pursue cases for which there is evidence. Your animosity with the neighbor and subsequent damage INFERS the neighbors involvement, but it does not PROVE it.

To bring a case to trial the DA needs to believe he or she can prove a case beyond a reasonable doubt. Without evidence - witnesses, forensics, confessions, etc. - a first year law student would be able to create reasonable doubt without breaking a sweat.

You can claim the police are "morons" all you want. But what PROOF do you have that it was the neighbor? And I don't mean that you KNOW it was him, or that he was happy to see the damage, but PROOF. Unless you want the police to make things up, what do you expect them to do?

As for my last statement, I don't know whether R/O hearings are criminal or civil, or whether you could be issued an arrest warrant or not. If it's civil, and GA does not issue warrants for failing to answer a subpoena in civil matters, then your failure to show will only weaken or destroy a case for the issuance of the order against the neighbor.

- Carl

First off Carl, I was NOT saying all police are morons. Hope I did not insult you in that way but THESE guys are. For example. The night WE saw and positively IDed this kid prowling on our property at 1:00 A.M., we called 911 and the police arrived. There were NO LESS THAN 8 people interviewed at 3 different residences for a period of 3 hours. I asked the cop if i could get the police report. The following is the COMPLETE report giving. This was hand written mind you..

Checked area as well as two residance the comp state the offender could have been with negative results. No other info.


How can we prove ANYTHING if the police can't fill out a police report?? The other reports were filled out but were missing crucial information. WE CAN'T COUNT ON THE POLICE IN THIS PLACE FOR ANYTHING!

 

[CdwJava]

I don't know about your state, but in mine, trespassing requires that the person be advised to leave. Unless some other crime was committed, the fact that the police actually interviewed neighbors might be going above and beyond the requirements for that crime.

That, combined with the fact that it is not too likely that you could possibly have made a POSITIVE ID at 1 AM demonstrates that there was no case to pursue.

I am not saying that you have not been a victim, or that the police have done everything they could have. However, trespassing is generally a pretty minimal offense and contrary to popular belief the crime is generally not complete simply because someone steps foot on property not belonging to him or her.

I know that my DA would not prosecute for this offense ... but, maybe your state's trespassing laws are very harsh, I don't know.

Okay ... here's what I found:

§ 16-7-21. Criminal trespass
(b) A person commits the offense of criminal trespass when he or she knowingly and without authority:

(1) Enters upon the land or premises of another person or into any part of any vehicle, railroad car, aircraft, or watercraft of another person for an unlawful purpose;

(2) Enters upon the land or premises of another person or into any part of any vehicle, railroad car, aircraft, or watercraft of another person after receiving, prior to such entry, notice from the owner, rightful occupant, or, upon proper identification, an authorized representative of the owner or rightful occupant that such entry is forbidden; or

(3) Remains upon the land or premises of another person or within the vehicle, railroad car, aircraft, or watercraft of another person after receiving notice from the owner, rightful occupant, or, upon proper identification, an authorized representative of the owner or rightful occupant to depart.​

Subsection (1) doesn't apply unless his other "unlawful purpose" can be proven.

Subsection (2) only applies if has received prior notice that he is not welcome on the property (and this might be time sensitive based upon case law or other statutes - could be that 24 hour notice or posted signs are required).

Subsection (3) also requires notice.

So, it may well be that no crime was actually completed.

If you feel there is more that should be done, you can go over the responding officers' heads and speak to their supervisors. You can also try to speak to the county DA and see what he says. Chances are he or she will pass you back to the police.

All i can really say is that most victims feel that their case is easier to prove than it really is. What YOU know or believe, and even what the police "know" or believe does nothing to prove a case in court. We get that all the time ... we KNOW who has committed the crimes, but we cannot turn the corner with proof.

- Carl