can I sue parties that accused me of cc fraud & now admit I didnt do it?

[Roland]

My jurisdiction is: Colorado

I am an English resident that lived in Colorado 17 yrs ago. Whilst there I waitered on some girls that paid by credit card and left a $70 tip. They were arrested days later for stealing and using a credit card and implicated me by saying that I knew the card was stolen. I only found this out 8 months later and turned myself in and had to plea bargain and admit guilt (due to circumstances) when I actually had no idea the card was stolen. THere have been huge consequences of this throughout my life including financial loss, being removed from America and having to leave my American fiance, jail time, humiliation (British national newspaper printed a 2 page feature on my criminal record after I appeared on a TV show), continual issues with immigration and the list is endless.

Anyway (and I will try and keep this short) I met the girl responsible for the credit card theft 4 years ago on holiday in Colorado. She admited to me that I did not know the card to be stolen and has, along with one of the other girls, made statements to this effect via a law firm in Denver. I tried to have the case re-opened but to no avail. As I mentioned before I am continually having issues and this year the US embassy took 3 months to decide if they would ever let me back into the US and instead of renewing my ten year visa they will now only issue one year visa's and at great expense to me.

I have truely had enough of the whole affair and have suffered enough and want some form of justice as I appear unable to do it through proving my innocence. I therefore want to take action against the girls for this ongoing nightmare and be compensated for it.

I believe they live in California now and just dont know what is possible due to statute of limitations or any other legalities that will stop me taking action.

Any advice greatly appreciated

Roland

 

[presutin]

Do you have their current and complete information? You will need that if you want to pursue this in court. The next step is to consult with an attorney to see if you are still entitled to pursue this (as long as the SOL has not expired for you)

 

[CdwJava]

The time to commence a civil action is probably one to three years ... I suspect that the time has passed. Plus, it is very likely that this person does not have the assets to pay both your attorney's fees AND an award. So, you have to ask yourself if it is worth it to try and sue her.

You might consider consulting an attorney in Colorado and asking whether it is possible or even financially worthwhile.

- Carl

 

[Roland]

hi - I believe she does have the assets now and I was hoping to find a legal firm that would do this on a no win no fee basis! The issue is that the problems for me are ongoing, I live in the UK and I only met with her 4 years ago whereby I finally heard it from her own lips that she knew I had nothing to do with the fruad!

 

[Roland]

I believe I can access her address and phone numbers for her. I would like to see if I can retain a legal firm on a no win no fee basis but am uncertain how that works in the US and do not even know if this is a possiblity?

 

[CdwJava]

That is called acting on "contingency". This is not a common thing to do unless the case is strong, and the potential award is well worth the expense. Unless this woman has a great deal of assets, and the case is a slam dunk winner, you may have a tough time with it. Since she apparently lives in another state, and you are overseas, depositions will be pricey and time consuming. *IF*the statute of limitations has not passed, and IF she has a great many assets, and if your monetary damages are extensive enough, it may well be worthwhile to pursue it.

However, if this took place as long as four years or more ago, you are almost certainly out of luck as Colorado's SOL seems to range from one to three years.

You might consult some attornies to see if there is an exception, but i suspect you are out of luck.

- Carl