GoodSamaritan
New Member
During the past holiday season and final exam week, I noticed an abandoned radio/walkie talkie. After realizing it was still abandoned after visiting our student lounge I searched the first floor lobby and hallways for someone to find the owner of the radio, a janitor or authority figure to turn in the radio. No one was to be found on the first floor. I picked up the radio, tried to communicate to dispatch by pressing the talk button on the side, in order to report an abandoned radio, no response or sound was made by the radio. I walked to both exits (East and West) and to the South Hallway looking for someone. I decided to turn it in to campus security, but no one was in the nearest security office, so I went to take it to the main campus security building across the college campus-which is our town. Midway I got a panic attack that I wouldn't get our computer shop owner's signature verifying he could not repair my hard drive and that he smashed it to avoid potential misuse of discarded harddrives. Our campus repair store has irregular hours so i doubled back to get that signature,no one was there I then received notice our course assignment that I though our group turned in two days ago was due at 5pm. so I worked on that, prepared and gave our presentation the next day, and totally forgot about the radio in the car trunk. The second day after picking up the radio, I go back to the building to use the computers to finish the project for which I had received an extension due to the discarded hard drive. Campus security then approached me, we spoke for 10 minutes, then they arrested me for larceny. Our campus student legal services has been very restrictive in their help as they won't confront security about handcuffing me, asking me questions, and reading me my miranda rights 45-60 minutes later in the booking cell. I turned in the radio when they were talking to me and walking me outside. Since there was not an opportunity nor am I told is it prudent to do anything but simply answer the officers questions when being questioned and not to ask questions nor redirect the office in anyway, which I didn't.
I have the following questions:
1) How long is a reasonable time to turn in property to lost and found once you find it?
2)Does anyone care that the final or projects in all three classes with due dates that Sun,Mon,Tue, Wed were all shifted at the last minute such that my main concern was staying on task with exams and projects and recovering/restarting a project after the hard drive was verified to have failed by the campus computer shop, that replaced it anew. And would that impact the reasonable person standard of time to turn in the radio
3) I have a postive track record of neighborhood watch at my complex (reporting drug dealing in the adjacent parking lot) and stopping a janitor from stealing bicylces off the public bike racks (bikes were not tagged for removal and only campus police can remove them)
4)if the police hand cuff you and ask you questions, and don't read you your miranda rights until taken to the station and put in the cell/tank, are your miranda rights violated, can one motion to suppress the actions and information during the period of being handcuffed and questioned prior to being read miranda rights
5) the officer has a record of deviant targeting of students
6) I have had security clearance at government facilities, will this hurt or help, and how will this charge or wrongful conviction if convicted impact future security clearance and job response from NSA
7)If i'm wrongfullly convicted and can't affort the bail, $ fee, what happens?
8) If my attorney has conflict of interests and can't challenge the behavior of university officials, what can I do?
9) my attorney has been unable to get the surveillance video that shows me looking for the radio's owner or authority figure, but the police have only produced selected photos snapshots from the video and say that for misdemeanors they are not required to provide more evidence
10)the police say they had video, and now they no longer have video, because it was destroyed or recycled 30 days after the event and the photo snapshot they have were taken within those 30 days
11) my university attorney says they cannot ask for the video because of conflict of interest
12) I've been encouraged to ask for the video under Freedom of Information act, how does one do this and to whom-the University of the State since it is a state university
13) Does it help to write the Governor and Congress officials regarding the inability to build a defense due to encumbered discovery
14)my attorney states that characer references in the form of letters and Amicus Briefs will not be accepted as they are heresay, and colleagues that support me need to be in court as Character Witnesses, however, they are doctors or professors of live out of state and to ask them to be in court for 1, 2 or three days is an incredible burden ont hem financially.
15) As I am flat broke until a job starts in the Fall as a course instructor, and the court as granted community service for speedig tickets this year, my attorney tells me that I can't meet in forma pauperis, although I was sleeping out of my car the first quarter of last year, and having burned through school loans during the semester (on tuition and work study was granted but not actualized due to being overqualified for jobs as a non-traditional student), I am worse financially than when I had the law suit that granted in forma pauperis five years ago after a neck injury.
16) Is my attorney being negligent, or working for the other side when she requests to have two meetings to prepare for trial, then at one meeting she says she doesn't want to prepare for the trial or my questioning (which she felt was important because I talk fast) because now she wants the jury to see me as a "crazy, nutty, absent minded" professor type as a non-traditional student completing a master's after transferring from another university due to that neck injury that complicated predoctoral studies and lead to medical leave of absence.
Overall, my gut feeling is the student legal services attorney doesn't want to build a defense, only tells me what we can't do and nothing about what we can or should do; Understanding larceny requires the intent to permanently deprive another of property, then would a jury even care about my prior good deeds as a pattern of behavior that would lead me to pick up the radio to turn it in? And according to my attorney,she says the other party will use my traffic tickets to convey law breaking behavior to counter act my prior behaviors promoting civil safety and security, is this true- how can traffic tickets (non-misdemeanors) be used to fortify a misdemeanor charge? Aren't they totally different -driving 55mph in a 45 mph vs. allegedly stealing an abandoned radio?
Lastly, I have a history of Distinguished Leadership Awards and Alumni Volunteer Awards from the University, so it is not in my nature short term or long term to steal, only to be helpful... so why isn't my attorney using that to defend me?
Thank you, anyone for answering these questions.
Is it possible to get a new attorney or is it permitted to do so one week to two days before trial?
(iv) Describe the issue well: Type in your post into the main area. Make it as informative as possible -- remember, people are not at all familiar with the facts of your story. Don't make it too long winded, post mostly the details -- "just the facts ma'am!"
(v) Tag your post! Please add in subject tags into the box below your post, each keyword separated by a comma. Help us help you and help others! We'll probably answer your questions sooner and also give you TL Experience points for doing so!
I have the following questions:
1) How long is a reasonable time to turn in property to lost and found once you find it?
2)Does anyone care that the final or projects in all three classes with due dates that Sun,Mon,Tue, Wed were all shifted at the last minute such that my main concern was staying on task with exams and projects and recovering/restarting a project after the hard drive was verified to have failed by the campus computer shop, that replaced it anew. And would that impact the reasonable person standard of time to turn in the radio
3) I have a postive track record of neighborhood watch at my complex (reporting drug dealing in the adjacent parking lot) and stopping a janitor from stealing bicylces off the public bike racks (bikes were not tagged for removal and only campus police can remove them)
4)if the police hand cuff you and ask you questions, and don't read you your miranda rights until taken to the station and put in the cell/tank, are your miranda rights violated, can one motion to suppress the actions and information during the period of being handcuffed and questioned prior to being read miranda rights
5) the officer has a record of deviant targeting of students
6) I have had security clearance at government facilities, will this hurt or help, and how will this charge or wrongful conviction if convicted impact future security clearance and job response from NSA
7)If i'm wrongfullly convicted and can't affort the bail, $ fee, what happens?
8) If my attorney has conflict of interests and can't challenge the behavior of university officials, what can I do?
9) my attorney has been unable to get the surveillance video that shows me looking for the radio's owner or authority figure, but the police have only produced selected photos snapshots from the video and say that for misdemeanors they are not required to provide more evidence
10)the police say they had video, and now they no longer have video, because it was destroyed or recycled 30 days after the event and the photo snapshot they have were taken within those 30 days
11) my university attorney says they cannot ask for the video because of conflict of interest
12) I've been encouraged to ask for the video under Freedom of Information act, how does one do this and to whom-the University of the State since it is a state university
13) Does it help to write the Governor and Congress officials regarding the inability to build a defense due to encumbered discovery
14)my attorney states that characer references in the form of letters and Amicus Briefs will not be accepted as they are heresay, and colleagues that support me need to be in court as Character Witnesses, however, they are doctors or professors of live out of state and to ask them to be in court for 1, 2 or three days is an incredible burden ont hem financially.
15) As I am flat broke until a job starts in the Fall as a course instructor, and the court as granted community service for speedig tickets this year, my attorney tells me that I can't meet in forma pauperis, although I was sleeping out of my car the first quarter of last year, and having burned through school loans during the semester (on tuition and work study was granted but not actualized due to being overqualified for jobs as a non-traditional student), I am worse financially than when I had the law suit that granted in forma pauperis five years ago after a neck injury.
16) Is my attorney being negligent, or working for the other side when she requests to have two meetings to prepare for trial, then at one meeting she says she doesn't want to prepare for the trial or my questioning (which she felt was important because I talk fast) because now she wants the jury to see me as a "crazy, nutty, absent minded" professor type as a non-traditional student completing a master's after transferring from another university due to that neck injury that complicated predoctoral studies and lead to medical leave of absence.
Overall, my gut feeling is the student legal services attorney doesn't want to build a defense, only tells me what we can't do and nothing about what we can or should do; Understanding larceny requires the intent to permanently deprive another of property, then would a jury even care about my prior good deeds as a pattern of behavior that would lead me to pick up the radio to turn it in? And according to my attorney,she says the other party will use my traffic tickets to convey law breaking behavior to counter act my prior behaviors promoting civil safety and security, is this true- how can traffic tickets (non-misdemeanors) be used to fortify a misdemeanor charge? Aren't they totally different -driving 55mph in a 45 mph vs. allegedly stealing an abandoned radio?
Lastly, I have a history of Distinguished Leadership Awards and Alumni Volunteer Awards from the University, so it is not in my nature short term or long term to steal, only to be helpful... so why isn't my attorney using that to defend me?
Thank you, anyone for answering these questions.
Is it possible to get a new attorney or is it permitted to do so one week to two days before trial?
(iv) Describe the issue well: Type in your post into the main area. Make it as informative as possible -- remember, people are not at all familiar with the facts of your story. Don't make it too long winded, post mostly the details -- "just the facts ma'am!"
(v) Tag your post! Please add in subject tags into the box below your post, each keyword separated by a comma. Help us help you and help others! We'll probably answer your questions sooner and also give you TL Experience points for doing so!
