I've done WHAT?

[mascot]

Got this idea from Bullfrog's "I have WHAT" thread...wondering if anyone has been accused of something they didn't do and had to go to court to prove your innocence?

I have a pretty weird story:

One day my roommate told me I got a call from a police detective with the Violent Crimes Division.  Since I had been carjacked a few months before I just assumed that he was calling about the punk that tried to take my car and clubbed me over the head.  He asked me a couple questions, but never really elaborated why he was calling.  He asked if I knew "so-and-so" and I was trying hard to figure out two things: 1) how would I know someone associated to a punk that attacked me; and 2) why was he even asking me that question.

When I stumbled through my answers, trying to be helpful, he finally asked me if I knew Delores ________.  I said, "no, can't say that I do".  That's when all hell broke loose.

The detective then told me that Delores was accusing me of harassing her, and calling her making threats in the middle of the night.  I stopped him, "wait...WHAT?!?  I thought you were calling about the car jacking a few months ago?!?!?"  He acted like he didn't care, he just "knew" that I was guilty of what Delores was accusing me of.  He went on to tell me that I was lucky she wasn't pressing formal charges and that he's have me in a cell, etc.  I was baffled, I was confused, I was shocked, but more importantly I was NOT they guy they should have been after!

I remember that the detective mentioned that they set a phone trap with the phone company and my number showed up calling her twice within a half hour, and that was all they needed to file charges...had she wanted to.  That call was merely a formality following up on a complaint, and for some reason the detective felt that I was the culprit, and read me the riot act.  My head was spinning for a couple days on that one.

A week or so went by and there was a subpoena on my desk, opened by my HR department.  It was apparently delivered by US Marshall, HR read it, and then put it on my desk.  When I opened it, it was from Delores, and she was suing me for harassment in small claims court, for a mere $200.  I called the police department and asked for desk sergent or someone in charge, and I was ballistic!!  The detective I spoke to was no help whatsoever, and gave me zero information regarding the incident.  I got angry with him and gave him a little attitude and he decided that's why the other detective didn't help me, because of my attitude.  He "knew" I was guilty too, and shared that with me and also told me I was "lucky" she didn't press formal charges.  Holy cow!

I remembered the date that the phone trap was set, and it happened to be a day when I was at work, and the calls were at 11:00 & 11:30 AM, not PM, which was odd because she claimed the calls were in the middle of the night, not the middle of the day.  So I spoke to my roommate, who was a political advocate and campaign manager for a local incumbent.  He spent most of his day calling voters and when I gave him her name he checked and she was indeed a registered voter...and one who would have likely voted for his candidate.  So that's where the calls were made, and he volunteered to go to court with me and explain, but I figured, "I'm innocent, why bother?".

So I rushed around the day of my court case and from a computer store across the street from the courthouse I had our receptionist fax my time card for that week, showing I was at work at the time the calls were made, then I rushed into the building.  Wouldn't you know it, my case was the last one of the day...so I had to sit there for a few hours until we were called.  To make matters worse, the judge was a woman, and Delores was a frantic woman who used the judge's gender to try to coerce her to see her plight...that I was a pervert and a deviant and that I was lucky she didn't have me behind bars.  The case went on, and on, and Delores went ballistic.  I stood there and actually shed a couple tears because it was so unlike me to have done what I was being accused of.

Are you ready for this?  Delores, apparently, witnessed a crime and testified in court and shortly afterward was getting threatening phone calls that were threatening in nature, and suggestive of sexual violence!!  Furthermore, Delores told the judge she recognized me right away and saw me tampering with her car!  The funny thing is that I haven't ever gone anywhere near her town because there's nothing there that interests me, so the closest I may have ever been was about 15 miles away!

Finally, the judge realized that I wasn't the one, and Delores when crazy claiming I could have forged my timecard, and all sorts of things.  She went so crazy that the judge told her if she didn't calm down the Marshall was going to put her in handcuffs and in a cell until she calms down.  Delores was furious, but fortunately for her she bit her tongue and remained silent until the decision was made and I prevailed.  The just excused Delores and then asked me to stay, and that the Marshall remain in the courtroom as well.

"Okay, now what??", I thought.  I stood there, shaking, and anticipating a tongue lashing or lecture or something when the judge looked up from her paperwork and apologized to me.  "I'm sorry," she said, "I wanted you to wait here while Delores had time to get in her car and leave and I would like the Marshall to escort you to your car to make sure you can leave safely.  She seemed a bit unstable, and I am concerned for your safety".  WHEW!!!  I'm so glad I wasn't the only one who saw how mental Delores was getting!

So all in all, I had to take a couple days vacation to get facts and go to court on this, and to put a dollar amount on the paperwork and time it cost me by taking days off of work, it cost me about $300 to defend myself against a small claims suit for $200.  That was about 14 years ago and I can almost remember it like it was yesterday...or the day before maybe, but still....what an experience!

So how about you? 

[Mikey]

You need to write a book Michael.  I swear you are sh** magnet.....   

[mascot]

hmm...uh, thanks, I think.   

Just remember...whenever you or someone you know has a dark cloud hanging overhead...that belongs to me.  It's just on loan! 

[livetogarden]

We didn't actually have to appear in court but did have to pay an attorney to correct a problem for us. Several years ago when updating our wills our attorney convinced us to change it to a trust. While doing so our attorney discovered a lien on our home. Here's the cause......
We bought our house shortly after we married, scrimped and saved to pay if off early while I was also working so when we had children we could afford for me to stay at home and raise them without worrying about a house payment every month. This problem all came about because there's another guy here in town with the exact same first, middle and last name as my husband. We have known for years that he's a loser. This guy went to the same high school as Rich (husband) and I went to, but was a year older and a grade above us. My Rich knew he wanted to go to college and also knew his best chance at being able to afford it was to study hard and get good grades to qualify for scholarships, which he did. But every now and then during high school days his parents would receive a 'pink slip' in the mail about Rich's failing grades. Unfortunately Rich's dad would lay in to Rich before he checked to make sure this was actually his and not the other Rich's. Before Tele-chek, etc. we would get refused at stores when writing checks because they had Richard Lee Eaton on their bad check list. Obviously the 'I'm not THAT Richard' conversation fell on deaf ears....I'm sure they heard that line before. We constantly got calls from collection agencies along with letters, etc. We were so glad when Tele-chek was started. We finally took our address out of the phone book and now still have our listing with just R and C Eaton and our phone number with no address.
At some point this loser's ex went to the court house to look up property her ex owned so she could file a lien for non-payment of child support against him. Unfortunately for us she didn't bother to make sure the property she found listed for Richard Lee Eaton was her Richard Lee Eaton. We were never notified that our home had a lien placed on it. Had we not been advised by our attorney to put our estate in a trust and therefore the title had to be changed we wouldn't have known about the lien until we tried to sell our house some day. We called our court house to try to correct this on our own but were told it was very involved so we ended up having to pay our attorney to correct something that the loser's ex was able to initiate for free. She placed the lien without any cost and was NOT required to prove that she had the correct Rich Eaton but we had to pay to get it released. How fair is that!!!???
The biggest lesson we got from this is years down the road we named our son Quinn Robert Eaton figuring that the chance of there being another Quinn Robert Eaton in the same town are very slim.  Rich said after battling for his good name with all sorts of institutions for years he wanted to make sure our son would have a small chance of ever having to do the same.
Cath

[mascot]

wow, that really sucks!  I swear, those who are less than forthright have to go through very little effort in life, and those who abide by the law and do what's right are the one's who have to pay to correct a wrong, your situation definitely proved that!  What a mess to have to go through...especially with a home on the line.  It just seems so unfair that you would have to pay to right a wrong that never should have happened in the first place. 

[Bullfrog]

Hmmm.. most of the things that I've been accused of, I really did. 

I do remember one "I did what!!??" moment disticntly though. I was single and booked a two week trip to go diving in Cozumel. Every evening after diving I'd eat a great supper and then go to Fat Tuesdays on the square. They play good, loud rock and roll and serve stiff drinks.
They also give you your change in American dollars, not pesos.

Over the course of a week I got to know my waiter very well. One night he told me "Felipe, try this club." He handed me a card that read "Good for one free margarita at Platinos" It was a totally nude club and he pointed out the direction, down about 5 blocks so I staggered in that direction. The man at the door smiled and pointed toward the staris. There was a landing half way up with a very large, tattooed man who I guess was the bouncer, he just knodded his head up and I passed.

The place was completely empty except for me and the waiter waved his hand and said "Sit anywhere that you like" Well I guess so. I took a seat near the stage and he brought me a huge, very strong fishbowl margarita. The music started and red lights bathed an enclosed shower behind the stage.
A very good looking dark skinned beauty was in the shower. She slowly and sensually washed every inch of her body while making eye contact with me. I thought "This is great! Why don't American strip clubs have showers?"

When she was done she sprayed a really nice smelling perfume on her after she toweled dry and began to dance while the next dancer showered. I was ready to tip her just after the shower. By the time her seond dance and my second margarita was done, I was entranced. She came to my table and asked me if she could sit down. She introduced herself as "Juliet" (right). She was from El Salvador and told me that she was trying to get to America but it was very hard to obtain entry...

By this time, I was in love. I told her "No problem, I'm staying at the Hotlel Lopez. Tomorrow about 5:00 ome by and we will go to the church and get married, this will make  you a legal citizen. I'll bring you back to America and after a while, you can divorce me if you wish."

"OK!!!" she replied.

When the morning sun crept into my window, I realized what I had done. I had gotten very drunk and proposed to a mexican stripper. Needless to say, I left the hotel very quickly that evening and kept a very low profile at Casa Blanca, a local bar.
 

[britishcolumbia]

bullfrong,  til spittin!!!