I'm trying to sue a certain commercial business here in California, due to the fact that their security and management had me sent to jail for three months. Reason being a bottle soda that was accused to be the target of a violent armed robbery. After three months in the always dangerous L.A. county jail I'm free and want to sue this business for my moneys worth of everyday I was there.
Finding a lawyer is annoying first I have to find the case type and lawyers that do those case types.
Question is What steps should I take?
What type of case would this be? (ex:injury, family law, business law)
Find a law office and they should put you in touch with someone who can handle your case. Just start calling and asking law offices. This is clearly a civil matter becuase you are seeking damages.
Okay, four things:
1.) I don't think it's clear what your story actually is. Were you wrongly accused of shoplifting, or armed robbery? Were you sentenced to three months, or did you just sit in jail for three months pending trial, in which you were acquitted? Did you plead guilty or take a plea bargain, or were the charges dropped?
2.) Assuming you were sentenced for three months, businesses are not liable for your jail sentence. The jail sentence was imposed on you by the district attorney and the judge, who decided that based on the evidence the business presented them with, you shoplifted from the business (I'm assuming shoplifting, considering armed robbery is a felony and would land you in prison, not jail, for over a year). If the store was wrong in their testimony that you shoplifted from them, you'll have to prove that they purposefully lied, because if they made a reasonable mistake, they won't be found liable. (If you are able to do that now, why weren't you able to do it when you were in court the first time?) Even if that happened, your chances for any recovery are low because you presumably pled (or were found) guilty in a criminal court, which has a much higher standard of evidence.
3.) If you managed to get a judgement in your favor, it would not be as large as you think. The company would probably push to settle for a fraction of your wages for those three months. You would be hard-pressed to get a better result by going to trial.
4.) You can try asking your question on [URL="https://www.reddit.com/r/legaladvice"]/r/legaladvice[/URL]. If you want to pay a lawyer to tell you the same thing, you should ask the attorney that represented you for advice or a referral. If you did not have an attorney to represent you, well, that's probably why you had a jail sentence, so you should check Avvo for a lawyer nearby skilled in civil rights and criminal defense. Most should be able to give you a free consultation. None will work on contingency for a case like this, so you will have to pay a retainer in advance.
Just to make it clear: [b]the only way you would be able to pursue this is if you could prove that the store was purposefully lying or being criminally negligent in accusing you of shoplifting.[/b] The legal system doesn't bullshit around, and you'll waste your time and money if you can't prove it.
This is mostly just my own curiosity but... if you were in jail for 3 months, weren't you convicted or tried or something? Were you just accused and put in jail? Didn't you have an attorney?
[QUOTE=mzathemind;50257811]Reason being a bottle soda that was accused to be the target of a violent armed robbery.[/QUOTE]
I have no idea what this sentence means.
[QUOTE=Murkrow;50258068]I have no idea what this sentence means.[/QUOTE]
Sounds like he had a soda bottle and someone thought he was committing a robbery.
[QUOTE=Snowmew;50258018]Okay, four things:
1.) I don't think it's clear what your story actually is. Were you wrongly accused of shoplifting, or armed robbery? Were you sentenced to three months, or did you just sit in jail for three months pending trial, in which you were acquitted? Did you plead guilty or take a plea bargain, or were the charges dropped?
2.) Assuming you were sentenced for three months, businesses are not liable for your jail sentence. The jail sentence was imposed on you by the district attorney and the judge, who decided that based on the evidence the business presented them with, you shoplifted from the business (I'm assuming shoplifting, considering armed robbery is a felony and would land you in prison, not jail, for over a year). If the store was wrong in their testimony that you shoplifted from them, you'll have to prove that they purposefully lied, because if they made a reasonable mistake, they won't be found liable. (If you are able to do that now, why weren't you able to do it when you were in court the first time?) Even if that happened, your chances for any recovery are low because you presumably pled (or were found) guilty in a criminal court, which has a much higher standard of evidence.
3.) If you managed to get a judgement in your favor, it would not be as large as you think. The company would probably push to settle for a fraction of your wages for those three months. You would be hard-pressed to get a better result by going to trial.
4.) You can try asking your question on [URL="https://www.reddit.com/r/legaladvice"]/r/legaladvice[/URL]. If you want to pay a lawyer to tell you the same thing, you should ask the attorney that represented you for advice or a referral. If you did not have an attorney to represent you, well, that's probably why you had a jail sentence, so you should check Avvo for a lawyer nearby skilled in civil rights and criminal defense. Most should be able to give you a free consultation. None will work on contingency for a case like this, so you will have to pay a retainer in advance.
Just to make it clear: [b]the only way you would be able to pursue this is if you could prove that the store was purposefully lying or being criminally negligent in accusing you of shoplifting.[/b] The legal system doesn't bullshit around, and you'll waste your time and money if you can't prove it.[/QUOTE]
Well I was in jail pending a trial for FELONY ARMED ROBBERY WITH A STRIKE. Thank god I won in trial not guilty.
The events go like this, I walk into a store and see a squeezy pack of delicious hazelnut spreat and and got horny. While I'm investigating the package a loss prevention agent told me "you better not be opening packages in my store" and I was then faced by loss prevention and assistant manager. Frustrated from questions about a package I didn't open I went to the back of store to purchase the gigner ale I originally came seeking. Let me add I was homeless that week so I had all my belongings in a shopping cart in which I left at the front of the store JUST SO I couldn't be accused of stealing.
so back to the soda I was told I couldn't purchase it in the fasion that I purchase from that store daily and became more frustrated. To top it off security was looking in my cart so I went back towards them away from cashier. I argued to let me pay while they argued me to leave and never come back even though I did nothing. I placed soda DOWN ON NEAREST DISPLAY and attempted to push my cart out the store. Security wanted to stop me for more of a bullshit lecture and me not listening pushed into them to get past, wand that made them pepper spray me. Then they let me leave. THEN they followed me outside and took my skateboard. Even though I have none of the're property they still follow me. One takes my skateboard, and when I approach for it's return he swings it at my head. I catch it like Bruce Lee and then the asst. manager approaches in a fighting stance. We basically fight until police arrive for the board, and when police arrive they tell the police it was all over the soda.
[QUOTE=mzathemind;50258291]Well I was in jail pending a trial for FELONY ARMED ROBBERY WITH A STRIKE. Thank god I won in trial not guilty.
The events go like this, I walk into a store and see a squeezy pack of delicious hazelnut spreat and and got horny. While I'm investigating the package a loss prevention agent told me "you better not be opening packages in my store" and I was then faced by loss prevention and assistant manager. Frustrated from questions about a package I didn't open I went to the back of store to purchase the gigner ale I originally came seeking. Let me add I was homeless that week so I had all my belongings in a shopping cart in which I left at the front of the store JUST SO I couldn't be accused of stealing.
so back to the soda I was told I couldn't purchase it in the fasion that I purchase from that store daily and became more frustrated. To top it off security was looking in my cart so I went back towards them away from cashier. I argued to let me pay while they argued me to leave and never come back even though I did nothing. I placed soda DOWN ON NEAREST DISPLAY and attempted to push my cart out the store. Security wanted to stop me for more of a bullshit lecture and me not listening pushed into them to get past, wand that made them pepper spray me. Then they let me leave. THEN they followed me outside and took my skateboard. Even though I have none of the're property they still follow me. One takes my skateboard, and when I approach for it's return he swings it at my head. I catch it like Bruce Lee and then the asst. manager approaches in a fighting stance. We basically fight until police arrive for the board, and when police arrive they tell the police it was all over the soda.[/QUOTE]
From what I can tell, they [i]possibly[/i] wrongly detained you (I'm still fuzzy on the details), you committed battery, they defended themselves, then they committed assault, and then the police arrive.
Unfortunately your story ended exactly where you needed to tell what happened. "It was all over the soda" is, the way you put it, somewhat true. In California, a shoplifter battering loss prevention to escape after being caught shoplifting does count as armed robbery, even if they were unsuccessful in actually shoplifting. From your story, that's not precisely what happened (considering you didn't intend to shoplift), but the loss prevention guard made a reasonable assumption that you were trying to shoplift. The key word is "reasonable".
The judge realized that you weren't actually shoplifting, so you were found not guilty. That's the legal system doing its job. But you cannot turn around and sue the business for making a reasonable assumption that happened to have you put in jail pending trial. It's the police's and DA's job to determine whether the business was being truthful and reasonable, and they decided that they were. Unfortunately, you can't sue the police and DA for not being able to convince the judge that you were guilty.
Well I don't know how they could think I was trying to steal anything, I wasn't and I intended to pay , and I was jailed for it.
I don't see how someone can stand in front of my cart to talk shit while I wasn't doing anything but being denied service and arguing about it.
[editline]4th May 2016[/editline]
Also this jailing has caused me to lose my skateboard, artwork, all my clothing, everything I owned really.
[QUOTE=Murkrow;50258068]This is mostly just my own curiosity but... if you were in jail for 3 months, weren't you convicted or tried or something? Were you just accused and put in jail? Didn't you have an attorney?
I have no idea what this sentence means.[/QUOTE]
You could easily sit in jail for days/weeks/months or even years awaiting trial/bail here in the US. It depends on what you're in for and where you're at, who you are, etc. Happens all the time, it's just the way the system works here.
It boils down to how much money you have and how severe the crime you're accused of is, plus your flight risk if you have a record.
[QUOTE=mzathemind;50258445]Well I don't know how they could think I was trying to steal anything, I wasn't and I intended to pay , and I was jailed for it.
I don't see how someone can stand in front of my cart to talk shit while I wasn't doing anything but being denied service and arguing about it.
[editline]4th May 2016[/editline]
Also this jailing has caused me to lose my skateboard, artwork, all my clothing, everything I owned really.[/QUOTE]
Your story is so convoluted that it's difficult to really tell you whether you have a case.
If the loss prevention agent suspected you were opening the package, then he was suspecting you were shoplifting. That's a reasonable assumption and if that's what was articulated to the police officer, then that's what got you arrested. But when the judge found that there's no way to prove you shoplifted, you were found not guilty.
But your vague reference to "the soda I was told I couldn't purchase it in the fasion that I purchase from that store daily" makes me feel like something happened with the soda that made them think you were planning to steal it.
Again, as far as the law is concerned, you can't win a retaliatory case against an accuser by merely being found not guilty. Being found not guilty means that the prosecutor could not prove beyond a reasonable doubt (that is, could not prove with 100% certainty) that you were shoplifting. But to win a civil case against them, you'll have to prove with at least 51% certainty that they maliciously lied, or were unreasonably criminally negligent, to get you arrested. The mere fact that you were found not guilty is irrelevant, because the prosecution could very well have proven guilt with 99% certainty, but that little 1% stopped you from being found guilty. So, you're going to have to come up with evidence that they lied, and a simple he-said-she-said isn't going to cut it.
Unfortunately, the way the legal system works, you need to buy in with a lawyer to have any chance of winning. If you had no job and no home, then the only possible costs you could recover (even if you had a case) would be your possessions. I don't know if they would be more valuable, monetarily, than a lawyer's retainer.
But like I said, if you want to run this by one, they can give you a free consultation.
Aside from you said they said is there any concrete evidence, Like you recording them on your phone or something?
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