Grand Larceny Arrest - Innocence HELP

[Bucketowater]

Oklahoma
My brother-n-law 39 years old (never in trouble with law before) went to help his nephew pick up a 4 wheeler that his nephew said he bought for $100. They drove to location and after helping him load it into his nephew's truck, my brother-n-law noticed two cars following them. They pulled over and asked if there was something they needed. Second vehicle was a unmarked police vehicle and both were arrested for GRAND LARCENY, $50,000 bail each.

My sister has Multiple Schlerosis... he feeds her and he's been in jail since friday 6th and will have hearing Tuesday. She only got to talk to him once. They don't have money for this kind of thing. He says he's innocent and didn't know anything about stolen property. The nephew, on the other hand, at this time we don't think he has Bill of Sale. We are waiting on that.

My sister contacted the owner of 4 wheeler and they said they were not home at time of "theft" but their legal age son was. I wonder why someone was there so quickly to follow them ... it was like it was anticipated or something.

If my brother-n-law had no idea the 4 wheeler was not legally sold and was completely innocent of knowledge of wrong doing on the part of his nephew (if nephew knowingly did this) what is the best defense for my brother in law?

[seniorjudge]

Q: If my brother-n-law had no idea the 4 wheeler was not legally sold and was completely innocent of knowledge of wrong doing on the part of his nephew (if nephew knowingly did this) what is the best defense for my brother in law?

A: Hire a lawyer or get a public defender. Plead not guilty. Have a jury trial.




Standard answer

Here are some hints on appearing in court:

Dress professionally in clean clothes.

Do not wear message shirts.

Don't chew gum, smoke, or eat. (Smokers...pot or tobacco...literally stink. Remember that before you head for court.)

Bathe and wash your hair.

Do not bring small children or your friends.

Go to court beforehand some day before you actually have to go to watch how things go.

Speak politely and deferentially. If you argue or dispute something, do it professionally and without emotion.

Ask the court clerk who you talk to about a diversion (meaning you want to plead to a different, lesser charge), if applicable in your situation. Ask about traffic school and that the ticket not go on your record, if applicable. Ask also about getting a hardship driving permit, if applicable. Ask about drug court, if applicable.

From marbol:

“Judge...

You forgot the one thing that I've seen that seems to frizz up most judges these days:

If you have a cell phone, make DAMN SURE that it doesn't make ANY noise in the courtroom. This means when you are talking to the judge AND when you are simply sitting in the court room.

If you have a ‘vibrate’ position on your cell phone, MAKE sure the judge DOESN'T EVEN HEAR IT VIBRATE!

Turn it off or put it in silent mode where it flashes a LED if it rings. AND DON'T even DREAM about answering it if it rings.”

(Better yet, don’t carry your cell phone into the courtroom.)”


Here are six stories that criminal court judges hear the most (and I suggest you do not use them or variations of them):

1. I’ve been saved! (This is not religion specific; folks from all kinds of religious backgrounds use this one.)

2. My girlfriend/mother/sister/daughter/wife/ex-wife/niece/grandma/grand-daughter is pregnant/sick/dying/dead/crippled/crazy and needs my help.

3. I’ve got a job/military posting in [name a place five hundred miles away].

4. This is the first time I ever did this. (This conflicts with number 5 below, but that hasn’t stopped some defendants from using both.)

5. You’ve got the wrong guy. (A variation of this one is the phantom defendant story: “It wasn’t me driving, it was a hitchhiker I picked up. He wrecked the car, drug me behind the wheel then took off.” Or, another variation: “I was forced into it by a bad guy!”)

6. I was influenced by a bad crowd.

[url]http://forum.freeadvice.com/showthread.php?p=854687#post854687[/url]

Public defender’s advice

[url]http://newyork.craigslist.org/about/best/sfo/70300494.html[/url]


Other people may give you other advice; stand by.

[blanchlaw]

The Prosecutor will have to show that the defendant had the specific intent to steal car at the time he committed the act of leaving with the vehicle. The best criminal defense here would be to prove that the defendant had no knowledge that he was in possession of a stolen vehicle. Technically, your brother in law is innocent until proven guilty, and has no burden to prove anything. However, in New York, as in most jurisdictions, the jury is going to want to see some proof of innocence from the defendant in a criminal case. If his case is still ongoing, I would look into hiring him the best criminal defense lawyer he can afford. For more information on this you may visit [url]http://www.theblanchlawfirm.com[/url]

[Indiana Filer]

Originally Posted by blanchlaw

The Prosecutor will have to show that the defendant had the specific intent to steal car at the time he committed the act of leaving with the vehicle. The best criminal defense here would be to prove that the defendant had no knowledge that he was in possession of a stolen vehicle. Technically, your brother in law is innocent until proven guilty, and has no burden to prove anything. However, in New York, as in most jurisdictions, the jury is going to want to see some proof of innocence from the defendant in a criminal case. If his case is still ongoing, I would look into hiring him the best criminal defense lawyer he can afford. For more information on this you may visit [url]http://www.thecluelesslawfirm.com[/url]

Ya know what? I'd bet that the original poster has already taken care of this issue since this thread started almost a year ago.