redwings2014
Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Florida (I live in Georgia)
Before I get into the main part & reason for my question, I will provide a little background on the situation.
My best friend, *****, was born in Toronto Canada. ***** moved from Toronto, with his family, when he was 7 years old. I met ***** when we both were in the 2nd grade. We shared a love of Ice Hockey. ***** is a big Boston Bruins fan.
I was born in Deerborn Michigan, and I moved with my family to Georgia when I was 5 years old. I am a die-hard Detroit Red Wings fan.
I was *****'s Best-Man at his wedding & ***** was my Best-Man. His wife & my wife are good friends.
***** had got a job installing CCTV, Surveillance Cameras and Audio/Video Recording devices in businesses. His company traveled throughout the Southeast, mainly serving Bigbox retail stores.
My company was being shut down, so ***** asked his boss about hiring me. I went throught the interview process and got hired.
I have worked for the company for 4 years.
MAIN STORY:
On April 15, 2014 our job sent us to Florida to install new Surveillance Cameras in a Wal-Mart. We were contracted to be there for 7 days, 6 nights. We had to install over 150 new cameras, both interior and exterior of the Wal-Mart premises. We arrived on the scheduled day, met with the store management team. We were told to work primarily overnights, starting at 1am and leaving at 9am,
Our crew---there was 6 total workers---checked into our hotel rooms then went over the installation plans over lunch. We worked for 2 nights, then our contract was terminated & I was facing Hate Crime charges.
On the 17th of April around 12:45 am I was in the breakroom putting my lunchbox in my assigned locker, when I wrote a note to ***** that stated: "Tomorrow H.N.I.C." I wrote the note in red ink pen, symbolizing the red of Red Wings. I stuck/taped the note on *****'s locker folded. ***** knew it meant "HOCKEY NIGHT IN CANADA", and that our 2 teams---Bruins & Red Wings---were playing on Hockey Night In Canada.
Unfortunately someone took it as a Hate Crime. The Wal-Mart store manager said that when he was approached by an unnamed associate with the note & a description of me, that he felt that I was refering to HNIC as Head N---ER IN CHARGE. the police were called and I was taken to the station for questioning. I was arrested and charged with a Hate Crime, pursuant to Florida State Law. I did see a judge that morning, and was released on bail ($10,000).
***** was questioned, and he defended me. ***** said he I would never make a racist statement against him or any minority. The police officer that questioned ***** kept implying that, due to ***** being an African American, he should feel threatened. ***** told the officer that he is Black Canadian, and not an African American.
The other workers in our company, and our boss defended me. Everyone has said the same thing; I mentioned HNIC as a Hockey reference, not a Hate Crime.
I have to go back to Florida for court in June. My boss, co-workers will be there as character witnesses. Can I be prosecuted for this? The police officer questioning me said I could be facing ONE YEAR in Jail.
My question is, can I sue whoever took the note off of *****'s locker & led to this whole ordeal? I feel they invaded my privacy.
****My apologies if anyone feels violated or threatened with the language contained in my post****
Before I get into the main part & reason for my question, I will provide a little background on the situation.
My best friend, *****, was born in Toronto Canada. ***** moved from Toronto, with his family, when he was 7 years old. I met ***** when we both were in the 2nd grade. We shared a love of Ice Hockey. ***** is a big Boston Bruins fan.
I was born in Deerborn Michigan, and I moved with my family to Georgia when I was 5 years old. I am a die-hard Detroit Red Wings fan.
I was *****'s Best-Man at his wedding & ***** was my Best-Man. His wife & my wife are good friends.
***** had got a job installing CCTV, Surveillance Cameras and Audio/Video Recording devices in businesses. His company traveled throughout the Southeast, mainly serving Bigbox retail stores.
My company was being shut down, so ***** asked his boss about hiring me. I went throught the interview process and got hired.
I have worked for the company for 4 years.
MAIN STORY:
On April 15, 2014 our job sent us to Florida to install new Surveillance Cameras in a Wal-Mart. We were contracted to be there for 7 days, 6 nights. We had to install over 150 new cameras, both interior and exterior of the Wal-Mart premises. We arrived on the scheduled day, met with the store management team. We were told to work primarily overnights, starting at 1am and leaving at 9am,
Our crew---there was 6 total workers---checked into our hotel rooms then went over the installation plans over lunch. We worked for 2 nights, then our contract was terminated & I was facing Hate Crime charges.
On the 17th of April around 12:45 am I was in the breakroom putting my lunchbox in my assigned locker, when I wrote a note to ***** that stated: "Tomorrow H.N.I.C." I wrote the note in red ink pen, symbolizing the red of Red Wings. I stuck/taped the note on *****'s locker folded. ***** knew it meant "HOCKEY NIGHT IN CANADA", and that our 2 teams---Bruins & Red Wings---were playing on Hockey Night In Canada.
Unfortunately someone took it as a Hate Crime. The Wal-Mart store manager said that when he was approached by an unnamed associate with the note & a description of me, that he felt that I was refering to HNIC as Head N---ER IN CHARGE. the police were called and I was taken to the station for questioning. I was arrested and charged with a Hate Crime, pursuant to Florida State Law. I did see a judge that morning, and was released on bail ($10,000).
***** was questioned, and he defended me. ***** said he I would never make a racist statement against him or any minority. The police officer that questioned ***** kept implying that, due to ***** being an African American, he should feel threatened. ***** told the officer that he is Black Canadian, and not an African American.
The other workers in our company, and our boss defended me. Everyone has said the same thing; I mentioned HNIC as a Hockey reference, not a Hate Crime.
I have to go back to Florida for court in June. My boss, co-workers will be there as character witnesses. Can I be prosecuted for this? The police officer questioning me said I could be facing ONE YEAR in Jail.
My question is, can I sue whoever took the note off of *****'s locker & led to this whole ordeal? I feel they invaded my privacy.
****My apologies if anyone feels violated or threatened with the language contained in my post****
