intstudent
Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? New York
Last week, I had a heated debate over email with my ex-girlfriend, and ended up sending her an email that said "I will never be fooled by you again! Starting from today, it will be your demise!" meaning I would destroy her social life through her friends and colleagues. Yesterday, I received an email from a common friend, to whom she apparently wrote:
"I reported him to the NYC police and filed a complaint. They take violence against women very seriously and filed my complaint. They told me his recent "this will lead to your demise" is a death threat, and that if he ever bothers me in this city they'll take care of it."
ABOUT THE EMAIL: Obviously, it wasn't a "death threat," and she knows it, too. I am not going to go into why here. You'd have to know me and the history of this issue between us (you can at least see, however, that it's referring to a process, not an event like murder, and I wouldn't use a word like "demise" to refer to a physical death).
ABOUT ME: I am currently not in the United States, and I am not a US citizen, either. I was an international student in the US for 6 years, and that's when I met this person. She is currently an international student without permanent residency in New York. So, the email was sent from overseas, if this isn't already clear. The reason why I am concerned about it is because I want to return to the US for graduate school next year.
WHAT I DID SO FAR: I immediately called some NYPD departments to learn more about this file and what the implications are for me. Also I wanted to tell them that she had told me "I am having visions of torturing and killing you" and "Last night, when I was at the peak of my anger for several hours. With all the burning emotions inside, when I close my eyes, I can't stop picturing scenes in which I kill you or torture you" before I sent her that email, and these had changed my perspective about what we could apparently tell each other. I wanted the police to include these as well in that file.
Here's what they told me (btw, I hope I didn't do anything wrong by calling them without a lawyer, since phone conversations are recorded, but I didn't tell them my name, the complainant's name or the precinct, which I don't know):
1. FOIL UNIT: when you get back to the US, go to the precinct in which the complaint was filed against you (They said this to me even though I had told them that I didn't know whether I could go back to the US now). You can make a FOI request by mail from wherever you are and provide as much information about the file you are requesting as you can (but I don't even know what precinct the complaint was filed at -- I just have guesses, see below).
2. 9TH PRECINCT DETECTIVE SQUAD: They said they couldn't tell me anything over the phone. I asked them whether there was any federal database that this could go into. They said "no, it's nothing like that." I asked whether this could affect my chances of obtaining a student visa. They said, that has to do with immigration, and we couldn't tell you.
3. 6TH PRECINCT DETECTIVE SQUAD: These people were very rude to me and almost yelled at me. They said if you send a death threat to someone, and you're coming to the US from overseas, you will be arrested at the airport!" I asked them whether this could in any way be reversed, e.g. by the complainant. They said death threat filings cannot be reversed!
MY QUESTIONS ARE:
Will this leave a permanent record in my history? What will it be called?
Can it be reversed somehow by the complainant? Can it be reversed through some defensive legal process?
Who can access these records/files? Homeland Security? USCIS?
How could this be tied to who I am? She doesn't know my Social Security Number --only my name, my undergraduate institution, and where I worked after college.
Do I not have the right to defend myself, before a criminal record is established, or an arrest warrant is issued, or I am placed on a "wanted" list? What do you think most likely happened there when she went to the police station and filed a complaint against me, and what will happen now? I understand you don't have much information. Neither do I. But I was hoping you could comment on it based on the information I have provided.
Does this go into any federal database and affect my chances of getting a student/internship/work visa (I will need an internship visa soon, and student visa next year)? Or is it something strictly local? In her email, she said "if he ever bothers me in this city". So could it be restricted to NYC?
"if he ever bothers me in this city they'll take care of it" is also a conditional statement. Does this mean anything? Or am I just engaging in wishful thinking? From her personality, I am guessing she would be precise about what the police told her while writing about it to our common friend.
Am I wanted? Is it true that I will be detained at the airport if I arrive at the US as a student/intern? How can I learn my criminal status in the U.S. and its implications on my arrival and/or on my ability to get a visa?
What's the best thing I can do right now? How can I reverse it (I really need to)? All I want is to be able to go back to the US for grad school. I don't think I would be jailed, even if I got arrested at the airport, though I don't know much about these things...
Last week, I had a heated debate over email with my ex-girlfriend, and ended up sending her an email that said "I will never be fooled by you again! Starting from today, it will be your demise!" meaning I would destroy her social life through her friends and colleagues. Yesterday, I received an email from a common friend, to whom she apparently wrote:
"I reported him to the NYC police and filed a complaint. They take violence against women very seriously and filed my complaint. They told me his recent "this will lead to your demise" is a death threat, and that if he ever bothers me in this city they'll take care of it."
ABOUT THE EMAIL: Obviously, it wasn't a "death threat," and she knows it, too. I am not going to go into why here. You'd have to know me and the history of this issue between us (you can at least see, however, that it's referring to a process, not an event like murder, and I wouldn't use a word like "demise" to refer to a physical death).
ABOUT ME: I am currently not in the United States, and I am not a US citizen, either. I was an international student in the US for 6 years, and that's when I met this person. She is currently an international student without permanent residency in New York. So, the email was sent from overseas, if this isn't already clear. The reason why I am concerned about it is because I want to return to the US for graduate school next year.
WHAT I DID SO FAR: I immediately called some NYPD departments to learn more about this file and what the implications are for me. Also I wanted to tell them that she had told me "I am having visions of torturing and killing you" and "Last night, when I was at the peak of my anger for several hours. With all the burning emotions inside, when I close my eyes, I can't stop picturing scenes in which I kill you or torture you" before I sent her that email, and these had changed my perspective about what we could apparently tell each other. I wanted the police to include these as well in that file.
Here's what they told me (btw, I hope I didn't do anything wrong by calling them without a lawyer, since phone conversations are recorded, but I didn't tell them my name, the complainant's name or the precinct, which I don't know):
1. FOIL UNIT: when you get back to the US, go to the precinct in which the complaint was filed against you (They said this to me even though I had told them that I didn't know whether I could go back to the US now). You can make a FOI request by mail from wherever you are and provide as much information about the file you are requesting as you can (but I don't even know what precinct the complaint was filed at -- I just have guesses, see below).
2. 9TH PRECINCT DETECTIVE SQUAD: They said they couldn't tell me anything over the phone. I asked them whether there was any federal database that this could go into. They said "no, it's nothing like that." I asked whether this could affect my chances of obtaining a student visa. They said, that has to do with immigration, and we couldn't tell you.
3. 6TH PRECINCT DETECTIVE SQUAD: These people were very rude to me and almost yelled at me. They said if you send a death threat to someone, and you're coming to the US from overseas, you will be arrested at the airport!" I asked them whether this could in any way be reversed, e.g. by the complainant. They said death threat filings cannot be reversed!
MY QUESTIONS ARE:
Will this leave a permanent record in my history? What will it be called?
Can it be reversed somehow by the complainant? Can it be reversed through some defensive legal process?
Who can access these records/files? Homeland Security? USCIS?
How could this be tied to who I am? She doesn't know my Social Security Number --only my name, my undergraduate institution, and where I worked after college.
Do I not have the right to defend myself, before a criminal record is established, or an arrest warrant is issued, or I am placed on a "wanted" list? What do you think most likely happened there when she went to the police station and filed a complaint against me, and what will happen now? I understand you don't have much information. Neither do I. But I was hoping you could comment on it based on the information I have provided.
Does this go into any federal database and affect my chances of getting a student/internship/work visa (I will need an internship visa soon, and student visa next year)? Or is it something strictly local? In her email, she said "if he ever bothers me in this city". So could it be restricted to NYC?
"if he ever bothers me in this city they'll take care of it" is also a conditional statement. Does this mean anything? Or am I just engaging in wishful thinking? From her personality, I am guessing she would be precise about what the police told her while writing about it to our common friend.
Am I wanted? Is it true that I will be detained at the airport if I arrive at the US as a student/intern? How can I learn my criminal status in the U.S. and its implications on my arrival and/or on my ability to get a visa?
What's the best thing I can do right now? How can I reverse it (I really need to)? All I want is to be able to go back to the US for grad school. I don't think I would be jailed, even if I got arrested at the airport, though I don't know much about these things...
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