False Charges Filed by Neighbor

[TwoHorseWoman]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Rhode Island

Several years ago, one of our neighbors allowed us to graze our horses on his land. We provided everything the neighbor needed to keep the horses confined to his field (step-in posts, electric tape fencing and the electricity to power it, water trough, etc.) When there would be areas (roughs or weedy patches) the horses didn't eat, my husband would bring over our lawn tractor and mow those areas.

During this time, the neighbor would often "borrow" various pieces of equipment (generally without asking) and would not return it unless we noticed it was gone and asked him for it. Frequently, the items would either be damaged or broken beyond repair, but the neighbor never offered to replace the items he ruined. I was quite irritated that my husband allowed this neighbor to do this, but my husband didn't want to "rock the boat" because of his allowing the horses to graze in his field.

Additionally, since the neighbor liked to go horseback riding, my husband allowed him to ride our mare. He was supposed to let us know when he planned to take her out, was not to ride her bareback (since she's in her 20s and bareback riding is very hard on a horse) and he was supposed to stay either on our side street or on our land. Naturally, the neighbor would not follow the rules, and would take the mare without letting us know (very scary when you check on the horses and find one gone since you don't know if the horse has escaped or gotten hurt in some way) would ride her on busy streets for hours, allowed his children to ride without permission (the liability issues on this terrified me,) rode her bareback and never offered to help out in any way for the privilege of using (and misusing) our horse. He also would take my saddle, bridle, halters and lead ropes and just throw them on the floor of his garage. I finally had to start storing things in the house so the neighbor couldn't get at them.

Despite many pleas on my part, my husband insisted that it was okay because of the grazing privileges until one day when I was taking my husband to a cardiologist's appointment, and we went past the neighbor riding our mare on the main street and whacking her with a stick. My husband FINALLY could understand why I was upset by the neighbor's actions, and went to talk to him about how our horse should be treated.

The neighbor knew he could ignore me, but with my husband now laying down rules, the neighbor knew that his "salad days" of unrestricted use of our horse were over. He became very angry and ordered the horses off his land and wanted nothing more to do with us. However, he returned only some of our equipment, and despite several pleas from my husband to return fence posts and fencing, refused to do so.

Several weeks ago, my husband foolishly decided to go and collect our fencing on his own. The neighbor returned while my husband was doing this, and positioned his SUV across the driveway to block my husband from leaving in our UTV. My husband started to go around the SUV on the land bordering the driveway when the neighbor rammed into the side of the UTV, buckling the door and side panel.

The neighbor then called the police and claimed that my husband had "destroyed" 105 feet of "his" electric tape and that my husband had "rammed" his SUV. The police arrested my husband and he has been charged with vandalism for trying to retrieve OUR property.

The criminal charges have not yet been resolved, but I feel fairly confident that the court will rule in our favor since all evidence points to the neighbor being the aggressor and the thief. The question, however, is what can we do to regain possession of our fencing and receive damages for what the neighbor did to the UTV? Are there any procedures, also, for calling him to account for lying to the police and filing false charges against my husband, which caused his arrest and our needing to spend much needed money for legal counsel to defend us?

 

[justalayman]

to attempt to reclaim your property or compensation for your damages, you are likely relegated so suing him.

You need to understand; your husband was committing a crime:

§ 11-44-26 Willful trespass – Remaining on land after warning – Exemption for tenants holding over. – (a) Every person who willfully trespasses or, having no legitimate purpose for his or her presence, remains upon the land of another or upon the premises or curtilage of the domicile of any person legally entitled to the possession of that domicile, after having been forbidden to do so by the owner of the land or the owner's duly authorized agent or a person legally entitled to the possession of the premises, shall be punished by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000), or imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year, or both.

the ownership of the fence and such will likely be the point of his defense. I would suggest waiting until the criminal matter is resolved before suing the neighbor in civil court.

as to the damage to the vehicle: I cannot understand how it can be claimed your husband hit the other guy. Most vehicles do not move sideways. Can you explain how the police may look at the vehicles and determine your husband did hit the neighbors vehicle?

but I surely hope your husband has a lawyer aiding him in his defense.

 

[TwoHorseWoman]

to attempt to reclaim your property or compensation for your damages, you are likely relegated so suing him.

You need to understand; your husband was committing a crime:





the ownership of the fence and such will likely be the point of his defense. I would suggest waiting until the criminal matter is resolved before suing the neighbor in civil court.

as to the damage to the vehicle: I cannot understand how it can be claimed your husband hit the other guy. Most vehicles do not move sideways. Can you explain how the police may look at the vehicles and determine your husband did hit the neighbors vehicle?

but I surely hope your husband has a lawyer aiding him in his defense.

There was no charge of trespass made, so that is not at issue...just the charge of "vandalism" for my husband's attempt to retrieve OUR property and for the neighbor's ramming into the side of the UTV. Can the neighbor now resort to changing his complaint to one of "criminal trespass"? My gut feeling is that the neighbor simply wants money from us, since he claimed $100 for the electric tape (at $1.00 per foot, although 636 feet of electric tape can be bought new for $33.99 at Tractor Supply) and $1,200 damage for a scratched rear bumper on a thirteen-year-old SUV.

The only reason I can think of as to why the police allowed him to claim that my husband "rammed" his SUV was because he had his pre-teen children with him who backed up their father. Other than that, it makes absolutely no sense whatsoever that a UTV with no damage to either front or rear, but only on the side, and an SUV with a scratched rear bumper (where the neighbor forcefully backed into our UTV as my husband attempted to go around him) could possibly be considered to have been "rammed" by said UTV. I have yet to see any UTV that is capable of traveling sideways at any speed, much less a speed capable of "ramming" the rear bumper of an SUV parked horizontally across a driveway.

Since the only charges filed were obviously false (and, yes, I understand that a charge of criminal trespass could be considered legitimate, but that charge was not made) do we have any recourse other than a civil filing? Although it would feel absolutely wonderful to sue in civil court and win, I know that it would be extremely expensive to do so, and, since my husband and I are both retired, money is a definite issue. It does gall me, however, that this neighbor is seeking monetary damages from us for refusing to return our property and for his damaging our UTV! We have retained the services of a criminal attorney. Although it is expensive, I would rather pay an attorney his fee to resolve the criminal charges in our favor than to go it alone and have to pay a neighbor for, more or less, stealing our property and damaging our UTV.

 

[justalayman]

[TwoHorseWoman;3350985]There was no charge of trespass made, so that is not at issue.

until the statute of limitations to charge your husband has run, it can be an issue. It may be brought up in a plea bargain negotiation as well.

..just the charge of "vandalism" for my husband's attempt to retrieve OUR property and for the neighbor's ramming into the side of the UTV. Can the neighbor now resort to changing his complaint to one of "criminal trespass"?

the state files charges.

My gut feeling is that the neighbor simply wants money from us, since he claimed $100 for the electric tape (at $1.00 per foot, although 636 feet of electric tape can be bought new for $33.99 at Tractor Supply) and $1,200 damage for a scratched rear bumper on a thirteen-year-old SUV.

a scratched REAR bumper? How did his rear bumper get scratched if he rammed your husband?

The only reason I can think of as to why the police allowed him to claim that my husband "rammed" his SUV was because he had his pre-teen children with him who backed up their father. Other than that, it makes absolutely no sense whatsoever that a UTV with no damage to either front or rear, but only on the side, and an SUV with a scratched rear bumper (where the neighbor forcefully backed into our UTV as my husband attempted to go around him) could possibly be considered to have been "rammed" by said UTV. I have yet to see any UTV that is capable of traveling sideways at any speed, much less a speed capable of "ramming" the rear bumper of an SUV parked horizontally across a driveway.

ah, he backed into your husband. Personally I cannot see how they felt the charges valid given your description of the events. Hopefully they will be dimissed.

do you have any proof you purchased the fence or anything else your husband was in possession of?

Since the only charges filed were obviously false (and, yes, I understand that a charge of criminal trespass could be considered legitimate, but that charge was not made) do we have any recourse other than a civil filing?

no you don't. If the police believe he filed a false report, they could charge him with that but that is completely up to them.

Although it would feel absolutely wonderful to sue in civil court and win, I know that it would be extremely expensive to do so, and, since my husband and I are both retired, money is a definite issue. It does gall me, however, that this neighbor is seeking monetary damages from us for refusing to return our property and for his damaging our UTV! We have retained the services of a criminal attorney. Although it is expensive, I would rather pay an attorney his fee to resolve the criminal charges in our favor than to go it alone and have to pay a neighbor for, more or less, stealing our property and damaging our UTV.

small claims court would cost you less than $100. In most states the fees are awarded to the plaintiff, if successful. I have not checked RI specifically.

 

[TwoHorseWoman]

until the statute of limitations to charge your husband has run, it can be an issue. It may be brought up in a plea bargain negotiation as well.

the state files charges.

a scratched REAR bumper? How did his rear bumper get scratched if he rammed your husband?



ah, he backed into your husband. Personally I cannot see how they felt the charges valid given your description of the events. Hopefully they will be dimissed.

do you have any proof you purchased the fence or anything else your husband was in possession of?



no you don't. If the police believe he filed a false report, they could charge him with that but that is completely up to them.


small claims court would cost you less than $100. In most states the fees are awarded to the plaintiff, if successful. I have not checked RI specifically.

Since the fencing (electric tape and step-in posts) were purchased several years ago, we no longer have actual receipts (unless Tractor Supply keeps computer records of purchases made with credit cards) but, since we have horses, we have evidence of identical posts and electric tape being used all around our pasture area. Not sure if that is sufficient, but the neighbor does NOT own livestock of any kind, so would have no reason to be in possession of electric tape and step-in posts used for horse fencing unless we loaned it to him. Yes, I know...totally circumstantial...but, perhaps, sufficient?

And, what is ridiculous for the neighbor to claim about the electric tape is that it was "damaged" to the tune of $100 since my husband didn't actually TAKE any of it. He was in the process of removing it from the t-posts when the neighbor returned...so all of the tape is still there and the neighbor is still using it.

I hadn't really thought about small claims court. That might be a viable option. Thank you for the suggestion. My feeling is pretty much to just let it go. In fact, when my husband had expressed his irritation about the neighbor's keeping our property several months ago, I had told him I thought it best to just let the neighbor keep it, since I know that this neighbor can get really nasty...and he has done just that.

 

[justalayman]

Since the fencing (electric tape and step-in posts) were purchased several years ago, we no longer have actual receipts (unless Tractor Supply keeps computer records of purchases made with credit cards)

If I were you I would be contacting the credit card company to see if they retain any records that old. You need to be looking for proof of your claim and while I hate it, possession is often seen as proof of ownership.

we have evidence of identical posts and electric tape being used all around our pasture area

. so both you and the neighbor have the same great taste in electric fencing. Nope, not sufficient.

Not sure if that is sufficient, but the neighbor does NOT own livestock of any kind, so would have no reason to be in possession of electric tape and step-in posts used for horse fencing unless we loaned it to him.

I suspect you will have to wait to find out why he claims he had an electric fence but honestly, one does not need a reason to have an electric fence.

Yes, I know...totally circumstantial...but, perhaps, sufficient?

I would say not

And, what is ridiculous for the neighbor to claim about the electric tape is that it was "damaged" to the tune of $100 since my husband didn't actually TAKE any of it. He was in the process of removing it from the t-posts when the neighbor returned...so all of the tape is still there and the neighbor is still using it.

it gets curiouser and curiouser.

so if he didn't actually take anything, how can he be guilty of theft. Maybe attempted but not actual.

I hadn't really thought about small claims court. That might be a viable option. Thank you for the suggestion. My feeling is pretty much to just let it go. In fact, when my husband had expressed his irritation about the neighbor's keeping our property several months ago, I had told him I thought it best to just let the neighbor keep it, since I know that this neighbor can get really nasty...and he has done just that.

well, did you ever express anything of the sort to the neighbor? If so, then in fact it was his stuff.

 

[TwoHorseWoman]

If I were you I would be contacting the credit card company to see if they retain any records that old. You need to be looking for proof of your claim and while I hate it, possession is often seen as proof of ownership.



. so both you and the neighbor have the same great taste in electric fencing. Nope, not sufficient.

I suspect you will have to wait to find out why he claims he had an electric fence but honestly, one does not need a reason to have an electric fence.

I would say not

it gets curiouser and curiouser.

so if he didn't actually take anything, how can he be guilty of theft. Maybe attempted but not actual.

well, did you ever express anything of the sort to the neighbor? If so, then in fact it was his stuff.

My husband wasn't accused of theft...he was accused of vandalism. He cut the tape in one spot so that he could remove a manageable length of it. That was the supposed "damage" to the fence that the neighbor is claiming $100 for, even though he just re-tied the ends together (which works because he is not actually electrifying anything so tying the ends is fine) and continued using it.

That's the part that I thought might be deemed sufficient; namely, the neighbor has t-posts with electric tape, but it is NOT electrified, nor does he have a transformer or even a solar powered model to electrify it. He's using our fencing to demarcate his property from the neighbor in between our two places...and for that you do not need to electrify anything.

My husband asked the neighbor twice to return our t-posts and the electric tape, but each time the neighbor rebuffed him and refused to return our fencing. We never said anything to him about just "keeping" it, but rather asked him to return it several times.

All told, the neighbor has kept about 600 to 800 feet of our electric tape, which, in toto, is worth about $50. He has kept about 15 t-posts, which cost about $5.00 each along with insulators (used when we were electrifying the fence line when our horses were grazing there) at about $10. The total cost of the items is not that great, which is why I told my husband to just let the guy keep the stuff. I knew the neighbor would get nasty about it, and I just didn't want trouble with him. My husband, however, would get irritated every time he saw our fencing being used by this neighbor despite our asking him multiple times to return it.

It is most definitely getting "curiouser." When I asked one of the police officers about what had happened, he told me that my husband "cut a guy's fence into little pieces" (which made me think of pieces 12 inches or less, which made no sense to me...and which was not true) and that "there were three witnesses" saying that my husband rammed the neighbor's SUV, which, as I discovered later, and mentioned here, did not match the physical evidence...unless, of course, our UTV can travel sideways at a speed sufficient to "ram" an SUV.

I don't know how this thing will play out, but when I was waiting at the police station for my husband to be released, I was conversing with the woman officer who had also been there. I was pretty upset by the whole thing and couldn't really understand what was going on, but, in my ramblings, I told her about the neighbor's constant "borrowing" and damaging of our things and his misuse of our horse and the fact that he refused to return our fencing when asked. I hadn't seen where the damage was to the UTV at that time (basically too upset to check it) so I didn't go over that point, but she didn't disagree with anything I told her, and I know that she knew at that point that the fencing was ours.

I keep hoping that the criminal charges will be thrown out, but I wasn't sure if we could do anything about charging the neighbor with filing false charges (which I understand we can't do) and whether or not it might be possible for the court to order him to return our property (which, again, seems like it will have to be an additional civil matter.)

I do appreciate your insight on these matters. You've helped to clear up several things here.

 

[justalayman]

TwoHorseWoman;3351081]My husband wasn't accused of theft...he was accused of vandalism. He cut the tape in one spot so that he could remove a manageable length of it. That was the supposed "damage" to the fence that the neighbor is claiming $100 for, even though he just re-tied the ends together (which works because he is not actually electrifying anything so tying the ends is fine) and continued using it.

my error but since it is an electric ribbon, cutting it damages it and even if yuo can use it to restrain an animal, it does nor work as an electric fence. That would be vandalism or destruction of property

That's the part that I thought might be deemed sufficient; namely, the neighbor has t-posts with electric tape, but it is NOT electrified, nor does he have a transformer or even a solar powered model to electrify it. He's using our fencing to demarcate his property from the neighbor in between our two places...and for that you do not need to electrify anything.

while it may help, it is by no means defining. Seeing I have seen cars used as a fence, using an electric ribbon as a fence is just using what you have for something other than what it was intended for.

My husband asked the neighbor twice to return our t-posts and the electric tape, but each time the neighbor rebuffed him and refused to return our fencing. We never said anything to him about just "keeping" it, but rather asked him to return it several times.

and that is the time that you should have either called the police or sued him.

All told, the neighbor has kept about 600 to 800 feet of our electric tape, which, in toto, is worth about $50. He has kept about 15 t-posts, which cost about $5.00 each along with insulators (used when we were electrifying the fence line when our horses were grazing there) at about $10. The total cost of the items is not that great, which is why I told my husband to just let the guy keep the stuff. I knew the neighbor would get nasty about it, and I just didn't want trouble with him. My husband, however, would get irritated every time he saw our fencing being used by this neighbor despite our asking him multiple times to return it.

then husband should have sued neighbor. Self help actions all to often don't work out as the person believed they would

I don't know how this thing will play out, but when I was waiting at the police station for my husband to be released, I was conversing with the woman officer who had also been there. I was pretty upset by the whole thing and couldn't really understand what was going on, but, in my ramblings, I told her about the neighbor's constant "borrowing" and damaging of our things and his misuse of our horse and the fact that he refused to return our fencing when asked. I hadn't seen where the damage was to the UTV at that time (basically too upset to check it) so I didn't go over that point, but she didn't disagree with anything I told her, and I know that she knew at that point that the fencing was ours.

whether she believed the fence was yours or not is not going to make a difference. She cannot testify to that and she has no proof that the fence is yours.

I do appreciate your insight on these matters. You've helped to clear up several things here

just in case I didn't say it; your husband needs a lawyer. Best of luck to ya.

 

[TwoHorseWoman]

my error but since it is an electric ribbon, cutting it damages it and even if yuo can use it to restrain an animal, it does nor work as an electric fence. That would be vandalism or destruction of property

while it may help, it is by no means defining. Seeing I have seen cars used as a fence, using an electric ribbon as a fence is just using what you have for something other than what it was intended for.


and that is the time that you should have either called the police or sued him.

then husband should have sued neighbor. Self help actions all to often don't work out as the person believed they would



whether she believed the fence was yours or not is not going to make a difference. She cannot testify to that and she has no proof that the fence is yours.


just in case I didn't say it; your husband needs a lawyer. Best of luck to ya.

Oh, I definitely agree that cutting electric tape destroys its usefulness as "electric" tape, but, since the neighbor has no animals of any kind and never did, the point is moot. It needed to be electrified only when our horses were grazing there, but now he is simply keeping it so that he doesn't have to supply his own fencing to demarcate his boundary from the other neighbor.

You're absolutely correct that we should have called the police back when the neighbor first refused to return our property. I, however, tend to be a person who does not like to make waves, and would rather just let it go than to start trouble, and my husband is one who broods about things without taking definitive action until he gets so upset about a matter that he does something dumb. Not a great combination.

I know that the police woman cannot testify as to what she now knows about the situation, but it makes me feel a bit better to know that her opinion of the situation has changed...small semi-rural community and all that...having the powers-that-be turn around and believe you about a matter counts.

Yes, we do have an attorney. It's expensive to be sure, but I'd rather pay his fee than pay anything to that neighbor who has used us for years. I am fervently hoping that the criminal charges are thrown out...just for the satisfaction of knowing that the neighbor is getting nothing more from us. God knows, he's taken enough!