Please help.....(Obstruction of Justice charges?!)

Hi. I'm 20 and from Ohio. Here's what I need to know. (I would type out my whole story but I already did it once, and after I hit "Post Message" I got an error, and lost the entire 1000+ word post.....So I'll try a shorter version.)

Can I be charged with Obstruction of Justice simply due to the fact that the Fire Department Investigator (I think he's also somehow affiliated with the Sheriff's Dept.) thinks I know more than I actually do? They continue to question me about a fire in the building that I used to live in, that I had no involvement with. Now they're hanging that charge over my head, and threatening to press it if I don't tell me something that they don't already know about the things that went on up there. Things like underage drinking, drugs, underage sex.....Things that I however had no part in. I simply lived there with 3 friends. 2 of the 3 friends were the ones responsible for the drinking/drugs. Thing is, the people that were harassin.....er.....interviewing me were telling me things that I didn't even know went on up there. See, for the most part I just slept and played PC games, without paying much mind to what everyone else was doing. I just needed a place to stay.

Second, could they charge me with Contributing to the Delinquency of a Minor, simply just for not trying to stop the minors from partying? I never bought anything for them or gave them anything. I just lived there, and didn't pay rent at that. I had no authority there.

Third, would it be wise to seek Harassment charges against the Fire Officials interviewing me? During the last interview I was repedately called gay, even after insisting that I am not. I was also called things like panhandler, *******, retard, ect.....Yet I have no real proof of this.

I feel I am being wrongly harassed for something that I had no involvement in.....And they gave me until this Thursday to tell them something that they don't already know.....And I can't think of anything that they don't know. Can anyone help?

They can threaten any kind of charges against you ... whether they can actually follow through and get a conviction is another case.

From what you write, I'd say they might be able to make a case against you for obstruction if you are refusing to give them information. However, you likely do not have a legal obligation to talk to them about anything ... though you may want to think whether its going to be worth pushing that envelope because you MIGHT find yourself in jail while they hash it out.

As for the contributing charge, if you were an adult in a place where minors were getting stoned, drunk, or whatever - yeah, you CAN get charged for that.

Carl

Ok, cool.....Well, I'm not refusing them any info. I don't KNOW anythig else to tell them. If I know it, at this point THEY know it too. They just don't want to accept that.

And for the Contributing charge, well, they haven't pressed the case against any of the other people that lived there, including the ones that actually PAID the rent. So I'm hoping that they won't pursue it. And also they have no real proof, since they only have hearsay, no real evidence. I'm not sure if they could press charges for that if nobody in power (police, sherrif) actually saw it going on. They just heard about it from other sources. Nobody was ever caught in the act. And they KNOW that. We've all told them that it was going on, but again, I'm not sure if that's enough for them to press charges.

And I've never had any other charges on me before. That's part of why I'm so scared. But I'm hoping that fact will hold up for something if I do have to go to court.

Sometimes they can make cases for contributing by simply showing that kids are getting wasted or performing illegal acts in the apartment. The tenants of the apartment could find themsellves liable because of those acts whether they think they were caught in the act or not.

We CAN make cases based upon statements of others.

But, it sounds like a lot of bluff and bluster ... but, if they DO find out that you were in some way obstructing their investigation, you can bet they will likely try to hit you up with some crime. Hopefully you have been completely clean about what you know.

Carl

Okay, thanks. And yes, I have been completely clean with them. And I'm STILL being clean with them. I just hope they believe me. Because I know what matters isn't if I'm telling the truth or not, it's if THEY think I'm telling the truth. I know if I said the sky was blue and they said it was green, they'd be right, simply because they have power. If I get wrongfully convicted of anything, I'll lose the last remaining bit of faith I have in the US Justice System.

But enough rambling. Thank you for giving my posts so much attention, Carl.