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Does Civil Rights = Civil lawsuit?

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Civil Action

Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Arizona

I was wondering why can't I find anyone (Attourney or other) to help me?

Here is my situation:
Over a year ago, I was with a few friends and we had just parked (in my vehicle) before I turned off the vehicle. A U.S. Marshall drove into the back of my vehicle and in an instant there were 20 or so Marshals pointing guns and me in my friends. While detaining me and my friends, they fractured my wrist. They said they were assisting a local police department.

To keep a long story short, my vehicle, cell phone, and debit card were taken without probable cause, without warrant, without due process and I was injured by the police. The detective heading the investigation would not tell me any details; later he fabricated an affidavit to have my house searched and multiple items taken and thousands of dollars of damage done to my home.

Afterwards, I never heard from them again. I was not arrested or charged with a crime or even cited for a violation. They refuse to return my vehicle and other belongings or pay for damages. They never pursued civil forfeiture with any of my property and after going to the courthouse I found that my vehicle was illegally taken by the police. Aside from a letter from the Motor vehicle division stating that my vehicle is in the police impound yard, there is no other paperwork or reports or warrants showing that the police took my vehicle.

I tried to contact the police department, city attourney, county civil forfeiture division attorneys office, U.S. Marshals office and prosecutors office; no one will give me any details or return my calls or give any information at all.

I have consulted with no less than a dozen attorneys, most all have said it is too complex for them and no one wants the civil case to seek compensation from the police department and U.S. Marshals for damages.

Why can't I get any straight forward answers from anyone and why can't find an attourney to help me.
 


quincy

Senior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Arizona

I was wondering why can't I find anyone (Attourney or other) to help me?

Here is my situation:
Over a year ago, I was with a few friends and we had just parked (in my vehicle) before I turned off the vehicle. A U.S. Marshall drove into the back of my vehicle and in an instant there were 20 or so Marshals pointing guns and me in my friends. While detaining me and my friends, they fractured my wrist. They said they were assisting a local police department.

To keep a long story short, my vehicle, cell phone, and debit card were taken without probable cause, without warrant, without due process and I was injured by the police. The detective heading the investigation would not tell me any details; later he fabricated an affidavit to have my house searched and multiple items taken and thousands of dollars of damage done to my home.

Afterwards, I never heard from them again. I was not arrested or charged with a crime or even cited for a violation. They refuse to return my vehicle and other belongings or pay for damages. They never pursued civil forfeiture with any of my property and after going to the courthouse I found that my vehicle was illegally taken by the police. Aside from a letter from the Motor vehicle division stating that my vehicle is in the police impound yard, there is no other paperwork or reports or warrants showing that the police took my vehicle.

I tried to contact the police department, city attourney, county civil forfeiture division attorneys office, U.S. Marshals office and prosecutors office; no one will give me any details or return my calls or give any information at all.

I have consulted with no less than a dozen attorneys, most all have said it is too complex for them and no one wants the civil case to seek compensation from the police department and U.S. Marshals for damages.

Why can't I get any straight forward answers from anyone and why can't find an attourney to help me.
I don't know why you can't get any straight-forward answers from anyone or why you can't find an attorney to help you.

It is possible, I suppose, that an investigation is ongoing and you will eventually be charged with whatever crime or crimes the police think you might have committed.

You have NO idea why you would be approached by US Marshalls in the manner you were? You have NO idea why your vehicle, cell phone and debit card were confiscated? What were some of the multiple items taken from your house?

You might want to contact the ACLU in your area. Here is a link: http://www.acluaz.org/get-help

Good luck.
 

Civil Action

Junior Member
reply

One attourney said that it becomes complex because the police essentially stole my vehicle under the color of law. Also the case involves, civil rights violations, assault and battery, false arrest and false imprisonment (since they detained me for over two hours) and personal injury. (I never resisted being detained and they fractured my wrist)

I doubt that the investigation is ongoing because there isn't a prosecutor holding the case and the original detective moved to a different department and I was unable to contact any new detective that may be holding the case, which I though to be odd because if I am a person of interest, I would expect that that they would jump on the chance to talk to me.

The U.S. Marshals told me that they were assisting the local police to make contact with me so that a detective could talk to me. All that I was told was that the model of my vehicle is similar to a vehicle that they believe was used in a crime. I still have no idea what the actual crime was. I have no criminal history, I have a graduate degree, I haven't even received a speeding ticket in the past 10 years. I've been told by an attourney that after reading all my documents and reading in between the lines, it looks like a case of mistaken identity and now the police have realized it and are ignoring me in hopes that I would just go away.

When my home was searched they took everything firearms related. The items that they took had been in my house had been there for a long period of time and I don't see why that it would be of amy interest to them and as mentioned in my previous post, it has been over a year now and nothing has happened since then.

I have contacted the ACLU about 3 months ago and they have not responded to me. After waiting a period of time I mailed my local ACLU office and still, no reply.

Any thoughts?
 

quincy

Senior Member
One attourney said that it becomes complex because the police essentially stole my vehicle under the color of law. Also the case involves, civil rights violations, assault and battery, false arrest and false imprisonment (since they detained me for over two hours) and personal injury. (I never resisted being detained and they fractured my wrist)

I doubt that the investigation is ongoing because there isn't a prosecutor holding the case and the original detective moved to a different department and I was unable to contact any new detective that may be holding the case, which I though to be odd because if I am a person of interest, I would expect that that they would jump on the chance to talk to me.

The U.S. Marshals told me that they were assisting the local police to make contact with me so that a detective could talk to me. All that I was told was that the model of my vehicle is similar to a vehicle that they believe was used in a crime. I still have no idea what the actual crime was. I have no criminal history, I have a graduate degree, I haven't even received a speeding ticket in the past 10 years. I've been told by an attourney that after reading all my documents and reading in between the lines, it looks like a case of mistaken identity and now the police have realized it and are ignoring me in hopes that I would just go away.

When my home was searched they took everything firearms related. The items that they took had been in my house had been there for a long period of time and I don't see why that it would be of amy interest to them and as mentioned in my previous post, it has been over a year now and nothing has happened since then.

I have contacted the ACLU about 3 months ago and they have not responded to me. After waiting a period of time I mailed my local ACLU office and still, no reply.

Any thoughts?
It is unlikely, if it really is a case of mistaken identity, that the police are planning to keep your vehicle and firearms and just hope you go away.

What happened to the friends you were with in your car the night you were arrested? Were they arrested, too?

The fact that you have not been able to interest an attorney with the facts that you present here is a bit of a puzzle. I think far more must be going on. What that "more" is, though, I have no idea. The ACLU handles very few cases but if yours has merit, they will consider it. I would keep contacting them and I would try to locate an attorney in your area willing to help you get your confiscated goods returned.

Good luck.
 

Civil Action

Junior Member
Reply 2

It is unlikely, if it really is a case of mistaken identity, that the police are planning to keep your vehicle and firearms and just hope you go away.

What happened to the friends you were with in your car the night you were arrested? Were they arrested, too?

The fact that you have not been able to interest an attorney with the facts that you present here is a bit of a puzzle. I think far more must be going on. What that "more" is, though, I have no idea. The ACLU handles very few cases but if yours has merit, they will consider it. I would keep contacting them and I would try to locate an attorney in your area willing to help you get your confiscated goods returned.

Good luck.
I was detained for 2-3 hours and then released (for civil damages it is considered false arrest but criminally, I was never arrested) , I was never ticketed, charged, or processed. My friends were detained for about 30 min and then released; they just waited around to see what was going to happen to me. I don't know of anyone arrested in connection for the reason of why the police did these things to me.

After 8 months of waiting to hear from the police, I decided to write a letter to the city prosecutors office since they can release my property. I demanded the return of my property under 18 U.S.C. § 983(a)(3)(B). The prosecutors office never responded, instead a person from the police departments internal affairs wrote me a short letter stating that they are keeping my property "indefinitely until further notice" which is not legal under 18 U.S. Code § 983 (a) (1) (f).

I have located two attorneys that will attempt to help retrieve my property but he wants 4K to do so. Both said that they are not interested in the personal injury aspect or assault and battery and civil rights aspect of the case because that was not their area of practice. I have found personal injury attorneys interested in only the injury aspect. Everyone has told me that I can't sue multiple times for multiple reasons and I would have to roll it up into one case in district court.
 

CdwJava

Senior Member
Your first problem might be that you are attempting to apply a USC to a state actor. If the US Marshals' service had your property, you might be able to make a claim (if they sought the property as a civil forfeiture). As it is, this appears to be a state (local government) issue and would be governed by AZ statutes.

If the property is being held as evidence, then they can hold it almost indefinitely - or, at least until the prosecutor or a court says to release it.

Your comment that a detective produced an affidavit to search your property indicates to me that they either had or later obtained a search warrant for your home.

Why the US Marshals office might be involved is a mystery to me unless you are suspected of harboring a fugitive or they just happened to be in the area when the police were looking for you.

I suspect that if a dozen attorneys said the matter was too complex and they did not want to deal with the local police it's either because you (a) have no case, (b) have no money and the chance of an award is too small to warrant a contingency fee, or, (c) you are in complete denial about the reality of the situation. If there is truly the appearance of malfeasance, you would almost certainly have the attention of at least some attorneys.
 

Civil Action

Junior Member
Reply 3

The local police have my property; I was assaulted and then injured by the U.S. Marshals and then hrs. later injured again by local police. As you know federal law supersedes state law. Also there is a search warrant for my house (3 days after they took my vehicle and cellphone and debit card and these items were taken without due process, without a warrant and without probable cause.) A big problem with this situation is that the police or U.S. Marshals never created a police report in regards to this incident.

You are right that police can hold evidence, however the items have to go through due process, i.e., seized legally and then after 60days the police are supposed to send a notice of seizure and then pursue civil or criminal forfeiture (since I haven�t been charged, they cannot pursue criminal forfeiture). The entire procedure is outlined under 18 U.S. Code � 983. It�s difficult to ask for my property back when the only two individuals (the detective and prosecutor) do not hold or exist in this case anymore.

The search warrant was issued because of a police affidavit, which I have read, 80% is completely fabricated and I can prove it by physical evidence that is currently in the possession of the police department and I have multiple witnesses that will testify if necessary that statements made in the affidavit are false.

I have absolutely no idea why the Marshals were involved, and no attorney that I have met has any idea either.

I get the attention of attorneys but this would consume a large amount of their time where as an attorney could go through several clients and make five times as much money than if they focused on my case.

I know that my case has substance because I have filed in district court without an attorney and the court accepted my complaint and now I�m just waiting for the defendants to be served. I just don�t know what to do next; its especially frustrating that the court required the Marshals to act as the process servers in this case and 40 days after they received the papers to serve, they have only served only 1 or 4 defendants.
 

CdwJava

Senior Member
The local police have my property; I was assaulted and then injured by the U.S. Marshals and then hrs. later injured again by local police. As you know federal law supersedes state law.
Not when the statute governs the action so federal employees and not local ones.

So ... if a federal agent injured you, gather your medical evidence, engage an attorney, and file suit against the feds. Though I find it hard to believe that hours later the local police also went out to your house and hurt you again for no reason ... but, if you can prove that, great.

Also there is a search warrant for my house (3 days after they took my vehicle and cellphone and debit card and these items were taken without due process, without a warrant and without probable cause.) A big problem with this situation is that the police or U.S. Marshals never created a police report in regards to this incident.
What kind of report do you think they should produce? And, if they did, what makes you think YOU have a right to it just now?

You are right that police can hold evidence, however the items have to go through due process, i.e., seized legally and then after 60days the police are supposed to send a notice of seizure and then pursue civil or criminal forfeiture (since I haven�t been charged, they cannot pursue criminal forfeiture).
First, holding evidence pursuant to a search warrant CANNOT be released absent a court order. Second, holding evidence is NOT a civil forfeiture. Third, there are numerous AZ statutes governing forfeiture - a lot depends on what is being seized and why. AZ apparently has some pretty liberal forfeiture laws, but, your case does not appear to be about forfeiture just yet.

The entire procedure is outlined under 18 U.S. Code � 983. It�s difficult to ask for my property back when the only two individuals (the detective and prosecutor) do not hold or exist in this case anymore.
And if your property were held by the feds, you might be able to use this code section somehow ... but, since it's not ...

The search warrant was issued because of a police affidavit, which I have read, 80% is completely fabricated and I can prove it by physical evidence that is currently in the possession of the police department and I have multiple witnesses that will testify if necessary that statements made in the affidavit are false.
There is a difference between being incorrect and lying. Proving a lie can be exceedingly difficult. But, you still have that problem of finding an attorney ... apparently your case is not as strong as you would like.

I have absolutely no idea why the Marshals were involved, and no attorney that I have met has any idea either.

I get the attention of attorneys but this would consume a large amount of their time where as an attorney could go through several clients and make five times as much money than if they focused on my case.

I know that my case has substance because I have filed in district court without an attorney and the court accepted my complaint and now I�m just waiting for the defendants to be served.
Accepting the case doesn't mean it has merit, only that it was properly formatted and filed.
 

Civil Action

Junior Member
Not when the statute governs the action so federal employees and not local ones.

So ... if a federal agent injured you, gather your medical evidence, engage an attorney, and file suit against the feds. Though I find it hard to believe that hours later the local police also went out to your house and hurt you again for no reason ... but, if you can prove that, great.


What kind of report do you think they should produce? And, if they did, what makes you think YOU have a right to it just now?


First, holding evidence pursuant to a search warrant CANNOT be released absent a court order. Second, holding evidence is NOT a civil forfeiture. Third, there are numerous AZ statutes governing forfeiture - a lot depends on what is being seized and why. AZ apparently has some pretty liberal forfeiture laws, but, your case does not appear to be about forfeiture just yet.


And if your property were held by the feds, you might be able to use this code section somehow ... but, since it's not ...


There is a difference between being incorrect and lying. Proving a lie can be exceedingly difficult. But, you still have that problem of finding an attorney ... apparently your case is not as strong as you would like.

I have absolutely no idea why the Marshals were involved, and no attorney that I have met has any idea either.

I get the attention of attorneys but this would consume a large amount of their time where as an attorney could go through several clients and make five times as much money than if they focused on my case.


Accepting the case doesn't mean it has merit, only that it was properly formatted and filed.
-To keep my original post short, I left out that after I was released from the U.S. Marshals (they were apparently following instructions from the local PD) I was followed by under cover local police for about 5 hours and (they were following me because they were waiting for a special warrant to go through and detain me again to obtain physical characteristics) once the warrant came back, they detained me again and while doing so injured my wrist further.

- I�m not fully informed on police procedure. Shouldn't there be some type of report when the U.S. Marshals intentionally hit a person�s car (creating an accident on private property) and then the occupants are detained for 2 to 3 hours and then ultimately the vehicle is taken away? I was told that they should have gotten a warrant to take my vehicle or had probable cause and they should have given me an inventory of what was in my vehicle, is this not true?

-From what attorneys have told me, when items are taken or "seized" even to hold as evidence, there is still a process such as notifying the owner that the property is seized and then after a period of time forfeiture would be perused but then with a court order the length of time to hold the items can be extended or other. Is this not correct? I mean, they cant just take your property and not give you papers showing that they took your property and you have no chance in getting it back and they just verbally tell you that they believe it to be evidence and they are simply taking it. Or can they?

-The Marshals said that the police helicopter spotted my vehicle in a parking lot (point A) and that�s how they found me and then followed me until I stopped in the parking lot of a business (point b). The police affidavit says that two officers found my vehicle while driving around some apartment complex (point C) which later I find out is the address of another suspect and then I was followed to point B. This part can be disproven by the testimony of my friends that were with me and if I can obtain the recording of police radio communications. I believe tis portion is fabricated because the officer wanted to add credibility to his affidavit. In the affidavit he also states he spoke to two individuals that "basically said" that I had been a conformation with the victim or victims. I later found out that the two individuals do not speak English (but there could have been an interpreter) and the two individuals never wrote any statements and both have a criminal history and I have another whiteness that can testify to my whereabouts and that I wasn�t in this supposed argument and there is video proof of that as well and the video also shows that the victim or victims were not even at the location where I was at anytime so there was never an arguement, in reality I have no idea who the victim or victims are. Just another fabrication that I can prove among other things.

-When I filed my complaint it took 3 weeks for the court to accept, the clerk told me that a judge had to review it before it could be accepted.

I think we are deviating a bit from the focus and that is what would you do in my position?
How would you get your property back and have the police pay for fracturing your wrist and destroying your home and taking more of your possessions?
It has been OVER a year and nothing has happened and no one will return my calls, messages or give me any answers.

I am one step away from going to the FBI and letting them know what happened.
 

Civil Action

Junior Member
Which attorney?

What type of attorney should I look for? I have mainly spoken with civil rights attorneys. I have noticed most avoid lawsuits that involve police departments.
 

quincy

Senior Member
What type of attorney should I look for? I have mainly spoken with civil rights attorneys. I have noticed most avoid lawsuits that involve police departments.
If you believe your civil rights have been violated, you should look for a civil rights attorney. Civil rights attorneys do not avoid legal actions that involve police departments, if the legal actions have merit. Some do. Many don't.
 

Civil Action

Junior Member
If you believe your civil rights have been violated, you should look for a civil rights attorney. Civil rights attorneys do not avoid legal actions that involve police departments, if the legal actions have merit. Some do. Many don't.
The civil rights attorneys that I have spoken to have only an interest in the 4th amendment violations and not the personal injury or assault and battery aspect. Then I find personal injury attorneys that are interested but no in the civil rights aspect.

What type of attourney would cover every aspect?
 

quincy

Senior Member
The civil rights attorneys that I have spoken to have only an interest in the 4th amendment violations and not the personal injury or assault and battery aspect. Then I find personal injury attorneys that are interested but no in the civil rights aspect.

What type of attourney would cover every aspect?
A civil rights attorney.
 

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