Questions on filing civil suit

[mrmagoo]

What is the name of your state? VA
Ex-wife committed identity theft, forgery, etc against me in 1998 and 1999 in two different areas of SC. Ex fled to NC and wasn't arrested until 10/2001 and again in 06/2002. Her court date came up in 3/03 wherein she denied the charges and later pleaded guilty in 7/03 and got probation.

Would like to know if I can still pursue a civil suit for damages, pain, suffering.
Actions happened in 98 & 99 in SC. She wasn't arrested until 01 & 02 in NC and she was sentenced in 03. Any assistance or advice would be helpful.

 

[interabang]

2cents from a domestic violence advocate

Unless she has family that would be willing to pay off a civil judgement or some other "means", you will probably never see a dime from a civil case. Female offenders of domestic violence frequently use finances to control and harrass a partner, in fact the statistics on the female offenders of DV and Identity theft crimes are alarming (just like the one that estimates that 85% of identity theft crimes are committed by crystalmeth users, it's not quite that high, I believe it was about 60 to 70%of the women that commit id theft crimes, commit them against current/former significant others). Here in California, the best bet is to contact the Victim/Witness department with the district attorney's office, and apply for criminal restitution. Civil judgements can be discharged in bankruptcy, whereas a criminal restitution order never, ever, goes away, and precedes all other creditor claims. Another resource is www.idtheftcenter.org.

oh, and filing a civil suit, especially after the fact (ie. after conviction, and I'm assuming you've been given suitable restraining orders, if not get them, now!) will give her what she wants: your attention, your time, your energy. Playing with the DA just isn't nearly as much fun and won't encourage her to start up with her old games. Again, we're pretty lucky in California, most of the counties that I deal with understand and support male victims of domestic violence, and restraining orders and restitution, when not handled criminally are handled in family court and so far, my guys (clients) have been treated with the same respect, understanding and support as my female clients. Good luck