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Suburban, white, Ivy League-educated, American young adult, who knows his rights and how to act respectful (read "deferential" or "submissive") around police, w

Suburban, white, Ivy League-educated, American young adult, who knows his rights and how to act respectful (read "deferential" or "submissive") around police, with a well-off family stuffed with lawyers and law enforcement here. Arrested on a false charge in an upscale neighborhood while well-dressed and not intoxicated. It took two and a half years of my life, a suspension from school, and over $50,000 before the charge was dismissed with prejudice and the suspension overturned. The system works, eventually, for some people. But man can a rogue police officer and DA do some damage to you in the mean time. The psychic scars will probably never completely fade.

NullCharacter 11y ago
What was the charge, out of curiosity?
- th0w4way 11y ago
  Second degree aggravated assault, simple assault, and terroristic threat. The witness was mentally ill, although it took a long time for the various authorities (police, prosecutor, and school deans) to disclose the documents and video records that demonstrated this (suicide attempt that evening, no less than seven previous and subsequent false allegations, bizarre and contradictory statements smoothed over by the officer, and an attempt to withdraw the allegation a week later, clinical history of bipolar II and borderline personality disorder.) Once disclosed, the case was dismissed.
  - wil421 11y ago
    Did you know the witness before this happened?
  - magic_beans 11y ago
    There is more to this story you are not telling us. How exactly did the witness identify you?
  - NullCharacter 11y ago
    So you're walking down the street in an upscale neighborhood wearing your Sunday best and.... you get these three charges levied on you? Feel like there are details missing to this story.
    - th0w4way 11y ago
      Oh there's a myriad of details missing, to protect both my privacy, and the privacy of the accuser, whom I have come to believe was an unfortunate victim of both their own mental illness and the state. It's more along the lines of: I was sitting at friend's house, (quite literally) in my Sunday best. I received a phone call from an acquaintance who was distraught. I arrived at the home, was arrested, placed in handcuffs (double locked behind my back), and held for forty eight hours without food or drink. I was released after paying an exorbitant bond (did you know you can post bond with a debit card?), followed by a rather insane two and one half years prosecution, against the wishes of everyone involved.
robwilliams 11y ago
You make this sound like a common occurrence. Anecdotes work both ways, though. I'm sure hundreds of readers here could say that they've never been falsely accused and had to fight a rogue DA to get their name cleared (sounds like a movie plot).
- th0w4way 11y ago
  >sounds like a movie plot If only you knew the rest of the story... It often felt like I'd been thrown into some bizarre screenwriter's fantasy. But this is real. My experience suggests the problem is systemic, not isolated. I can only imagine that if I were a poor black kid from the inner city, I would be in prison right now, rather than several years removed from that nightmare.
- kazinator 11y ago
  > You make this sound like a common occurrence. No, that anecdote plus the fact that the USA has a disproportionate number of people in jails compared to other developed countries makes it sound like a common occurrence. See this recent HN submission: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10091586 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10091586 From the submission's referenced paper: The incarceration boom is unprecedented in American history, and unseen anywhere else in the world; traditionally indistinguishable from its peers, the United States is now the world’s largest jailer, both in absolute numbers and in rate. Home to only five percent of the world’s population, it now houses over twenty percent of its prisoners.

NullCharacter 11y ago

What was the charge, out of curiosity?

th0w4way 11y ago
Second degree aggravated assault, simple assault, and terroristic threat. The witness was mentally ill, although it took a long time for the various authorities (police, prosecutor, and school deans) to disclose the documents and video records that demonstrated this (suicide attempt that evening, no less than seven previous and subsequent false allegations, bizarre and contradictory statements smoothed over by the officer, and an attempt to withdraw the allegation a week later, clinical history of bipolar II and borderline personality disorder.) Once disclosed, the case was dismissed.
- wil421 11y ago
  Did you know the witness before this happened?
- magic_beans 11y ago
  There is more to this story you are not telling us. How exactly did the witness identify you?
- NullCharacter 11y ago
  So you're walking down the street in an upscale neighborhood wearing your Sunday best and.... you get these three charges levied on you? Feel like there are details missing to this story.
  - th0w4way 11y ago
    Oh there's a myriad of details missing, to protect both my privacy, and the privacy of the accuser, whom I have come to believe was an unfortunate victim of both their own mental illness and the state. It's more along the lines of: I was sitting at friend's house, (quite literally) in my Sunday best. I received a phone call from an acquaintance who was distraught. I arrived at the home, was arrested, placed in handcuffs (double locked behind my back), and held for forty eight hours without food or drink. I was released after paying an exorbitant bond (did you know you can post bond with a debit card?), followed by a rather insane two and one half years prosecution, against the wishes of everyone involved.

robwilliams 11y ago

You make this sound like a common occurrence. Anecdotes work both ways, though. I'm sure hundreds of readers here could say that they've never been falsely accused and had to fight a rogue DA to get their name cleared (sounds like a movie plot).

th0w4way 11y ago
>sounds like a movie plot If only you knew the rest of the story... It often felt like I'd been thrown into some bizarre screenwriter's fantasy. But this is real. My experience suggests the problem is systemic, not isolated. I can only imagine that if I were a poor black kid from the inner city, I would be in prison right now, rather than several years removed from that nightmare.
kazinator 11y ago
> You make this sound like a common occurrence. No, that anecdote plus the fact that the USA has a disproportionate number of people in jails compared to other developed countries makes it sound like a common occurrence. See this recent HN submission: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10091586 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10091586 From the submission's referenced paper: The incarceration boom is unprecedented in American history, and unseen anywhere else in the world; traditionally indistinguishable from its peers, the United States is now the world’s largest jailer, both in absolute numbers and in rate. Home to only five percent of the world’s population, it now houses over twenty percent of its prisoners.