Sister accused of stealing money, hearing tomorrow. Please help us!
March 29, 2011 7:40 PM Subscribe
IKYANML or my sisters, but thanks for your help! My sister was accused of stealing $70.00 and has a hearing tomorrow to enter a plea or pay a fine. We aren't sure what the is the best route or what we can expect.
Things are pretty complicated, since she has multitude of problems and is receiving SSI and many other money aids to live. She will lose all those services, if (from what I can remember or understand) she either has a guilty record or it has to be a felony.
She has severe mental handicaps and my parents are her guardians. She also has a history of stealing, having stole thousands of dollars from my parents and valuables from me. So, this is not exactly a crazy idea that she would steal $70.00 from the accusers.
She sticks by her story that she didn't steal it, and this is all a lie. My sister will deny until she's blue in the face! You could present her evidence and she will still deny any wrongdoing. We have no way to prove that she didn't steal the money and they have no way to prove that she did. No one saw her do it, they just noticed it was missing, called the police and filed a complaint against her.
Here's the question and sorry for the ramble!
Would pleading no contest be our best option? Hope for no jail time or probation and just pay a fine.
Relevant information:
State: Kansas
Gender: Female
Age: 25
History of extreme mental illness.
She has severe mental handicaps and my parents are her guardians. She also has a history of stealing, having stole thousands of dollars from my parents and valuables from me. So, this is not exactly a crazy idea that she would steal $70.00 from the accusers.
She sticks by her story that she didn't steal it, and this is all a lie. My sister will deny until she's blue in the face! You could present her evidence and she will still deny any wrongdoing. We have no way to prove that she didn't steal the money and they have no way to prove that she did. No one saw her do it, they just noticed it was missing, called the police and filed a complaint against her.
Here's the question and sorry for the ramble!
Would pleading no contest be our best option? Hope for no jail time or probation and just pay a fine.
Relevant information:
State: Kansas
Gender: Female
Age: 25
History of extreme mental illness.
This post was deleted for the following reason: poster's request -- jessamyn
If they can't prove it, there's no case.
How is stealing $70 a felony?
If she can't afford a lawyer, one should be appointed for her. See what the lawyer says.
When in doubt, though, always plead Not Guilty. That way you've not given anything up and your options are still open. I doubt any prosecutor wants to go to trial over $70 bucks.
posted by inturnaround at 8:10 PM on March 29, 2011 [3 favorites]
How is stealing $70 a felony?
If she can't afford a lawyer, one should be appointed for her. See what the lawyer says.
When in doubt, though, always plead Not Guilty. That way you've not given anything up and your options are still open. I doubt any prosecutor wants to go to trial over $70 bucks.
posted by inturnaround at 8:10 PM on March 29, 2011 [3 favorites]
Your sister should get a lawyer and listen to her lawyer. If your family is in a position to, be sure she takes the lawyer's advice and cooperates with her lawyer in preparing for her court appearance.
If she has a history of extreme mental illness, maybe your family could ask the lawyer about trying to get a social worker to work with her on finding a stable situation, getting treatment, etc?
(I see that you are fairly new to this site, but this kind of question has been asked before and the advice from all the lawyers who are on here is always the same: if it's a real legal question with real life-altering implications, you NEED to take advice ONLY from a lawyer who's licensed in your area and is working with you on the case. There are a lot of little details that can make a big difference to the right answer, and you really don't want to screw up by taking advice from someone who missed one of the details or assumed that Kansas law works like New York law or whatever.)
posted by LobsterMitten at 8:18 PM on March 29, 2011 [4 favorites]
If she has a history of extreme mental illness, maybe your family could ask the lawyer about trying to get a social worker to work with her on finding a stable situation, getting treatment, etc?
(I see that you are fairly new to this site, but this kind of question has been asked before and the advice from all the lawyers who are on here is always the same: if it's a real legal question with real life-altering implications, you NEED to take advice ONLY from a lawyer who's licensed in your area and is working with you on the case. There are a lot of little details that can make a big difference to the right answer, and you really don't want to screw up by taking advice from someone who missed one of the details or assumed that Kansas law works like New York law or whatever.)
posted by LobsterMitten at 8:18 PM on March 29, 2011 [4 favorites]
It is $70 dollars. If she does not have a lawyer she needs one if it is actually going to court, since she is receiving assistance it is totally not out of line to request legal aid, which may well postpone any real trial until that is arranged.
And yeah, the default is not guilty unless they have significant evidence to the contrary.
posted by edgeways at 8:52 PM on March 29, 2011
And yeah, the default is not guilty unless they have significant evidence to the contrary.
posted by edgeways at 8:52 PM on March 29, 2011
It also doesn't help her case to post that she could totally be guilty.
MeFi user names aren't admissible - yet
posted by the noob at 8:57 PM on March 29, 2011
MeFi user names aren't admissible - yet
posted by the noob at 8:57 PM on March 29, 2011
I don't think that would be a felony-level offense. It's hard to say if she should plead no contest w/o knowing more. What are the circumstances purportedly showing that she did it? What would the charge actually be? Find out exactly what would and would not disqualify her from the benefits she's receiving.
posted by J. Wilson at 9:01 PM on March 29, 2011
posted by J. Wilson at 9:01 PM on March 29, 2011
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by ewiar at 7:56 PM on March 29, 2011