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Today, community pressure resulted in criminal charges being dismissed against my client where I was unable to do so directly through the court system. (Story shared with client’s permission)
A few weeks ago, a friend who is a Black woman and community organizer reached out to me and asked me to represent a client she knew through the community.
This wonderful young man had been charged with NINE felony counts of obtaining property by false pretenses. I calculated the potential to serve TWENTY years in prison. Worst case scenario if he were convicted of all charges.
My client is a very tall and large. He is also a young Black man. He had never had any encounter with the police before other than community events. He is as gentle a person as there is. He also is of limited intellectual capacity.
He got a job working at a deli for a large company. At the end of the shift, he was instructed to weigh the food and throw it out. The first few times he worked, he paid full price to bring some of this food home.
A coworker saw him to do this and instructed him to charge each container of the food he was taking home for the price of a hot dog. Because he is a very trusting and honest person, he dilligently followed her instructions.
Loss prevention reported his actions to law enforcement after going over surveillance videos. Law enforcement decided to charge every incident separately as a felony.
The irony is that if he were to have just walked out with this food making no effort to pay for it, the charges would have been larceny, all misdemeanors.
I assumed I would just be able to explain the situation to the ADA and she would agree to dismiss the charges. There is a mental state requirement for criminal charges and there is no way this young man met that requirement.
I provided evidence of my client’s disability and was offered either plea to misdemeanor charges or a diversion. The officer wasn’t aware of his limited capacity, but once she found out, apparently didn’t find it important and wouldn’t reconsider the charges.
I went back to my organizer friend, and she added me to a zoom call of local individuals interested in social justice. I explained the situation and the sheriff happened to be on this call although I had no idea until he identified himself.
The community agreed to push on the employer for forcing these charges, push in the sheriff’s office for overcharging this young man, and push on the DA for failing to dismiss.
Two days later, I got an email from the ADA that she was dismissing the charges. I don’t know exactly how it happened, but it is a huge success.
Lawyers should consider alternatives to accepting pleas, diversions, and the answers that come from the court system.
