Property damage liability: What are my options?

... so, which former student are we talking about here?

It’s been a lifetime since I was in school. Since I went to an arts high school, I actually managed to breeze through Latin (most kids from prep schools already have that down) and later on, general legal history... I moved out, started working, and honestly, I wanted to just drop out. But there were these fees $27 attached to certain administrative fixes, so I ended up dragging out my status as a student for years after that 🙄

Anyway, recently—mostly because I'm just fed up with the state of things in this great big country of ours, especially with everything feeling like it's heading toward total chaos—I decided to take action against the very source of all these problems, at least if you ask me.

So, how does one defend themselves when the trial kicks off soon?

For now, until the court date, I’ve been ordered to check in at the local police station twice a week. For me, that’s about a 10-mile ride; I usually just go by bike, so I guess I'm getting some decent cardio out of it...

Was this your handiwork: http://www.nytimes.com/news/urban...-article-503412?

Jeremy Alvarez5 said:... so, which former student are we talking about here?

It’s been a lifetime since I was in school. Since I went to an arts high school, I actually managed to breeze through Latin (most kids from prep schools already have that down) and later on, general legal history... I moved out, started working, and honestly, I wanted to just drop out. But there were these fees $27 attached to certain administrative fixes, so I ended up dragging out my status as a student for years after that 🙄

Anyway, recently—mostly because I'm just fed up with the state of things in this great big country of ours, especially with everything feeling like it's heading toward total chaos—I decided to take action against the very source of all these problems, at least if you ask me.

So, how does one defend themselves when the trial kicks off soon?

For now, until the court date, I’ve been ordered to check in at the local police station twice a week. For me, that’s about a 10-mile ride; I usually just go by bike, so I guess I'm getting some decent cardio out of it...

How are you supposed to know, man? You can't plan a defense when nobody’s even bothered to tell you what the hell you're actually being charged with.

vividraven26 said:How are you supposed to know, man? You can't plan a defense when nobody’s even bothered to tell you what the hell you're actually being charged with.

Well, yeah, for property damage. I think the initial estimates for the damages were somewhere around 40 to 80 $0.00, but the last thing I saw in the news was closer to 21 $0.00.

Is "Big Sister" still posting on this PDF?

Zek0slav - nah, I just went at it with a borrowed metal rod and my own feet.

Look, if you’re trying to dodge the full hammer—you know, cutting down the sentence instead of getting a total "not guilty" verdict—you've got a few plays in the book. You could just own up to it, show some real remorse, or try to explain those specific circumstances that pushed you over the edge in the first place, plus maybe mention if you've got a clean record up to this point (?) or even prove you've already made things right by paying back the damages... or, I guess, you could always go the route of claiming you weren't in your right mind and let the court-appointed doctors decide if you're actually out of it.

hahahaha—man, there is just so much going on here!

vividraven26 said:Look, if you’re trying to dodge the full hammer—you know, cutting down the sentence instead of getting a total "not guilty" verdict—you've got a few plays in the book. You could just own up to it, show some real remorse, or try to explain those specific circumstances that pushed you over the edge in the first place, plus maybe mention if you've got a clean record up to this point (?) or even prove you've already made things right by paying back the damages... or, I guess, you could always go the route of claiming you weren't in your right mind and let the court-appointed doctors decide if you're actually out of it.

Well, I already admitted everything when I gave my statement on camera to the federal prosecutor (or whatever they call them).

expressing remorse,

That’s not even an option.

mitigating circumstances that led to the offense,

Do they even know what that means? Like, how much time can I take up with my testimony, or a confession? Can I submit an autobiography in writing?

your prior criminal record (?),

I’ve had some run-ins involving violence near sports games and some domestic issues, so my record is sort of all over the place. The biggest thing hanging over me right now (aside from this) is a charge for damaging someone's ID card (the Department of Homeland Security wrote $1000 ?! ).

that you will pay or have already paid restitution...

There might be a chance, but I guess it really depends on how the political winds blow. If things keep going the way they are, I’m planning on blowing up a few bridges and maybe a highway or something.

...or claiming mental instability that the attending doctors will evaluate.

Maybe it works, maybe it doesn't. Back when I was 17 or 18, I ended up in the hospital because of some "adolescent crisis" stuff. Since then, I’ve finished school, got my driver's license, went through the draft, and eventually, I was actually tapped for an elite unit meant for presidential protection. But during the background check, I was honest and told them about my hospitalization. Because of that, they permanently waived my military service. I’ve spent the rest of my life studying religion, philosophy, psychiatry, and psychology just to figure out where it all went wrong... In my opinion, I would have been fit for duty under Dr. Ivan Urlić and guys like him, but I guess those old rules just decided otherwise. I’ve been running businesses steadily since then; I’ve worked as a foreman at several companies (and I wasn't stupid enough to stay at any of them forever), etc.

What's the deal with the statute of limitations? Or just heading overseas for a while? Is there any chance the International Criminal Court comes looking for me?😉

It’s been ten years since the whole thing went down. Honestly, they aren't going to come knocking with some international tribunal because they wouldn't even have jurisdiction over this mess. Look, if you end up traveling through Europe, I could always just issue a European arrest warrant, so then we'll see how things play out.

vividraven26 said:It’s been ten years since the whole thing went down. Honestly, they aren't going to come knocking with some international tribunal because they wouldn't even have jurisdiction over this mess. Look, if you end up traveling through Europe, I could always just issue a European arrest warrant, so then we'll see how things play out.

So, some moderator went ahead and changed the thread title—which basically wiped out half my actual question—so I don't really see much point in continuing this whole debate with the self-proclaimed legal experts. It feels like nobody actually grasped what I was asking in the first place, and moving the thread into this sub-folder didn't exactly help clarify anything or get us any closer to a real answer. It's kind of a bummer that my older sister isn't around to chime in anymore; I have a feeling she would've actually understood where I was coming from...

Thanks for the help!

So you actually went into this thinking you could just go around wrecking someone else's property without any fallout or legal trouble just because that’s how you pictured it in your head? 🤷