Expert: Michael Troy - 5/27/2004

Question
Hi, I really need someone's input.  My lawyer doesn't care, all he does is yell at me.  I am 39 and this is the first time I've ever been in trouble with the law.  I was arrested for retail theft while with my daughter.  She stole things I did not know about. When we were stopped by store security, she admitted it. The problems start when I was arrested and taken to the police station. The officer kept telling me that I was a bad mother. He put me in a cell to wait until morning to go before a judge. This happened at 4pm. I was starving and my head hurt and my neck hurt.(the security grabbed me by the neck and I have herniated discs)I begged for a half an hour to get medical attention. I finally got on my hands and knees and begged. He got his captain who did get me medical attention. I was starving and asked for something to eat. He said no. After I saw the judge, bail was set. My husband had to borrow money and come back for me. When he did, they said I wasn't there, that I had been taken to the city jail. I was there. The girl next to me got bailed out an hour after my husband came. Why was I discriminated against. Why wouldn't they let me go? They let someone else get bailed out. There are so many things the first police officer did that there isn't enough space to tell them all to you. Please, any guidence would be appreciated. I feel so alone in all this.
Thank you  

Answer
Hi Liz,

Sorry to hear about your difficulties.  

However, the sad reality is that jail is not a nice place and police officers are frequently not nice people.  They are not required to feed you at non-meal times just because you are hungry.  They also generally do not treat prisoners well, especially if they are screaming and crying.  Maybe you weren't doing that, but that's the impression I get.

It is also the case that people are detained for different periods of time for different reasons.  As far as telling your husband you were not there.  That may have been to get at you, but if it went to court, they would probably just claim it was an honest mistake and the Judge would probably give them the benefit of the doubt.

However, if someone injured you unjustifiably, you may have a case against them.  If you think this is the case, I would recommend speaking with a new attorney (fire the one you have is fall he does is yell at you) not only about your criminal case, but also about suing the people who harmed you.

Good Luck!

- Mike