AboutJack Toomey Expertise Please do NOT ask questions about potential jail sentences that you or your friends may receive in court. There is no way for me to know that. I am NOT a probation officer or a parole officer so questions about those subjects will be rejected. I am a police officer with 26 years experience. Can answer questions about crime, police procedure, investigations, criminal law, search and seizure, traffic offenses. Prefer not to answer questions on the death penalty. Please do not ask homework questions. Remember this. The law in every state is different so questions about laws that are specific to your state could be difficult to answer.
I also cannot give you legal advice on what to do or not to do in court.
I have worked with authors in the past and will be happy to review scenarios or plots with authors to check for believability or accuracy.
Experience Police officer with 26 years experience. Twelve years in patrol and fourteen years in the detective bureau investigating every type of crime including murder, rape, robbery, theft, fraud, missing persons, etc, etc. Also taught at the police academy in areas such as constitutional law, search and seizure, and lineups.
Education/Credentials B.S. in Criminology from the University of Maryland.
Expert: Jack Toomey Date: 7/3/2008 Subject: word of mouth deals
Question QUESTION: I had a friend who i made a deal with word of mouth no paper work. He was supposed to pay me $600.00 cash for a Bass & Amplifier. He told me he would do this with his last pay check.I LEFT 3 NOTES to call me and he never did. In my last note i told him that i would have to take back my property if he did not pay me. I went back the next day to pick up my mail,i had just moved out and my mail still go;S there it is a halfway house.He had left a note for me to take my amp and bass back and my mail .But now they say that if i don;t give it back they are going to get me for burglary.I can;t find the note he left me but i still have all the original receipts with my name and that same address because thats where i lived too.Plus i was let in by another guy and he told me that this letter was left for me. I do not know if he knew what it said or not but he let me in and gave me the letter and now they say that he is a witness that they are going to use saying he seen me take back my amp and bass. can they really charge me on this?
ANSWER: Michael,
Who is "they" as in "if I don't give it back they are going to"?
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QUESTION: The guy that manages the house and the one that was supposed to buy my stuff.
Answer Michael,
I probably don't have to tell you but your question is very confusing and hard to follow. When you said "they" I thought it might be the police. So I am assuming that the police are not involved in this matter?
You asked whether "they" can charge you with a crime. "They" can try to charge you with anything they want but it does not mean that they will be successful. I don't know what state you are in or what the laws are because in every state the law is different. If this was happenig in MY state you would have to have a criminal intent when you entered a house in order to be found guilty of burglary. This applies to MY state only since the law in YOUR state is obviously different.
But no one is getting charged with anything unless the police get involved and if they aren't involved yet then it is possible that "they" are just blowing smoke.
