Alleged probation violation?

Question

A friend of mine is sitting in jail due to alleged probation violation. When she was arrested in 2004 for no insurance, she was given a 750 dollar fine and 12 months probation. She paid the fine and worked out a deal with the PO that she would only have to call every other week. He even chased her down for $1.50 that he said she didn't pay. She paid it anyway and went along. Well she has since been arrested and the PO is now saying that she had 40 hours of community service that she never did and 51 days left on probation. She had never heard from him after she got off probation and sent him his $1.50 and she has never moved so she is still at the same phone number. When she got off probation last year, she asked the PO for paperwork and he refused to give her any so she just let it go. Any advise??

We already have an attorney that is working for him but right now it is a he said/she said game due to the fact that he never gave her the paperwork. Our last hope is the original court documents that stated what she was convicted for if they haven't been tampered with. It is a small county in GA so the possibility is there.

Well, she has had a probation officer before so if she had community service she would have done it. She is not the type of person to just let this **** slide. My LT. and several of my cop friends say that for a simple no insurance arrest, 12 months probation, a fine, AND 40 hours of community service just doesn't sound right. They also said it seems like the PO dropped the ball when he failed to let her know that she actually had community service. Is there anyway he could have changed the probation from 12 months to 40 hours of community service without the judges say so? My LT says they sometimes do that in order to shorten the probation but never all three for a simple misdemenor. Thanks

Thanks to all you guys for your help. She is being let out today due to her PO saying she was to do her community service or do five days in jail!! So now that she did her five days, he is releasing her late tonight or early tomorrow. You know how slow them peeps are with paperwork. YAY!!

Answer 1

She needs to contact the Clerk of the Court for the county in which she was sentenced to see if she can get a copy of the probation order. This will show whether or not she was sentenced to community service.

Answer 2

Just a thought for you...
My son insists he was evicted from an apartment in violation of his tenant "rights". He has even become determined to hire an attorney to sue the landlord. When I was finally able to read the actual eviction notice for myself, sure enough, what he could expect was spelled out quite clearly. The landlord did not violate any contract in any way.
The problem was #1my son's inability to understand what the document really said, and #2his misunderstanding of his own status as tenant.
As I said, he is determined to (throw money away) hire an attorney and fight this losing battle. It's too bad really. Anyway, the point is, very often things can seem quite unfair or somehow just wrong. I think unless I see first hand, or read for myself, I might be a little slow to take up another's battle cry.
What made me even write this story is that what you've described also describes an experience my son had over a traffic violation. Of course, in the end I found (through seeing the solid evidence) that there was SOOO much more to that story than he told as well. He just didn't listen carefully enough, didn't ask questions he should have asked, and procrastinated to get the right information.
I'm certainly not suggesting your friend has done the same, I'm only saying it can be easy to misunderstand requirements when in a tense situation such as court.
But if an attorney enlightens your friend and he gets information which might be embarrassing to him, you probably won't hear the whole story then either. I think sometimes we assume too easily that the judicial system, or corrections, or law enforcement are the ones who have been unjust or untruthful or unreasonable.

Answer 3

I think she violated her probation. She can go to the court to get the ruling of the ,judge, court which she should already know. I live in Georgia and community service is usually a condition that goes along with the fine and probation. If she didn't complete the community service she did not comply with the terms of her probation even if she paid the fine. If she failed to meet any of the conditions then she violated the conditions of her probation.
The probation officer can't change the conditions, the conditions and sentencing are decided by the judge. She needs the get the paper work or the ruling from the court. If the probation officer has violated her rights, she needs to file a complaint against him and get an attorney to file a civil suit. The reason for violations are usually on the back of the warrant, probationer has failed to report and pay fines in the rear of 250.00. Probationer failed to perform 20 hours community service etc.
So its not hard to get the paperwork , they keep the dispositions and original tickets in the records room at my department.

Answer 4

A lot of times people hear what they want to hear. They lose their paperwork. They don't or won't listen. They forget the details. The truth is that even if the PO was screwing the pooch instead of doing his job, most people will believe the PO before they believe someone who broke the law. To win this case, you need to come up with something definitive and documented, without that you are peeing into the wind.

Answer 5

Ga. is a screwed up state as far as local pd's are concerned. Even though she is out, have the lawyer to file suit for excessive punishment for such a small infraction, or whatever he deems best.
I just had a friend that called 911 to arrest someone in his business destroying the place, and he is the one that got locked up, lol. He was held 26 hours w/o charges or being allowed to call anyone. His lawyer got him out in 20 minutes when he called the judge. He is suing. If you ever need police in Georgia, always call the local sheriff, rather than the city police, or the state patrol if in doubt of the sheriff too.
...jj

Answer 6

I believe it nothing surprises me anymore.My husband had a speeding ticket he paid the ticket the officier never asked to see his insurance 5 months later he was pulled over again for someting minor and they said he was driving on a suspended licence for not having insurance with the speeding ticket they took him right to jail and made him pay 1,500 that night or they were going to give him 6 months in jail.I had to go and get a copy from the insurace company showing he had insurance at the time of the speeding ticket.But anyway I would get an attorney..

Answer 7

I don't live in the south and I know they have some what questionable tactics down there in certain areas however, I have never heard of a case where the defendant isn't present in the court room during sentencing with his/her attorney! Sounds a bit precarious to me! Has to be a paper trail somewhere! And if he/she is a "regular" at the court house, he/she would know all of the above! My advice is "GET A LIFE" and give up the "LIFE OF CRIME"- CRIME DOESN"T PAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Answer 8

Get an attorney to get the copies of the file. I am sure in the end if there are any problems they can be worked out.

Answer 9

Only a judge can legally change the conditions of probation. She had no written agreement to back up her claims and is now in a position where that is the only thing that will protect her.
It is her word against his and she will lose.

Answer 10

Yeah, get a lawyer. Seriously.

**********************

Then all I can do is wish you luck. There is a saying:

Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.

I hope that the truth comes through and those that have been corrupted don't get away with this.