An attorney in a court paper claimed I have a felony arrest. I was never arrested. What can I do?

Question

In a court document, opposing counsel claimed I have a felony arrest. I then filed a motion to strike and sanction. He replied by showing an exhibit of a sworn complaint that my ex-husband filed in 2004 which was never acted upon by the state attorney's office. Hence, no arrests, no court action.
When the attorney filed the exhibit of the sworn complaint, he referred to it as a "certified police report." It is not. It is a sworn complaint that was not acted upon. Can the attorney be sanctioned for this misstatement to the Court? Can I ask that the bogus sworn statement be removed from the current court record? Can the attorney pursue this matter further by having my ex-husband restate his allegations against me?

Answer 1

I have a website with legal links...

Answer 2

Sick your own lawyer on him.

Your husband's attorney is running through a gray area in a hope that the judge and your attorney won't catch it. In our system of court trials it is run like a sporting event with only side as the winner and the lawyers are fighting it out to see who can win. Sometimes this promotes the use of dirty tricks.

Have your lawyer point out to the judge that there is a huge distance between a sworn complaint and an actual conviction. The complaint was filed as a tactic to be used against you. It was a minor complaint that had little basis in reality, hence the arrest was never made nor did it ever go to trial. The opposing counsel is trying to make a mountain out of a molehill. I request that the court throw out this complaint on the grounds that it is not relevant to the case and that it was not introduced as evidence properly. Since the opposing counsel stated it was a conviction not just a warrant then it should be tossed out as an error in fact and a blatant attempt to prejudice the court.

No you can’t sue the opposing council or get them disbarred or even punished, but the judge can, if the judge sees this as a twisting of the evidence. He probably will, but I doubt he will go any further than a verbal reprimand.

If you try to get the statement dismissed yourself you will fail. The person that tries to defend himself or herself in a case has a fool for a client. I know that because I had to go to traffic court for running the stop sign that never was. I had pictures of the site to prove the stop sign was never posted and I almost got them tossed out because I didn’t introduce them properly.

I had a friend in a nasty divorce. One night Federal Marshals came by and arrested him on a 2 year old warrant. The crime was theft, when actually all he was doing was helping his ex-wife to move. The warrant was dismissed the next day, but not after my friend had to spend the night in custody. It was a tactic by the opposing council in his divorce case to try and prove he was a felon. The divorce case should have been a slam-dunk since he was white (with no colored people in any known generation), his wife was white (with no known colored people in any generation) and her second son was black. (Just like that sitcom “My Name is Earl.”) She had been fooling around with another man behind my friend’s back. Still the case had problems and it taught me that there is no such thing as an easy court case.

Answer 3

I would think that if you are in a court proceeding that an attorney is entering documents as evidence against you that you should have your own legal counsel and you should be addressing this issue with him/her. If you are in a criminal proceedings and are appearing pro-se than you need to remember the old saying that "a person that represents themself, has a fool for a client." Anyhow, I would ask that the corresponding docket and adjudication be presented with the "sworn statement" or that it be stricken as prejudicial to your defense without an adjudication that you had the opportunity to defend yourself against. I also believe that in most cases, even a past conviction is not admissible unless it goes to show a pattern of behavior, so in that case you should request it be stricken as it is not relevant to the matter before the court now. Again, if you don't have an attorney, get one!

Answer 4

Wouldn't an ex-husband be considered a "hostile witness"? If it was never acted upon & can not be proven, then how would a 2004 unfounded allegation be used against you? Sounds like they are grasping at straws! Make them show proof of anything they decide to bring up against you in open court. I don't know the law, I just know how to fight my enemies! Can you file a complaint against this so-called attorney? Sounds like possible grounds for disbarment or at least a permanent mark their record! Try contacting your states bar association & file a complaint against them.

Answer 5

The judge and/or YOUR lawyer didn't recognize that it wasn't a "certified police report?"

I think the attorney could be sanctioned for his misstatement but I think only another attorney can report him. Your attorney should know for sure.

If you don't win this case, you have grounds for appeal, which may be why your attorney let him get away with it. If not, you may want to consider getting a new attorney.