<p>i know this probably isn't the right forum - but it seems like the parents forums would have the most concentration of lawyers. I need some legal advice. Anybody that is a lawyer / or is very knowledgable in the law could you please aim me. My aim sn is the same as my CC sn. or you could pm me. thanks a lot - any advice would be helpful!</p>
<p>Try posting this in the law school forum. Explain your problem though, or you will get no responses.</p>
<p>thanks... im sure your curious as to what happened so i might as well just post it. Basically my house got robbed last thursday and no one was home. However, they stupidly stole my car (car was in the garage, keys in the house) and were caught speeding and subsequently were arrested. THe thing is the people that did it were all minors. We still havent gotten our stuff back and the police are being really dodgy about information. I have a lot of questions that i want to have answered. </p>
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<li>thats a repost to the thread i posted in the law forums. Unfortunately nobody was there to give me advice =(</li>
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<p>well some new developments that i found out... Kids admitted to stealing - i guess their parents found our stuff in their house and told them to get rid of it. They put all our stuff (computers, electrontics etc.) infront of a shopping mall and now, its gone forever. They are not addmitting to stealing money. Also, they have been linked to other robberies. How do we not get majorly screwed ?</p>
<p>If you need a lawyer, HIRE a lawyer - one who is experienced in criminal law, especially as it relates to juveniles. I know there are lawyers here, including my wife, but for any half-way important question I wouldn't rely on legal advice you get from strangers on an on-line forum.</p>
<p>Call your county prosecutor........this is the person/office who will press charges against the perps. I am sure you have a police report and that you know how to call the prosecutors office. Good Luck</p>
<p>Yes, call the county or city prosecutor's office to press charges.Don't let these guys go.</p>
<p>Second, get a copy of the police report and report the loss to your insurance company. You may get reimbursed</p>
<p>Third, contact some tort lawyers and see if they will sue the kids and the kid's parents for theft, and trespass.</p>
<p>well, the reason i ask is because i really dont know about this whole process. So i'm guessing the county is going to prosecute them but they probably wont be too concerned about the items that they stole from us - am i correct? so it is best to hire a lawyer.</p>
<p>Many prosecutor's offices now have victim assistance programs. Contact them and see if there is one available for you.</p>
<p>Part of the sentence the perps can receive could be restitution. You may be able to get some $$ from that.</p>
<p>Try to get a brief over view of the criminal justice system: a private attorney doesn't prosecute.....that is the job of the county prosecutor. Your private attorney will represent you......they don't prosecute criminals.</p>
<p>Indeed, as I mentioned in the Law School forum, contact your local bas association, they will have an attorney referral service that will match your needs -- legal and financial -- to a lawyer that can at least provide you with a consultation.</p>
<p>Hobo - it's likely that the answers to your questions will be different in different states. So in addition to recommending that you contact a local lawyer for information, to the extent that you are trolling for tips online it would help if you provided that information. For example: in California, parents can be financially liable for their children's intentional wrongdoing - up to a limit. If the parents actually told their kids to "get rid of" stolen items, it's possible that the parents could be prosecuted for that, and directly liable to you as well. I don't know about other states. California also requires restitution as a consequence of a criminal conviction - again, don't know about other states. I'll second the advice above and recommend thta you contact the local prosecutor's office - again, in California, most have a victim's assistance program - for information.</p>
<p>But to answer your basic question: yes you are probably screwed. Whether majorly or minorly remains to be seen. But there's little doubt that you will end up not as happy as you would have been if it hadn't happened.</p>
<p>I don't know where you are from and that makes a difference. You don't need a criminal lawyer, as was suggested. The kids who stole the stuff do. What you do need to do is compile a list of the things that were taken and contact your homeowner's insurance carrier. At the same time, you contact the prosecuting authority in your jurisdiction and indicate that you wish to stay informed as to the progress of the prosecution and suggested disposition. In most jurisdictions, restitution (to some extent) can be made part of the disposition, but only if you make your position known. Any resititution you get might offset homeowner's deductible or more. You can't receive restitution for the same dollars that your claiming from your carrier. Don't know the community you are in, but you may get approached by families of the kids to make you whole so that you can report satisfaction to the prosecuting authority and gentler treatment of their kids. Don't know the amount of your loss. It shoud be substantial enough, though, to exceed your deductible. Good luck.</p>