Post: #1

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Post: #2

If there was such a thing as I.Q., you could use yours to figure out what to do.

Post: #3

(05-29-2017 01:55 PM)debeguiled Wrote:  If there was such a thing as I.Q., you could use yours to figure out what to do.

Are you an ESL student?

Post: #4

In this case, the troll smell is strong.

However, you are presumably the target of a restraining order. Get a lawyer.

Post: #5

(05-29-2017 02:03 PM)Jetset Wrote:  In this case, the troll smell is strong.

However, you are presumably the target of a restraining order. Get a lawyer.

This doesn't answer my question in the slightest.

Post: #6

Potentially a

But i'll help:

You are under no obligation to chat to them until you are officially arrested or served papers. Have you been served officially or was this a casual note? If it's the later, I would ignore it but go to my next paragraph.

Secondly, never under any circumstances talk to the police without a lawyer present.

I would get a criminal defense attorney on stand by if and when they decide to escalate it. Don't cheap out and skip this step! The only time they want to talk is to help arrange you a multi year stay at the fine prisons of the state.

This is your freedom here. Don't f*ck around!

Post: #7

(05-29-2017 02:04 PM)sagely scholar Wrote:  This doesn't answer my question in the slightest.

You don't disclose your state of residence and we don't know what you did or are accused of doing, so we can't tell you what will happen next with any confidence. However, your post indicates that law enforcement has papers to serve you related to a "confidential" filing. This strongly suggests a restraining order linked to domestic violence or similar. It's unlikely that they're trying to interrogate you.

If you continue to evade service:

1. It is possible that there is already an ex parte TRO in place which is in effect whether you have been served or not.

2. It is possible that the petitioner will take action to enable service, such as hiring an investigator to follow you and notify the police of your whereabouts, such as your workplace.

3. It is possible that they will instead complete service by publishing the hearing in the newspaper.

4. It is possible that you will then miss your court date and that a bench warrant will be issued to bring you to court in handcuffs.

5. It is likely that the judge will have now marked you as a confirmed asshole and that your hearing will go very badly.

Get a lawyer who can advise you on the situation.

Post: #8

From what you described, they are trying to serve you a court summons/documents. They do not want to "chat", they are simply trying to serve you the documents.

They apparently were unsuccessful in serving you as you weren't home when they came by, so they hope for you to come pick up the papers. The sheriff's department is just the messenger for the court in this instance.

"What's going to happen next?"

Well that is hard to say as we don't know the type of legal action being taken. Could be a restraining order as said above, could be a civil action for debt, who knows- we don't know your situation beyond that you are for some reason quoting bible verses to gays in West Hollywood.

One thing is certain though, it will not go away by avoiding being served.

Go pick up the papers, the sooner you do so the sooner you can prepare whatever defense is possible, if any.

Post: #9

Post: #10

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Post: #11

(05-29-2017 02:28 PM)sagely scholar Wrote:  What's the disadvantage of waiting for another visit from "them"?

For all they know, the note could have been taken by somebody else.

They don't care.

Eventually, they permit alternative service and you have now been served without your cooperation. At your hearing - and there will be one eventually, even if they have to drag you there - the judge will be curious to know why you didn't cooperate with the court, and won't see the humor in a tale about the Document Gnomes who must have stolen your notices.

Post: #12

(05-29-2017 02:19 PM)GlobalMan Wrote:  From what you described, they are trying to serve you a court summons/documents. They do not want to "chat", they are simply trying to serve you the documents.

They apparently were unsuccessful in serving you as you weren't home when they came by, so they hope for you to come pick up the papers. The sheriff's department is just the messenger for the court in this instance.

"What's going to happen next?"

Well that is hard to say as we don't know the type of legal action being taken. Could be a restraining order as said above, could be a civil action for debt, who knows- we don't know your situation beyond that you are for some reason quoting bible verses to gays in West Hollywood.

One thing is certain though, it will not go away by avoiding being served.

Go pick up the papers, the sooner you do so the sooner you can prepare whatever defense is possible, if any.

I STRONGLY disagree.

I made the mistake once of volunteering for service of papers. If I had done nothing, the problem would have gone away on its own within two weeks. Instead, I volunteered for service and then had to go to court plus hire a lawyer that was not able to do anything for me.

You are under NO obligation to volunteer to be served. If it is a domestic restraining order, in most states it is temporary pending a hearing. If you can't be served, then the order will disappear if they can not serve you and the problem will be over.

If you volunteer for service, now you have to go to the hearing, and run the risk of a longer order being ordered plus it will show up in records now.

In any case, whatever it is, if they can't serve you, and don't go through the additional process for when you can't be found (like publication in a newspaper), then whatever the problem is, will go away without you having to do anything else.

BUT, if you volunteer for service, now you are stuck, will have to get a lawyer, and have all kinds of additional problems that will follow.

Again, do NOT volunteer for service. Do NOT go to the police station. Do NOT answer their phone calls. If they want you, let them go through the whole process to serve you.

Post: #13

As a follow up to the prior post.

If it is not a domestic restraining order, then you definitely do NOT want to go in, since I expect that you are about to be questioned (and possibly charged and arrested) for something criminal.

You are under NO obligation to ever volunteer for service. While most people think 'I want to clear my name' or 'I do not want to look like I am hiding anything', once you get served, you are stuck with everything else that is coming (hearing, needing a lawyer, all kinds of expenses, etc); where as if the other side never does proper service, whatever the problem is just goes away within a few weeks with no time or money spent by you. Any capable and honest lawyer will tell you the same thing. Why volunteer for service and need to spend all kinds of time and money when by doing nothing the problem, whatever it is, can just go away on its own?

In case something serious is going on, view "Don't Talk to the Cops":




In short, even intelligent people, that should know better, get themselves messed up by talking to the cops without a lawyer and start to say all kinds of things that get them into trouble.

Post: #14

Talking to the police is a completely different matter than accepting service of process. You are conflating two things which are not similar.

Of course you should never voluntarily submit yourself to questioning, and should never answer questions without a lawyer, however that is not what OP's situation was about, despite the title of thread. Unfortunately he deleted the post, wherein it was clear this was not a "note to speak with a deputy downtown", it was a routine notice that they tried to serve him, he was just unfamiliar with what service of process was. He sent me a PM and explained further what had happened and it was clear what this was.

(05-29-2017 04:06 PM)EvanWilson Wrote:  kinds of time and money when by doing nothing the problem, whatever it is, can just go away on its own?

I don't know where you are getting this idea from, but it absolutely not how things normally work- especially in matters of any significance. Saying it will "just go away" is very dangerous guessing game to play and poor advice that could end costing you far far more and turn out much worse in multiple ways.

Avoiding personal service is not a panacea for stopping the legal process, if it was then the whole system wouldn't continue to work, but as we know it certainly does.

Accepting service of process isn't "talking to the cops". You're not questioned, there's no conversation- the sheriff is simply the messenger for the court serving papers in that scenario. Absent some other issue at play, you are not going to be "taken in for questioning" when accepting papers, that's not how this works.

There is not a reputable lawyer in the country who would tell you evading service is an effective strategy to protect yourself or a good idea, including the excellent James Duane from that video.

Evading service is very rarely successful with matters of any importance, it will only occasionally work out when and if the party doesn't want to spend the extra time or cost to serve you by other means. More often than not, it will just put you in a worse position. You don't know when it will work out.

Jetset laid it out perfectly:

(05-29-2017 02:18 PM)Jetset Wrote:  It's unlikely that they're trying to interrogate you.

If you continue to evade service:

1. It is possible that there is already an ex parte TRO in place which is in effect whether you have been served or not.

2. It is possible that the petitioner will take action to enable service, such as hiring an investigator to follow you and notify the police of your whereabouts, such as your workplace.

3. It is possible that they will instead complete service by publishing the hearing in the newspaper.

4. It is possible that you will then miss your court date and that a bench warrant will be issued to bring you to court in handcuffs.

5. It is likely that the judge will have now marked you as a confirmed asshole and that your hearing will go very badly.

Get a lawyer who can advise you on the situation.