How does LE work for petty offence?

I am ignorant about LE working procedure. Say I go and complain to local LE that a friend crashed on my couch after a night out in the town. And he stole my money while leaving. I can give my friend’s address, name etc. He will get arrested? That’s not how it works …..right? Like how does one prove that a theft has occurred without any surveillance footage? Thanks for the info.

You’ve heard the expression possession is 9/10ths of the law? It’s a dumb, ignorant expression. But here it actually is kind of true.

You’re basically proposing a he-said, she-said scenario. That is a very tough win criminally because the burdens of proof are very high. In criminal court, you have to convince the fact finder beyond a reasonable doubt, which is the highest bar we have in our criminal justice system. This goes back to society will only discipline people if we’re sure they did it. (At least in theory.). This is the reason that guys get away with sexual assault so much. (Because they’re usually he-said she said, and when we’re not sure, theoretically the defendant goes free.)

Your best bet is a civil case because the burdens are much lower (preponderance if evidence instead of beyond a reasonable doubt). Meaning the fact finder is allowed to award damages to you if they believe you only a hair more than the defendant.

Great explanation

I am ignorant about LE working procedure. Say I go and complain to local LE that a friend crashed on my couch after a night out in the town. And he stole my money while leaving. I can give my friend’s address, name etc. He will get arrested? That’s not how it works …..right? Like how does one prove that a theft has occurred without any surveillance footage? Thanks for the info. Originally Posted by loveboydodo

While I am certainly no attorney, I do know that the process is likely to be different depending on the State you are in. You MAY be able to swear to the offence, and press charges on your own. UNLESS the money taken was substancial, I would find another way to get my "pound of flesh". I would suspect that since you are refering to a petty offense the amount is low, even it it was all you had. It MAY be a cheap enough cost to find out what kind of friend this vermon is.

I am ignorant about LE working procedure. Say I go and complain to local LE that a friend crashed on my couch after a night out in the town. And he stole my money while leaving. I can give my friend’s address, name etc. He will get arrested? That’s not how it works …..right? Like how does one prove that a theft has occurred without any surveillance footage? Thanks for the info. Originally Posted by loveboydodo

You most like get to make a police report you use for insurance reason, He may be call in to police station mostly like not charge.Most like best is proactive order and a law suit. From my experience every police department is different. Some document everything in report others don't.

It’s going to be tough to actually prove in a court of law that your friend took what he did being that he took cash. Would be different if it was something traceable, with a serial number or other types of identification markings, provided that you had documentation of those numbers and police could establish that your friend has possession of stolen items.

Then there’s the added time and expense involved with going to court, which you’ll probably also be out of when the case is decided in the other party’s favor.

If it was me, I’d be revenge minded but give it a year or more distance so your friend doesn’t connect the vengeful act with you. If he’s screwed enough people over he won’t know where it came from, right now, he’d connect it to you. Until then you have plenty of time to think about it to get the details correct.

press charges Originally Posted by carguy1989

This is the biggest myth propagated by TV. It doesn’t actually exist. Prosecutors decide if a criminal case moves forward, not you. The two exceptions are when Leo acts as a psudeoprosecutor (e.g., traffic offenses, but these are really some weird limbo that isnt criminal and isn’t civil, really just to get around constitutional protections) or private attorney general statutes (which are really civil cases with high damages awards in excess of compensatory damages designed to be punative to hold an entity accountable). But for true criminal cases, a prosecutor may care what a victim thinks, but ultimately the prosecutor makes the call on whether to move forward, not you. As the matter of fact, the prosecutor can subpoena you against your wishes, and barring a right or privilege not to cooperate, you’ll go to jail for contempt if you don’t cooperate.

here in Houston, lately they just let 'em out and don't prosecute. If there are no prior convictions, the police are often told to just let 'em . even when caught looting a car with freshly smashed windows!

Good luck trying to collect a civil judgement

The real takeaway from this thread, is be very careful who you allow in your house.

Send him a glitter bomb!

If it was me, I’d be revenge minded but give it a year or more distance so your friend doesn’t connect the vengeful act with you. Originally Posted by sexykarma

"Revenge is a dish best served cold." -Don vito Corleone

Interestingly, as a “woman of the night” … if a man called and said he was robbed by a hooker wouldn’t it be quite a different story. Oh what a tangled web we weave. Smh ����♀️