Our client, a young college student, found a credit card in his residence hall. Unfortunately, rather than simply returning the card to its owner, he used it on multiple dates to purchase food. The resulting criminal investigation led to authorities charging him with five felony counts of identity theft. He also faced disciplinary consequences from the university. Attorney Tim Verhoff met with the client several times to get a better idea of why he engaged in the conduct. When they met with authorities from the university, our attorney was able to present this information, and the client was able to continue his enrollment. In the court system, our attorney used the same approach. Although the prosecutor was reluctant at first, Attorney Verhoff was able to convince the DA to amend three of the felony charges to misdemeanor offenses and dismiss two of the felonies outright. On the remaining three misdemeanors, as amended, our lawyer reached an agreement with the District Attorney's Office to resolve the case by having the client participate in a deferred prosecution program with a dismissal of all the charges upon completion. Needless to say, the client and his family were thrilled with the outcome.
School Disciplinary Case-Criminal Misdemeanor
Client is a freshman at school in UW system. During the week before school began, client drank too much and damaged the sprinkler system in the dorms. The damage caused many of the sprinklers in the dorm rooms of students to go off, damaging property.
Client had a meeting with the Dean of Students and did not bring a lawyer. When he got there, the Dean had an agreement in hand for a 2 year suspension and full restitution. Client, not knowing better, without parental or legal assistance signed the agreement for the 2 year suspension.
When the client showed up at home telling his parents what had happened, they called our firm to see if there was anything we could do. There was. Because we do quite a few of these hearings, after reviewing the statute, it was clear that the Dean made errors in the way the matter was handled. We had to make an attempt to re-litigate a matter that had been closed. After reaching out to the General Counsel's office and pointing out the problems with the manner in which the case was handled, it was agreed it could be reopened.
The matter was eventually resolved with the client only suffering a suspension for the remaining 3 weeks of the semester. He was allowed to re-enroll in the university the next semester if he so desired. So, instead of setting the clients education back for 2 years, he started back in school for the spring semester.
Also, the damage to the sprinkler system ended with no conviction .
Remember, getting someone to assist in these school disciplinary hearings is very important. Possibly years of lost educational opportunities are at stake. Find a lawyer to help you when you can.