QUESTION
Husband, Wife with criminal mischief for claimed damage of the amount of $3,500, and the victim's fam contacted are family wants $6100 to drop charges
Asked on Aug 05th, 2021 on Criminal Law - Florida
More details to this question:
We vacated the premises 6/23/21 the date of eviction. On 7/14/21 the landlords contacts the Sheriffs Department. Claims of holes in walls and feces smeared in the refrigerator, Pictures were taken of holes but they claim before the deputy arrived they had already cleaned feces and now have no evidence of that, and prior pictures of residents before moving in. Deputy waits until 8/4/21 to press charges due to not being able to contact us, and pressure from the landlords and family. That is what the deputy has stated. We have Zero criminal history, husband is State Correctional Officer with a 9 years with the department. Now we have both been charged with felonies. On 8/4/21 we turned ourselves in. 8/5/21 Before even being released from the jail, our family contacted us in jail and stated that the landlords had contacted them, stating that if we would pay $6,100 cash that they would drop charges to both of us. IS THIS EXTORION ?
1 ANSWER
1 Award
It could be; but not definitely. It is possible that they determined the amount of restitution was $6,100. Florida law mandates the court order full restitution in all criminal cases. It's possible the State Attorney's Office may have asked them if they would be willing to drop the charges if they received restitution. However, be aware that they cannot drop charges; only the State Attorney's Office can drop charges. However, the State Attorney's Office is unlikely to drop the charges unless the alledged victim/s agree to it. If you proceed to trial and are convicted, you would be court-ordered to pay restitution. However, you would be entitled at that point to a restitution hearing where evidence would have to be presented to show the accurate amount of restitution. If you resolve the charge by a negotiated plea, it is likely any offer would include restitution also. It, also, could be that the alleged victim/s was/were attempting to extort money from you. However, much more information and facts would be needed to determine whether they could be charged with extortion. Since charges currently are pending against you, you should not have direct contact with the alleged victim/s with regard to payment of money - or you could find yourself facing more charges. Do not try to handle it on your own. You should let your attorney know that you have been contacted regarding paying a sum of money and charges being dropped. Any knowledgable, experienced criminal defense lawyer should be able to advise you as to how to proceed; how to avoid any more charges being filed against you; and whether the alleged victim's actions may have been an attempt to extort money from you. If you do not have an attorney, my best legal advice is to retain one as quickly as possible and let the attorney deal with this on your behalf.
Answered on Aug 06th, 2021 at 6:31 AM