We are providing you this information to assist you in submitting your complaint to Caught.net. Caught is not a sounding board for those pissed off because they got caught or who lost a case fair and square. Caught is a public list of judicial, legal and prosecutorial misconduct, ethics and civil rights violations and other abuses of power. This means that one could be guilty and still have a valid complaint on Caught IF that complaint details abuses by Judges, lawyers, prosecutors or others in the legal system.
Also, complaints dealing with cases like yours can have mountains of details. The stories can be endless and complicated. To assist you, we have written a few examples of what a Caught complaint should consist of:
Yes! "Judge Attitude withheld important evidence in my case that could have proved my innocence or helped make my case
NO! "There was a letter written in 1920 that was given to a Shirley Jones that said blah, blah, blah and then she gave the letter to blah, blah, blah and in court the lawyers argued blah, blah, blah and they wouldn't let it in the trial." See the difference between listing the wrongdoing verses rehashing the case?
Yes! "Prosecutors Jack Dingbat manipulated witnesses by threatening them with charges if they didn't say what he wanted them to say."
NO! "And there were 35 witnesses named blah, blah, blah. Ten of them were going to say blah, blah, blah but the prosecutor wanted them to say blah, blah, blah. One had a nervous breakdown; another threw up in the hall because of blah, blah, and blah.
Yes! "My Attorney Emma Overbill agreed to an important matter in chambers without telling me and this adversely affected the outcome of my case."
NO! "They ran in the back room and I smelled a rat. Because 2 weeks before blah, blah, blah. And I said to him blah, blah, and blah. And when they came back, instead of telling me, she said blah, blah and blah.
We realize that, many times, some detail is necessary in order to make your complaint understood. But don't worry. If your complaint is minus necessary details, we will be contacting you to fill in the blanks. Complaints can always be changed, amended or corrected.
Complaints can be EMAILED. We realize some, particularly inmates, can have a problem using email. If you are in this category, please try to get someone on the outside to connect with us via email.
Ideally speaking, your complaint should be a duplicate of
complaints filed with The Rhode Island Commission
on Judicial Tenure and Discipline [for judges], or complaints
filed with The Rhode Island Supreme Court
Disciplinary Board [for attorneys], or The Rhode Island Ethics Commission [for state
employees].
If you are not in Rhode Island, your state has similar agencies to file with.
Caught.net realizes there are MANY areas that can dramatically affect litigants that are NOT covered by these agencies. We also realize that many oversight agencies have reputations for not doing their job. Caught.net exists to fill this gap.
If you haven't filed a complaint with these agencies, you have skipped an important step. We will still list your complaint but strongly advise you to send a copy of your complaint to the appropriate agencies unless your complaint involves issues not covered by those agencies. Otherwise, the system considers you as not having followed all appropriate remedies. If you're thinking, "Those agencies aren't going to do anything." You're probably right! One of the main purposes of Caught.net is to continue to prove these agencies aren't doing their jobs!
A simple way to write your complaint is to sit down and ask yourself the following:
What did the Judge do wrong? What did the Attorney do wrong? What did the prosecutor do wrong? Simply make a list of the wrongs with only enough detail to make the wrongdoing clear. As hard as it may be, avoid your FEELINGS about the wrongs and the wrongdoers. Submit it for publication! You will then have a page with your name on it available 24 hours a day for the world to see. Begin publicizing your page to your mailing lists, forums, chat rooms etc. as soon as it is posted.
The following may help you:
Judicial misconduct can consist of ignoring the law, making inappropriate comments, not following procedures, showing bias or prejudice, ignoring wrongdoing of lawyers, prosecutors or court personnel, manipulating or unfairly eliminating evidence etc.
Attorney ethics violations can consist of ignoring or not knowing the law or procedures, dishonesty or back room deals, blatant lying, not providing the best, most vigorous defense possible, inappropriate paper work, missing filing deadlines, not properly informing you of what is happening so you can properly assist your defense etc.
Prosecutorial misconduct can consist of manipulating or hiding witnesses or evidence, ignoring or not knowing the law, blatant lying, dishonesty or unethical back room deals, lying or manipulating Grand Jury testimony, overcharging for the hell of it or to force plea bargains etc.
We hope this helps you in preparing your complaint. We are looking forward to receiving it. Do not forget to notify all those mentioned in your complaint.
OR
Search Rhode Island Criminal Database or
RI Supreme Court Opinions & Orders