If only you knew the rest of the story... It often felt like I'd been thrown into some bizarre screenwriter's fantasy. But this is real.
My experience suggests the problem is systemic, not isolated. I can only imagine that if I were a poor black kid from the inner city, I would be in prison right now, rather than several years removed from that nightmare.
Oh there's a myriad of details missing, to protect both my privacy, and the privacy of the accuser, whom I have come to believe was an unfortunate victim of both their own mental illness and the state.
It's more along the lines of:
I was sitting at friend's house, (quite literally) in my Sunday best. I received a phone call from an acquaintance who was distraught. I arrived at the home, was arrested, placed in handcuffs (double locked behind my back), and held for forty eight hours without food or drink.
I was released after paying an exorbitant bond (did you know you can post bond with a debit card?), followed by a rather insane two and one half years prosecution, against the wishes of everyone involved.
Second degree aggravated assault, simple assault, and terroristic threat. The witness was mentally ill, although it took a long time for the various authorities (police, prosecutor, and school deans) to disclose the documents and video records that demonstrated this (suicide attempt that evening, no less than seven previous and subsequent false allegations, bizarre and contradictory statements smoothed over by the officer, and an attempt to withdraw the allegation a week later, clinical history of bipolar II and borderline personality disorder.) Once disclosed, the case was dismissed.
Suburban, white, Ivy League-educated, American young adult, who knows his rights and how to act respectful (read "deferential" or "submissive") around police, with a well-off family stuffed with lawyers and law enforcement here.
Arrested on a false charge in an upscale neighborhood while well-dressed and not intoxicated. It took two and a half years of my life, a suspension from school, and over $50,000 before the charge was dismissed with prejudice and the suspension overturned.
The system works, eventually, for some people. But man can a rogue police officer and DA do some damage to you in the mean time. The psychic scars will probably never completely fade.
If only you knew the rest of the story... It often felt like I'd been thrown into some bizarre screenwriter's fantasy. But this is real.
My experience suggests the problem is systemic, not isolated. I can only imagine that if I were a poor black kid from the inner city, I would be in prison right now, rather than several years removed from that nightmare.