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House Cleaning Thief
Case summary:
The defendant was charged with a single count of Theft in the first degree. The defendant was an employee of a local house cleaning company. The defendant worked part time with her boss to clean various clients' homes. One of the client's called the police to report property they thought had been stolen but weren't sure who had taken it. The police targeted the defendant as the alleged thief and a criminal case was filed. The State dismissed the case the day before jury trial was scheduled to begin.
Attorney Comments:
"This case is definitely in the top 10 worst police investigations I've ever personally witnessed. Because the police investigation was so poor it made our defense investigation incredibly complex. In short what happened was that when the house cleaning client reported the theft to the police, they also complained about the alleged thefts to my client's boss. My client's boss, having just learned that a client reported suspected stolen property from their homes, immediately began calling several other client's advising them they may have had property stolen from them as well. We contended that it was my client's boss that was the real thief as my client adamantly denied stealing anything. My client's boss had been interfering and directing all of the theft reports. The boss called several house cleaning clients (the client's she knew would have missing property because she herself had stolen it) and reported to them that she had caught my client with stolen property. All the clients, believing the boss was telling the truth, called the police to report their missing property and gave the police my client's name as the person who had stolen from them. The boss had orchestrated the entire operation and the investigating officer did nothing to stop her because the officer just assumed my client was guilty. In the final days of the case we had subpoenaed 15+ witnesses to testify at the trial, including all of the State's witnesses (a tactic I'd never done or seen done before). Our preparation and investigation in this case pushed the State into a corner and after their attempt to delay the case was denied by the judge the State dismissed the case."
The defendant was charged with a single count of Theft in the first degree. The defendant was an employee of a local house cleaning company. The defendant worked part time with her boss to clean various clients' homes. One of the client's called the police to report property they thought had been stolen but weren't sure who had taken it. The police targeted the defendant as the alleged thief and a criminal case was filed. The State dismissed the case the day before jury trial was scheduled to begin.
Attorney Comments:
"This case is definitely in the top 10 worst police investigations I've ever personally witnessed. Because the police investigation was so poor it made our defense investigation incredibly complex. In short what happened was that when the house cleaning client reported the theft to the police, they also complained about the alleged thefts to my client's boss. My client's boss, having just learned that a client reported suspected stolen property from their homes, immediately began calling several other client's advising them they may have had property stolen from them as well. We contended that it was my client's boss that was the real thief as my client adamantly denied stealing anything. My client's boss had been interfering and directing all of the theft reports. The boss called several house cleaning clients (the client's she knew would have missing property because she herself had stolen it) and reported to them that she had caught my client with stolen property. All the clients, believing the boss was telling the truth, called the police to report their missing property and gave the police my client's name as the person who had stolen from them. The boss had orchestrated the entire operation and the investigating officer did nothing to stop her because the officer just assumed my client was guilty. In the final days of the case we had subpoenaed 15+ witnesses to testify at the trial, including all of the State's witnesses (a tactic I'd never done or seen done before). Our preparation and investigation in this case pushed the State into a corner and after their attempt to delay the case was denied by the judge the State dismissed the case."
Jackson County, Oregon
Actual Case Summaries
Be advised that I never promise a client a particular outcome, details of prior cases should not be taken as an indication that other clients will necessarily see the same results.
Be advised that I never promise a client a particular outcome, details of prior cases should not be taken as an indication that other clients will necessarily see the same results.
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