In feb. 2011 my 13 year old nephew became assaultive with myself in public after one of his pee-wee basketball games. After he assaulted me he ran off. I chased after him he swung at me again. Only to stop him from further assaults, I grabbed his shoulder. I did nothing further but get him to the car which he went willingly at the time. I got charges pressed against me for Assault4 and Reckless Driving. Nephew grabbed my E-Brake two (2) times. In the police report several witnesses said that I punched him in the face. One (1) said that I kicked him in the privates then gave him body shots. One (1) told police that she did not see anything at all. But this same witness spoke with another witness and said "WE discussed when to call the police and what to say to them". After my trial on the 19th of September when and if I'm found not guilty I would like to sue the witnesses for defamation of character. Three (3) witnesses found out where I work and began calling work telling them what happened (Work knew already since I have to report all contact with Police either charged or not) making up stories/complaints on my work habits about me on the job. Many of these stories that were told happened when I was not there scheduled to work. What do I do and who can I go see in Washington State. I live in the Seattle area.
Donald.

If you are found not guilty after the 19th, by all means contact an attorney to help you file your lawsuit. But you will have to have some provable damages in order to win your lawsuit - not just because they allegedly lied to the police or your work.

Is there more to this story? Like, do you know these witnesses?

Issue is they can call and tell the truth all the want, You will have to prove none of this happened.

Add to this, what happened and where it went wrong was where and when you started chasing after him, what you should have done was call the police and file charges against him after he hit you and ran. The minute you started chasing after him, you became the one who was causing the problem.

I know what you think you should do and how you feel but truth be told I don't think you have much of a case. Of course, if money is not an issue for you then sure hire an attorney but if you lose the case, you lose the money. All parties will have to be subpeoned, there will have to be discovery, and there will have to be a lot of soul searching.

Tick

Not much more to the story than I stated above. I do not know the witnesses personally. When I took my nephew to his basketball games I did not speak with the other parents choosing to root for my nephew and his teammates. I was loud cheering. When talked to I was always polite to them. I received emails from 2 parents (Don't ask me how they got my email address) telling me to shut it up during the games and I was not welcome at all. 1 email called my nephew a "Retarded Bastard". My nephew is a big kid and is a little bit mentally slow. I forwarded all Emails to the Pee-Wee president and the local sheriffs department. An assistant coach when my nephew asked to play in the game (My nephew did not play in this game till the final 2 minutes)The Assistant Coach told him "Don't ask me to play. Sit down and shut the F$%$ up". When I reported this to the pee-wee president the assistant coach did not deny what he said just saying he does not like me or my nephew. At the beginning of the season 3 games were cancelled and my nephews team was not notified all team members showed up except the coach and her son. So when I saw her next I asked why we were not notified and she told me that she does not have to notify anyone at all. That is the story. It sounds nuts. The team was together since they were 7 years old. My nephew was the new member in 2011 season.

This has been hard on me. 1st a warrant was issued and since my attorney was involved I was not arrested at all just charged. My sister will not speak to me at all. She did tell me I believe the witnesses and she hopes I go to prison. I was very close to my sister and her kids until this happened. I admit wrong in grabbing him. BUT I did not assault him like the witnesses said I did. In the Police report it was noted that (by pictures of my nephew) that he had no bruising at the time and 24 hours later still had no bruising at all. I just want others to think before telling stories to police. I almost lost my job in this after witnesses strted to call my employer. I was suspended without pay for 4 days while an investigation was done. My attorney provided work a witness list and 3 witnesses matched complaints at work so the issue was dropped but I lost pay.

You are right on one point... it does sound nuts. Can you imagine what it would sound like in litigation?

"Some people, who I have never met, and with nothing to gain conspired against me and made up this story to smear me. They have never met me, but have tracked down where I work, and have been harassing me there."

I'm not saying it isn't true, but it sounds completely crazy. I am so sorry for your situation, but the others are right... you have virtually no chance here.

It's not that I never met them at all. Just at the games. I just don't understand all the lies made to police and to my employer by these people. Why would anyone an witness even be so vindictive? The only reason that I can think of for the lies and making my life hell at work is that I never spoke to them and I asked questions about why no one was informed of game cancellations like any adult would like to know. I know the coaches did not like me asking the questions and then I get emails from parents regarding the subject and making fun of my nephew's mentality? I know I should be lucky that I'm winning my case so far but I hate it when people who you don't know just want to make your life hell. It has calmed down at work since subpenas were sent out last month. I have not had 1 complaint since then. Maybe that calmed things down a lot since they know that I'm not playing with them at all and taking it all the way. I like all of the responses and have decided not to sue people at all. It does sound crazy and it all has driven me nuts.

Donald, I am glad you have decided not to take everything to the extreme; I think however, there is a lot you are not telling us. To be quite frank, just leave it at that and consider yourself lucky. You mentioned your nephew was a bit retarded, this may have made bad feelings from people who didn't know this, and reacted in the entirely wrong way.

I don't think we have any further advice for you.

I normally say there is far too much left out of a story such as yours, but please I don't think you need to tell us.

Tick

There is one thing that bothers me here. Its one thing to provide testimony to the police. They could have thought they were doing the right thing. But contacting your job, effectively stalking you was overboard. While you may not have a defamation case, you may be able to press charges for stalking. Talk to your lawyer.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ScottGem

There is one thing that bothers me here. Its one thing to provide testimony to the police. They could have thought they were doing the right thing. But contacting your job, effectively stalking you was overboard. While you may not have a defamation case, you may be able to press charges for stalking. Talk to your lawyer.

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Yes, but this description of what happened is way out there. There is still more to this story then what is outlined here. No one 'stalks' for nothing unless the OP gave them good reason and it was done by way of retaliation.

Tick

I agree, it's hard to accept that we are hearing the whole story. But, I also find it hard to imagine what the OP could have done to inspire the type of retaliation being described.