Legal Question in Criminal Law in New York

Hi

I dated a guy briefly back in 2007, who became obsessed with me. I flirted with him and messed around with him online to make my real boyfriend jealous, which I realize was stupid and immature. He then harassed me at my door one night back then, and I had him arrested and got an order of protection. We did not talk for a while after that, and he went to Colorado and began dating another girl. He became obsessed with her, too, and they broke up. He came back to NYC for a period of time and I talked to him one time when we ran into one another in the spring of 2008, which is how I found out about the girl in Colorado. We did not talk again until the spring of 2009. I saw him a few times then, and we talked a lot online. At first, he seemed like he was over me and would be chill and friendly, but he rapidly became obsessed with dating me again. We vacillated between me rejecting him and us fighting, and him getting very vicious over it, to him apologizing and promising he would drop the issue and begging me to be friends, and me accepting because I felt bad for him. I pressed charges again in the summer of 2009 because of some particularly violent phone messages, only the police did nothing about it until a year later, when he was arrested for pot and they saw my charges. He also had additional charges in Colorado because that same summer, he travelled back there and harrassed his other ex-girlfriend. He was expedited back there in the spring of 2010 when he was caught for the pot here in NYC, after serving 12 days in jail for my 2009 warrant. He got off on a bail bond in Colorado and jumped it and came back here. We went through the same cycle of him begging for my friendship and me reluctantly accepting out of pity, and then him wanting more and us fighting. I stopped talking to him for long periods of time, but he always found a way to contact me, usually online or through the phone (I had my number changed several times, but whenever I would run into him, he would badger it out of me) and I would cave in and try to be friends in order to appease him. He recently left some incredibly graphic, violent messages on my phone, threatening my boyfriend, and I arrested him last week. My question is, who's case/charges would this be? Mine or my boyfriend's? And does the fact that I allowed contact in order to try and appease him weaken the case?


Asked on 9/02/10, 9:13 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
S. MICHAEL MUSA-OBREGON NY Musa-Obregon & Associates

This guy is terrible news and is clearly sick. You must avoid all contact in the future with him or the police will think you "cried wolf too many times." To answer your question, you can both be listed as complainant victims, although you are the main complainant. Clearly this guy is a Class A manipulator and you must resist all urges to feel sorry for him as he is clearly ill and needs serious medical attention. Your allowing contact weakens the case only slightly, since the graphic, violent threats alone are a serious crime and speak for themselves.

Read more
Answered on 9/30/10, 4:38 am


Related Questions & Answers

More Criminal Law questions and answers in New York