Restoration of Gun rights for 3rd Degree Felony Theft of Service

[mingomom]

I also urged her to see a lawyer before making any decisions. Doing your own research is one thing, but if you've already made decisions that affect you negatively, then you obviously aren't fully aware of all the potential problems.

As for your last point - could be. They're certainly not clear and concise.

I don't want her to do anything but assimilate the insights offered in this thread (which she solicited), do some legal research on her own and finally discuss everything with her attorney as I recommended in the last line of my original post (bolded below).

The OP's last post now proffers heretofore hidden material information that 'I was found guilty by a hearing' then somehow she got into ARD on appeal. Subsequently she was 'violated' for failure to pay.

I posted my opinion with a synoptical preface 'You have been neither convicted nor plead guilty.' Unfortunately the OP declined to rectify her information omission until just now. Consider there is apparently over $2,000 of gas at issue and I question why she never became suspicious that she never received a gas bill over a protracted time period.

Her explanations are convoluted, changing and frankly I'm having a hard time in assigning credibility to much of her thread (troll?).

[badd302]

Ok, so now I am being called a troll. Why you felt the need to call me names, I have no idea. I told everyone this whole thing was strange. And no, I didnt notice an addiitional $2,000 on my gas bill as I had no gas bill as it was shut off. Remember? I am sure I mentioned that as I told of the lock that was on the meter. And if you read the laws for ARD you have to complete everything in two years. And if you do not, you are violated. How convuluted is that? I had to pay $2,700 with a monthly income of $800. Of course, I couldnt pay the entire amount off in two years, but I did pay faithfully. And yes, I was found guilty by a hearing with a judge. And yes, I then went into the ARD program. And when I was violated because I didnt pay the $2,700 off in the two years in the ARD program, they stuck me in this 586 settlement thing, to which I have managed to pay it all off but the $400 I mentioned.

I really do not know why all that is hard to understand. More importantly, why I am being called names. That is uncalled for, as I have been nice and have asked for information. I have no reason to lie. But like I said, it is an 03 case and allot of things have transpired throughout this long time period.

But there is no reason I should be called names. All of those comments were uncalled for and mean. I did not do this no matter what some of you think. I am from Florida, even though I now live in Pennsylvania, but natural gas is something I know little about as in Florida its mainly central heat and air and not gas. I have no clue how to turn my gas back on nor would I even try.

I think I will bow out now, as I do not appreciate being called a troll.

[Shadowline]

First of all, relax. If you get that upset by some random person you don't know calling you a "troll" then the internet probably isn't a healthy place for you to be.

I think the point is that 2 grand in gas covers a lot of heat for a long time. For most people that's a pretty hard thing to miss. So, you didn't do it...I can accept that. The question is what happened to all that gas. Was there someone else at your residence that could have done it?

[GunLawyer001]

Ok, so now I am being called a troll. . . . .

Every post from a new user name might be from someone just looking to stir up trouble for their own amusement. That's the Internet.

Troll posts don't distinguish themselves from legitimate posts by being in a unique script, or by using special code words. Spam posts are easy to spot, since they usually are from non-English speakers and they advertise a product. But trolling can only be spotted if the fabricated story falls apart, so if your story seems unlikely, there will be some who think that a bridge is missing its guardian somewhere. And sometimes they're right, sometimes they're wrong.

ARD time frames vary, they aren't all 2 years. If you paid "faithfully" and met the terms of the plan, then you wouldn't be in violation. Of course, if you made regular payments that were as much as you felt you could afford but were less than the scheduled payments, then you would be in violation of the terms of the ARD program.

Whether ARD could be used after a guilty verdict, I don't know, but an appeal with supersedeas might make that possible. It's supposed to be an alternative to trial, it's a waste of resources to do both.

Of course, ARD does look a lot like probation, which DOES happen after a trial and guilty verdict, and is in lieu of jail time.

The story does have multiple plot holes, but it can happen that a defendant is unjustly convicted of re-connecting the gas to her own home purely because the gas company loses its record of a paid reconnection, never gets billed but remains incurious, is the victim of a shoddy investigation, gets an unusual ARD deal after the trial is concluded, is unfairly accused of violating the terms, fails to receive notice of the violation hearing, and is otherwise the innocent victim of every company, agency and person she encounters.....but it's unlikely, so we'd have to excuse those who find it implausible.

[mingomom]

What were you using in lieu of gas all that time? Just curious. Gas is not something that you can just skip using most times. Did you provide evidence of an alternative to show you weren't using the gas?

[badd302]

I dont completely understand what you mean by troll then, automated postings and stuff. All I can say is that I am a real person, I promise. And what I am telling you is all true.

Im sorry where you got your information on the ARD program, but with all due respect you are wrong. I live in Allegheny County and yes, PA law says the ARD is two years. And yes, they DO terminate you if you do not pay your restitution and other things within those years. Maybe where you live they are more lenient, but certainly not here. I did my 200 hours of community service and did pay on it faithfully, but did not pay it off and did get violated. I did not get notice of the hearing, I promise as I have been very involved in my case since day one and it is unreasonable to assume I would just not show up, unless I never received notice. Further, like I mentioned before, I found awsome case law, Commonwealth VS Melnyk which had I made the ARD violation hearing, would have presented that and they would have been forced to put me back into the ARD. But when I did not show up, I was thrown back into the court system and upon going to that hearing, they put me in the 586 settlement. Which in the end, has proven to be a good decision as I am about to be finished with this nightmare in Feb.

As I have mentioned before, there are several examples of things that show reasonable doubt, but it was like a freaking wall every time I wanted to get it admitted into evidence. They submitted linemans reports, but I was unable to cross examine them, which is not right. And just other things.

I used kerosine as heat while it was off and electric space heaters. (Horrible form of heating as my walls were totally black and my eyes were watering all the time.) In fact, when they would knock on my door and tell me I restored gas to my house, you could smell the kerosine right from the door. But I told them to hold on a minute. I had to put my Rottweiler away and I would let them in the house and show them I didnt. But by the time I got the dog put away and got back to the front door, they were backing down my road. This happened about six times. I was sooo freaking mad, they never allowed me to show them. And I never knew I was going to go filed against, so I never go the name of the gas dude.

Look, this whole thing is politics. If you even read the laws around PA Theft of service, you will see the standard for conviction is the "assumption of guilt" which is more of a civil standard then a criminal one. It really is a garbage law and I found myself going up against the big bad gas company and both the PD and the DA, plus the judge just wanted me to go into the ARD from the beginning and when I decided not to and fight it as I didnt do it, it was like they were mad for my taking up the courts time. You could just sense it. And in the end, they did wear me down and I eventually went into the ARD.

[knight0334]

Just going on face value of the info provided, once your 586 terms have been completed, and the judge does his magic - you should be able to possess a gun.

Before trying to buy/own/possess/carry a gun I'd review the FINAL dockets with a lawyer to be safe. I'm not exactly sure how that 586 thing works, but I certainly wouldn't expect everything to be favorable right off the bat.

I don't imagine a lawyer would charge all that much to review the papers and any adjudication.

[donm]

I dont completely understand what you mean by troll then, automated postings and stuff. All I can say is that I am a real person, I promise. And what I am telling you is all true.

OK, let's take a stroll down memory lane. NINE MONTHS AGO you asked the same question, using the same username, on Yahoo (http://answers.yahoo.com/question/in...2053833AAlD2Ti), stating that you were scheduled for arraignment "next week." You didn't like the answers you got there, and called those who responded "jagoffs." Most likely you're pretty far down the road to a conviction by now. BTW, a "maximum" of two years ARD doesn't mean that you have two years; that is specified in the agreement you signed when you entered into the program. It just can't be more than two years. Your counsel, the judge, and the DA have told you that, right? Look at your docket sheet online; it will be specified there.

[cakeshooter]

Interesting thread.

Hopefully once this gets cleared up, you can try to look for someplace to live in a little safer neighborhood.... I hope!

Also, I think everyone in the thread has been kind. I'm a newbie here myself, and everybody has been courteous answering my questions. Sometimes people have to cover all bases...I had a legal thread going and a few of the people justified their statements by saying "If your gun is stolen, this doesn't apply." Of course my gun was not stolen, but I fully understood they had to say that so I would not misunderstand them or quote them wrongly. I simply just elaborated on the details in response. It wasn't that they were attacking me or accusing me of something.

Your problem definitely sounds fishy....if you live in a very bad neighborhood I'd wonder if a neighbor somehow did something.... definitely time to move if you can. I hope you can get past the conviction and purchase a gun. The rottie sounds like a great close second though!

[GunLawyer001]

OK, let's take a stroll down memory lane. NINE MONTHS AGO you asked the same question, using the same username, on Yahoo (http://answers.yahoo.com/question/in...2053833AAlD2Ti), stating that you were scheduled for arraignment "next week." You didn't like the answers you got there, and called those who responded "jagoffs." Most likely you're pretty far down the road to a conviction by now. BTW, a "maximum" of two years ARD doesn't mean that you have two years; that is specified in the agreement you signed when you entered into the program. It just can't be more than two years. Your counsel, the judge, and the DA have told you that, right? Look at your docket sheet online; it will be specified there.

Excellent catch, my friend.

But, it's not exactly "trolling", just an example of "I'm always right and everyone else is a jagoff" syndrome.

The key term is "I always paid faithfully", which is not synonymous with "I always made the agreed-upon payments in the proper amounts".

I agree with the Yahoo guy, ARD is (like pardons) a matter of grace, not privilege. The defendant should be prosecuted and jailed, according to the basic criminal justice rules. ARD is an alternative, a touchy-feely attempt to rehabilitate those who accept responsibility and vow to buck up and fly right.

I think that we can all agree that ARD has not worked as intended in this case.