Posted by J Prewett on 3/28/12

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My step-son went out with a buddy to go to some bars and
pick up girls about 4 years ago. His buddy went with a
girl and left him at the bar. He met two other girls and
they said that they would take him home.
They were stopped by police. He was arrested for public
intoxication. Later they came back and said that they
found 4 ounces of meth in the car.
He was charged with possession of a controlled substance.
He was told that they were going to send him to prison for
a lot of years, which scared him, so he chose to go on
deferred adjudication.
When he got on probation, he was new and had never been
in trouble like this before. He went on a date with his
girlfriend and made a mistake by "sharing a beer" with her.
The next day they asked him to go in for a pee test. He
was arrested and put in jail.
15 days later he got out of jail. He was going to all of
his meetings, paying his fees, making his pee tests and did
not have any other dirty UA's. He would not even take
aspirin because he was afraid that they would violate his
probation.
Then one day the probation officer called him up and told
him to report to jail. He asked her why and she told him
that she was sending him to AA class. She said that he had
to be in jail for 30 days prior to the class starting.
He voluntarily went to the jail and turned himself in,
following her instructions.
4 months later, he got out. He continued to make his
meetings, pay his fees, and do whatever was asked of him.
One day she called him up and accused him of not making a
recent pee test. He assured her that he had gone. (He
borrowed my car to go and I gave him the money to pay the
fee, so I know he went to take it.)
She demanded that he produce a receipt. He could not
find it, (we searched throughout the house.) He told her
that he had gone and that he was telling her the truth.
However I overheard her say, "I KNOW you are a drug addict
and I am going to do everything in my power to put you in
prison." (There was another guy with the same name in jail
who is a drug addict and has a long list of charges. I
suspect that she may have confused my step-son with the
other person.)
She said that he needed to report to jail. I took him
there and he turned himself in. Later while he was in
jail, he found out that they checked the records and found
that he made the pee test, and had paid his fee, He had
signed the back of the form instead of the front. They had
made a mistake.
Finally he asked for a different probation officer, and
one was given to him. They reduced his scheduled pee tests
to once a month. He made all of his required meetings,
finished his community service and did what was required of
him. Finally he made his last payment on his probation. He
asked if there was anything else he needed to do. The
probation people told him that "the paperwork had been sent
to the court."
That was 6 or 7 months ago. They came and arrested him
4 days ago, for a probation violation. They said that he
had failed to show up for a meeting. This baffled us
because they would have had to call my house to get in
touch with him and we have no record of them calling to
tell us about any meeting. Otherwise I would have made sure
he got to it.
So on the 23rd of March, he was taken to court, just two
days after he was arrested,and they gave him 2 years in
prison. I asked him why he took it, and he said that they
said that they were going to give him 4 years. When his
court appointed attorney told him that he could take two
years and they would give him credit for his time in jail,
he took it. (He was under duress and was scared.) He
signed the papers.
Now here is the rest of the story. I know for a fact
that he was not using drugs, because the guy has lived in
my house for the past 10 years. I saw him 24 hours a day.
I made sure he made all of his meetings etc, and I know he
paid his fees because they were coming out of my pocket.
He did not go anywhere at all. Since he didn't have a
car, he did not leave the house. Occassionally he would go
to his girlfiend's house for a few hours, but he would come
back home before too late. He never exhibited any symptoms
that would indicate that he was on drugs.
I would know the symptoms because I am a former
corrections officer who worked with drug addicts for over
20 years. I know what the symptoms are and how people act.
I never observed any of this kind of activity with him, and
I was with him 24 hours a day.
I was appalled that the probation officer told him that
she "knew" he was a drug addict and she was determined to
put him in prison. How could she make that statement
without any dirty UA's? He had only the one dirty UA right
at the start of his probation and over three years later he
never had another dirty one?
After his final payment I kept having him call to check
on his status, and the probation department kept telling
him that the paperwork was sent to the court. He was not
having to make any more pee tests, or anything.
Now they say that he missed a meeting last July 2011???
We never received any notification.
SO my question is this, How do I go about filing a
complaint against this probation officer who "was sure he
was an addict" even though there was no evidence to such a
thing.
Could missing this alledged meeting cause him to be sent
to prison even though he has had no other criminal charges
brought against him? How can we deal with a prejudiced
probation officer who may have mistaken him for this other
fellow who has the same name?
I fell like a helpless frustrated person because I know
for a fact that he is not this drug addict they thought he
was. Even the neighbors are willing to write letters
standing up for him.
Any suggestions?
Thanks

Re: Complaint against a PO, 3/28/12, by jprewett.

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