Needing help over court matter
 

Hi,
I'm not sure if I have posted this here before or not, if I have I can't find it and sorry to repeat.

Last year I was convicted of a crime I did not do, I was sent to prison for 3 months. I have RSD and Fibromyalgia, I did not receive any medical care and was put upstairs in a top bunk, both of which I cannot do. Once I got home I was then ordered to do 1000 hours of community service. I cannot do this. I am on SSI because I cannot work outside the home. The stress, doctors appointment, probation appointments and court hearings has me in excruciating pain to where I went from marginally functioning to barely able to care for myself now. I have a house (with issues), land, a husband and 3 young adult kids to take care of.

The prosecutor does not want to accommodate my disability, he said he didn't care if I sat along the side of the road in a lazy boy chair with a sign saying men at work. I have tried to explain that the pain is more than just mobility, it's a struggle for me just to get out of bed certain days, and this isn't even discussing what winter does to me.

My attorney has known of my disability since he took my case, my appellate attorney has known also, however, neither of them have the guts to stand up to the judges or the prosecutor and say hey, she can't do it. The appellate attorney has filed to have my sentence reduced, but not once mentioned I was disabled and unable to do this, just that I was 44 years old when charged and was charged only after helping a person in need. But none the less, I am getting no where but getting sicker and sicker every week.

So, now it comes down to this. I have told them all I am disabled, now they want proof that I can't do it. My doctor is not being any help either, he is not wanting to write anything about limitations a person with RSD/Fibromyalgia has. So I don't know what to do. I have reached out to RSD Org and they sent the prosecutor, probation officer and my attorney a letter stating what limitations come with this and a very long letter. However the prosecutor and probation could care less. I don't know what else to do. My marriage is now falling apart and my kids and husband are now resenting me because I either do nothing at home so I can do community service, or I don't do community service so I can do things at home and I'm facing having my probation revoked.

Can you tell me how I can get my doctor to give the court what my limitations are? I am very limited in everything I do. I stay in my comfort zone to be able to function and I have not been in the zone in about 2 years. My doctor also does not want to give me Hydrocodone anymore so that's not helping either.
Thanks

What a difficult spot to be in and one that likely doesn't have any easy answers.

I don't have any answers on how to convince your doctor to write a letter - sad that he won't help but, even if he did it sounds like the odds are stacked against you in that the Judge wouldn't likely honor it regardless. My suggestion would be to contact the ADA, your local Ombudsman and possibly the ACLU to see if there is anything they can offer to help.

In the meantime I would suggest discussing what types of community service you can do and how many hours per week you are required to do. Depending on the crime you were sentenced for you may be able to volunteer at a library, assisted living facility, or even just help those in need around your local area in smaller increments of time. Working on the time required per month or week would be my priority, if I was in your shoes. The alternative is converting that time to a longer jail sentence if you absolutely cannot do anything. Once you have some hours in on community service you could then plead with the court to reduce the community service hours but, that won't likely happen until you've done some time.

Just an observation but, in your post you mention you have a home, land, a husband and 3 adult children to take care of.. if this was said to a Judge, Probation Officer or others in the legal system it could be taken out of context - they might think that if you 'can' take care of all of that you 'can' do some type of community service.

Sounds also like you need to find another doctor - one that will work on your medication regimen.

You certainly have a tough road/choices ahead, I wish you luck. You may have to shift your focus (change perspective) before you get anywhere with all of this. For instance instead of looking and saying 'I cannot do it' you might have to figure out what if anything you can do if there is no other choice. It is much easier for them to work with someone or 'try' to work with someone who is willing to do something rather than someone who isn't willing to do anything.

Good luck,
Tessa

Thing is, my attorney and my probation officer both told me to call the places in which I can do community service and tell them what my limitations are, I have done that, they all have said they have nothing for a person with my limitations to do. I did, through my probation officer get on place I can do something at. All I can do is 1-1 1/2 hours a week. My probation officer said that is not enough, my attorney said do what I can, so I have. Since I have started I've been trying to juggle doing what a mom, homeowner, and wife is supposed to do. I have been laid up now for 2 weeks. I can't do both. Now my husband is yelling at me constantly that he has to pick up the slack of what I cannot do at home, he says he should not have to work 2 jobs come home and cook, do laundry, do dishes, etc. So when I said I have land, a home, husband and children to take care of that means, if I do community service I can't take my kids that don't drive where they need to go, I can't stay on top of bills, I can't cook, I can't clean, I can't cut the grass, etc. And no my kids barely do anything, the court has taught them they don't have to, very long story. The only one that does help me is my youngest who is 17 and he has Aspergers on top of that. He is beginning to resent his father, brother and sister for having everything placed on him to help with everything that I normally do. No one in my house does anything except him and me and now my chores that I do are being placed on top of his chores and it's not fair.

I have asked for restitution as my sentence is community service in lieu of restitution. My husband was sentenced to, but since I was set up they were out after me, since he would not testify against me as the prosecutor asked him to do we feel they punished him with a conviction also.

So even though Social Security says I am too disabled even for a sedentary job, seems to me that should be enough. I have contacted the ACLU and they are interested and want to talk to me but we are having a difficult time getting to that point while I am still going to hearings.

Thanks for your reply.

I'm so sorry for all that you are going through.

If it were me...I would focus on working with the courts on the types of community service. My experience when dealing with limitations and restriction (in my case with work) is that it is much more helpful to focus on the things you CAN do instead of just saying, "I can't do that." You are probably already doing this...but I would continue to really push and offer solutions for the community service. You will likely need a flexible schedule, short increments of time, accommodations wherever you do the community service (walker, chair, no lifting, etc...whatever YOUR needs are) for your disability, etc. Maybe there's somewhere that you could help answer phones, or do paperwork at a desk...I'm sorry that I'm not more familiar with the options that would be open to you...but you may get a much better response from the court if you take that approach instead of insisting that you can't do anything. Your doctor may also be more open to assisting you if it's to confirm your need for such accommodations vs a blanket letter stating what your limitations are.

I wish the best for you in this situation and hope you are able to get things sorted out quickly so you can be rid of all this additional stress (which is obviously making your medical conditions worse on top of everything else). Take care.

That's the thing though, I have done everything the probabtion officer has asked or suggested me to do as well as my attorney. The prosecutor wants to revoke my probation because there is nothing that I can do. I can't talk on the phone, I can't sit in a chair. Doing what I am doing for an hour wears me out for a week. Before I was convicted I had a job working 1 1/2 hours a week and it was my max. The prosecutor is in on this conviction, I was set up, I was charged with something I didn't even do the evidence proves that. My attorney said the prosecutor has no sympathy for my disability and my attorney says this is a case of cruel and unusual punishment because the courts have a letter from the administrative law judge from social security saying I cannot work. I just want to do restitution while I fight this wrongful conviction, that will be hard enough on me to do, but at least I can do things at my pace to sell and pay it, but they won't do that.

I am so very sorry...I wish there was more that I could suggest or offer to you in the way of advice. I guess just keep fighting and doing what you are doing. Take care and I wish you the best of luck.

Prosecutor an elected official in your area?

Then go to the media....reveal what he is doing. If he is being malicious he won't stand up for long with the media spotlight on him! (this is only my opinion, for what it is worth. I don't know you or your details in this matter). Something to think about at least. You may decide not to, given your own situation etc.

This is tough but unfortunately the laws do not protect whom they deem criminals for protection or leniency to pay back (via monetary or probation) what was considered (by them..) to be a crime. Please don't think I'm judging you - I am not. You might have to consider either pleading with the judge to convert your sentence to jail time rather than restitution or simply breaking your probation so that you are heard in court and they are forced to convert it - if know one will listen.

Can you not answer phones even with a headset?

Sounds to me like your children and husband need to either step up or understand that they made it while you were in prison and if they don't want you back in prison or possibly even more financially strapped, because you have to pay cash restitution then they need to help out a little while longer. It is not the priority of the court to ensure that you have the time to take care of your household duties before your restitution that is just not how things work in the justice system. You need to explain this to your family.

There are other meds and other doctors who might be able to prescribe meds that will better control your pain so that you can do the community service. I would seriously consider finding a new doctor.

What about a different attorney? Did you try the Ombudsman's office?

We all know how hard it is to work or just take care of normal daily life while living with CRPS or any other chronic disease. That being said you most likely will have to dig deep within yourself to muster up the strength to get through this difficult time. Think of what you would do if one of your loved ones were in trouble and only you were there to save them... you would be surprised at what you are capable of!! Try and put yourself in that frame of mind - you are saving you and your family and this is just a 'season' in life. Serving soup at a homeless shelter? Visiting patients in hospice just to sit or perhaps read. There has got to be something??

I wish the best for your future and hope it this road is far behind you soon!

Disability doc??
 

I was seeing my pain doc and was asking him to sign my short term disability paperwork. He refused, saying he wasn't a disability doc and would have no way of determining if I was 30%; 50%; or 100% disabled.

I got my paperwork signed, but my point here is that there seem to be doctors who DO identify and prove your complete disability. Perhaps if you can find one of these and it can help you.

Good luck.:hug:

If you have adult children living at home, not contributing, than you and your husband need to let them know what your expectations of help from them are in terms of household work or charge them rent and hire someone to do the work they should be doing.

My college aged son recently came for several months. Having him here increased the amount of cooking I did, but he took over things like all the cleaning, yard work and errands--which actually meant I didn't have to pay to have cleaning help and a gardener come. It probably took him about 10 hours a week total and it saved him several thousand dollars in rent and groceries while working on completing his degree.

Your first priority has to be your health and second staying out of jail/prison. You are not in a position to be taking care of other adults that are not contributing. And at some point you're not helping them by enabling their behavior.