Confessions of a Jobless bassist...

[f'nar f'nar]

I have been finding it very hard to come on to talkbass lately, mainly because it makes me want to purchase basses or bass related products which, sadly, I don't have the money for at the moment. But I'm not a lazy teenager, oh no, allow me to explain.

Up until I few months ago I had a job in retail that I had held down for four years, that's a pretty long time at my age to stay in a job, especially in retail (I'm 19 by the way). On top of that I study criminology at university and finish that course this year.

At the end of February, however, I was unceremoniously fired and carted off in the back of a police car and charged with theft. I did NOT however commit any form of theft and I am being under investigation for and will (hopefully not) be charged on that basis that my employer thought I had been the one stealing stock from the store.

Let me say now that if I AM charged I will fight it all the way to the supreme and high court if I have to but let me say at this point that the reason I am studying criminology is to get into the police force. In order to get in the police force you need a spotless record, something I wont have if I am charged. Meaning my studying thus far could have been for nothing.

On top of this no employer will hire someone suspected of or charged with theft and to make matters even worse my car has broken down and I have no money to repair it.

So, let's recap:
-Fired Unjustly
-Under investigation for crimes I did not commit
-No money coming in
-Wasted money on university fees ($20,000 in debt for nothing)
-No Car
-No career prospects
-Little chance of being hired


Hurrah. Sorry about the long post, just had to get it off my chest...

[dinghy]

See if you can fit that into a post for this: http://www.fmylife.com/

[NJL]

Originally Posted by dinghy

See if you can fit that into a post for this: http://www.fmylife.com/

LOL

[thefruitfarmer]

Originally Posted by f'nar f'nar

At the end of February, however, I was unceremoniously fired and carted off in the back of a police car and charged with theft. I did NOT however commit any form of theft and I am being under investigation for and will (hopefully not) be charged on that basis that my employer thought I had been the one stealing stock from the store.

Bad Luck......

This sort of thing happens in retail all the time. Most of the time it is the management of the store involved and they have to pass the blame on to a younger member of staff to draw the attention and blame away from their little scams.......

If you have done nothing wrong at all then you can call their bluff. The thing they fear the most is bad publicity with a messy court case and newspapers involved.

However, they won't make it easy for you. They will probably drag it out and may produce false evidence etc etc.

In your position you are probably best off just walking away from the situation with a clean record so you can follow your chosen career in the police.

Think of the bigger picture here......

If you really want to fight them you can but there is still a small chance you could loose (you may be taking on an organisation that has fought these cases before). The case could go on for years and it will give you stress, whether you win or loose.

However, it does seem a little strange that the store managers involved the police at this point. In my experience in retail they usually try to force the scapegoat to resign in the first instance.

If the management are running a scam then they are kind of inviting the police to make a full investigation here, which would be the last thing they want....?

Bummer.......

[f'nar f'nar]

I have no choice at this point but get charged for it... So, like it or not, I can't just walk away

[thefruitfarmer]

Originally Posted by f'nar f'nar

I have no choice at this point but get charged for it... So, like it or not, I can't just walk away

Bummer....

Don't take any prisoners.....and be prepared for a rough ride.

[i_got_a_mohawk]

Just ride it through, if there is nothing to proove you stole anything hopefully you'll be fine.

I'm curious as to how this is stopping you getting a job elsewhere tho. You won't have a criminal record? Surely other employers won't know about the charges being made against your name unless you tell them?

[sarcastro83]

Be strong, man. If you're innocent, the truth will come out.

[burk48237]

I do have a question as someone who is unfamiliar with Australian law. It is one thing to get fired for suspicion of theft, quiet another to be charged for theft. In the states many retail jobs are "at will" and the manager can fire someone on a whim. But, In the states to be charged the prosecution must posses a reasonable amount of evidence. Here, they couldn't charge you because the manager thinks you did it, and I doubt they would charge you if the manager said you did it. They would have to have you in possession of stolen goods, on tape or clearly concealing the goods, or witnesses to transactions of the goods. Most stores in the states won't touch a theft case unless they have you "off the property with the goods". What evidence do the claim to have? If you don't want to answer that's OK.

[Steve]

Here's something else to think about that may not matter in Austrailia but it does in Florida.

Of the two positive outcomes you have a trial with a finding of not guilty or you have for whatever reason charges that are dropped or abandoned by prosecution.

Either way you can probably get the record expunged but that expungement only applies to civillian employers. Government employers, law enforcement and any one of a number of organizations you want to work for can look right through that expungement and see it all.

As large a PITA as it is, you want the trial.

A cop will look at the not guilty verdict and see NOT GUILTY. Like it or not, end of story.

They will see charges abandoned and wonder if you did it but had a great lawyer, wonder if you did it but there was a problem of chain of evidence, wonder if you did it but there was an issue with a witness or any one of a number of things that would cause a prosecutor to say, it's just more trouble than it's worth.

I got arrested by a poorly trained rookie cop 15 years for being in possesion of a firearm. The charges where dropped three days later when the DA's office determined that I was legally in posession and had done nothing wrong at all. I got an apology, an expungement and my firearm returned to me.

The incident has come back to haunt me a couple of times over the years and had I known then what I do now, I would have paid the money and demanded a trial.

If any of that is applicable to Austrailia, I don't know but, you are dealing with something that will follow you around one way or another for the rest of your life. Be very careful.

[flipper_gv]

if they don't have any proof you have stolen, then you're absolutely not at risk right?
Unless they have proofs that you have stolen something...

[MakiSupaStar]

Yeah well this sucks. Usually they don't do this unless they have video evidence. Have you seen the evidence presented against you?

[mkrtu9]

Originally Posted by dinghy

See if you can fit that into a post for this: http://www.fmylife.com/

This is good stuff

[kserg]

Originally Posted by i_got_a_mohawk

Just ride it through, if there is nothing to proove you stole anything hopefully you'll be fine.

And when you do get off - sue them for wrongfully firing you.

[f'nar f'nar]

Apparently the police have 2 weeks of videos of me working and somewhere in those two weeks I have committed what they now believe to be multiple counts of theft, I have yet to see any of the evidence against me but I will be going down and demanding copies of the evidence and the tapes for myself and my lawyer within the coming days. I'll keep you all posted on that one.

As for the differences between Australian and American law I can't really comment, I know a fair amount about the Australian law system but I wouldn't have the slightest clue how American law functions haha.

[thefruitfarmer]

Stay Strong.

You have sorted yourself out with legal representation and accusations can be dropped. They *may* still drop the whole thing if their case is weakened. Hopefully your lawyer will be able to offer several alternative explanations to the behaviour observed in the video "evidence".

[f'nar f'nar]

Update:

My lawyer is close to working out a resolve with the company from which I was terminated. Given that my career as I know (not to mention my happiness for the next few months) it rests upon whether or not I am charged we may be able to work out a method of me paying back a percentage of what I am accused of taking. I know this seems like an admission of guilt but paying back what they think I have taken will cost a lot less than legal fees as well as be quicker and less painful.

I don't know yet. I'll have to see.

Thanks for the support brethren.

[i_got_a_mohawk]

I'd be wary of that, as said by other posters further up, that could come back to haunt you, especially in trying to get into your field.

[MakiSupaStar]

Originally Posted by i_got_a_mohawk

I'd be wary of that, as said by other posters further up, that could come back to haunt you, especially in trying to get into your field.

+1. I think that paying back could be seen as an admission of guilt which in your case could be quite detrimental.

[Steve]

Once again, take the long term view of this. DO NOT take the quickest, easiest. get-it-over-with solution.

Sometimes I think attorneys can get a little tunnel visioned on getting free of the issue at hand ASAP and lose sight of the long term effect.

Consent decree's, nolo contendere's, and such can bite you on your backside.