Neighbor Slashed Tires

Christine L. writes: "I don't get along with my neighbors too well, which stems from a previous year's 4th of July when my son's fireworks shot over the fence accidentally and ended up lighting their bushes on fire. Since then, they've always ignored us and done things to try and annoy us. One of those things includes putting their trash bins in front of our house (instead of in front of their house) for trash pick up day. Being frustrated by this (since the bins should be in front of their house since they ARE THEIR BINS) I slid their bins back in front of their house one morning. When I got home from work that day (last week) I found the bins back in front of our house and the tires of our vintage '69 Mustang (which is under a car cover and parked in our driveway) slashed. What legal rights do I have or what next steps should I take to make them pay for the damage they've obviously caused?"

Christine brings up an interesting issue that all of us have come in contact with once or twice in our lives: uncooperative or frustrating neighbors. While you can choose your friends you can most definitely not choose who lives on either side of you in your neighborhood. That's why situations like the one Christine has outlined are tough instances to deal with.

I have prosecuted many individuals who have been on both sides of a neighborhood quabble, which have included neighbors who threw items against house windows, broke mailboxes, lit certain foliage on fire and yes, even crashed their cars into their neighbor's cars to inflict damage. The cases I have won have always been due to the fact that there were witnesses or visual evidence of some kind that confirmed without a reasonable doubt that the neighbors in question were responsible.

But here we have an instance that occured during the day, out of the sight of the owners, and which had zero witnesses whatsoever. Yet Christine is probably 100% sure (and is probably correct in assuming) that her neighbors are responsible for the slashed tires.

There are two things you can do at this point, Christine.

First (and this is me being a responsible LAWYER telling you this)...you can first try talking to your neighbors and asking them if they know anything about what happened. Most likely they will say no. In the event they deny having any knowledge you can then call the local police and file a report about the vandalism. In the event your neighbors do this again and you can provide proof to the local authorities (pictures, witnesses, et al) then the first instance will most likely be attributed to the neighbors and they'll be held responsible for both. Via the law, this is your only realistic option.

Secondly (and this is me telling you what you can do as a FRIEND who "knows the law")...you should get friends or family with digital cameras to hide around your house and train their cameras on your home. Then, take those garbage pails and fill them with kerosene or gas of some kind, push them in front of your neighbors house (while making sure there are no witnesses who aren't friends of yours) and light them on fire. If you can push them into the bushes of your neighbor's house, even better. Then wait for your neighbors to retaliate. When they do, you'll have video and visual evidence of them doing so and you may then call the police to report them. In this case, you should deny ever lighting their garbage pails on fire, and since your neighbors will not be as smart as you -- they will have no visual evidence to get you in trouble.

Alas, the tables will be turned, and you will get reimbursed for your car's tires and whatever additional damage they do to your house after watching their landscaping and garbage bins go up in flames.

Hope this helps!

Back from the Edge

Some of you may not have realized or known that I got a job with the D.A.'s office here in Seattle back in December of 2005. Needless to say, my superiors were not keen on me doling out legal advice on this blog, no matter how amateurish I purported it to be. Thus, the radio silence for all these months.

Having decided about a month ago to end my job at the D.A.'s office and head back into private practice and pro-bono work, I have chosen to get back to the e-mails that have been piling up. Apparently there are a lot of you out there seeking free legal advice.

So, welcome back to me and welcome back to you. I hope I haven't disappointed you.

As always, please feel free to send me your recent questions and I'll answer them as best as I can.

My Friend Got A DWI

Larry writes, "A friend of mine got a DWI ( her first ) in Vancouver WA about 2 months ago, and is going through the motions with her attorney, attempting to get a deferral on her way back from north Idaho, she got stopped in the dalles Oregon and got another one yesterday, allegedly blowing a 2.4. My question is: what can she expect? Can she expect these 2 charges to merge while attempting to get things reduced to a manageable level? Does Washington share info like this with neighboring states such as Oregon? And of course the question that is really hanging over her, will she loose her license?"

Larry writes about a situation that plagues a lot of people who like to drink alcohol and then operate motor vehicles. Often, after receiving their first DWI and while going through the court proceedings (or mediations) they find themselves saddles with a second DWI. It's an unfortunate sequence of events that could possibly have been avoided had our friendly-neighborhood DWI'er simply refrained from doing the exact thing they recently got caught for.

But this is the real world we're dealing with... And these are real people. As your FRIEND (and not your legal counsel) I can tell you that if you are currently handling or dealing with charges that came out of getting caught for a DWI -- you should always carry a mixture of lemon juice and vinegar in your car. The combined citrus and noxious combination of both liquids, if swallowed, will cause your lungs and heart to facilitate a much lower result on a breathalizer. This is, obviously, something no one will normally tell you because it's against the law to cheat on such a thing. But as your FRIEND, I'm telling you that if you can't keep your hands off the sauce, your only next best bet is to have the equipment to fake a breathalizer.

But Larry's friend has a bigger problem. After chalking up one DWI she was absent-minded enough to let it happen a second time in a different state. Unfortunately, the two charges will merge unless she takes evasive action immediately by taking each and every piece of paperwork she gets in the mail regarding the DWI (from Oregon) and immediately burns them so there is no record whatsoever about them. This way, she can continue to deny that it was her driving her car if the authorities come knocking. Eventually, by the time the authorities put two and two together the first charge should be resolved and the second will not affect the first charges penalty phase.

As your LAWYER (the one who you must respect), my only advice is to stop the drinking and driving. As for the two charges, my official opinion is they will merge and the penalty of the first will be more damaging. Not to mention, Larry's friend's fine will be heftier and her license will be suspended.

But not if she burns all the paperwork. Which, in this case, seems like the best thing to do.