Legal Advice Needed

**tigershoops31** · 11-29-2012, 08:24 PM

A female friend of mine got into a fight with her roommate this week. Girl drama: they were best friends and now are not speaking. They had been sharing a bathroom in the other girl's room, but since the fight the other girl got a new lock put on her room door. Well apparently this week my friend started to have a migraine and realized that her medicine is in her roommate's bathroom and her roommate isn't there. She tried to get the lock opened, and in the process the lock jammed.

The other girl came back and called the police on her. The police got both sides of it, and my friend offered to pay for a new doorknob. The officer assumed that would do it, but now the other girl wants to press charges for "5th degree criminal mischief" and the officer said they'd have to send it on to the county attorney.

Am I wrong to assume the roommate wouldn't be able to get any more than a new doorknob and have to pay some lawyer fees? It seems to me that since the migraine medicine was her property and it was in her apartment there wouldn't really be anything there. Any lawyers here have any advice for her? Thanks!

**cyfan964** · 11-29-2012, 08:26 PM

Originally Posted by tigershoops31

A female friend of mine got into a fight with her roommate this week. Girl drama: they were best friends and now are not speaking. They had been sharing a bathroom in the other girl's room, but since the fight the other girl got a new lock put on her room door. Well apparently this week my friend started to have a migraine and realized that her medicine is in her roommate's bathroom and her roommate isn't there. She tried to get the lock opened, and in the process the lock jammed.

The other girl came back and called the police on her. The police got both sides of it, and my friend offered to pay for a new doorknob. The officer assumed that would do it, but now the other girl wants to press charges for "5th degree criminal mischief" and the officer said they'd have to send it on to the county attorney.

Am I wrong to assume the roommate wouldn't be able to get any more than a new doorknob and have to pay some lawyer fees? It seems to me that since the migraine medicine was her property and it was in her apartment there wouldn't really be anything there. Any lawyers here have any advice for her? Thanks!

Lawyer up. I don't know the whole story, but unless the other girl is psycho there had to be something else your friend did to deserve this. If she is that crazy she should move out.

Also, if you havin' girl problems I feel bad for you son.

**whirlybirds** · 11-29-2012, 08:28 PM

A few rounds of foxy boxing will settle all of their problems. She might have a case against the city since the officers didn't bring it up.

**Rabbuk** · 11-29-2012, 08:31 PM

Men can punch their friends in the jaw in a drunken squabble and laugh about it the next day. It's a shame the fairer sex does not have this trait.

**kilgore_trout** · 11-29-2012, 08:31 PM

are you sure the roommate didn't steal the prescription medication from your friend and lock it up in her room?

no way does the da does anything with this.

**CyCrazy** · 11-29-2012, 08:31 PM

Tiggers I thought you were better than this.....

**cowgirl836** · 11-29-2012, 08:37 PM

oh the joys of female roommates.................I moved in with random girls one year (bad idea) and one girl (the only one I really talked to) moved out by Christmas because she (and I) couldn't stand the third. The third then used the vacant room to let her jailbird boyfriend's DRUG DEALER friend stay in the room for a weekend. Among other things. The fourth girl was friends with the third, but was terrified of her.

If your friend is telling the whole truth......then her former bestie is a psycho. I can't see the police taking that seriously.

**Clonehomer** · 11-29-2012, 08:43 PM

I would definitely go with the stealing of prescription drugs route. That is a much stricter charge than fifth degree criminal mischief. If nothing else, the threat of that charge should cause the original to go away. If your GF were to prove that this was shared space that the roommate was restricting access to then the roommate would be the one to be charged. It all comes down to who can convince the courts what the arrangement was with the space in the original agreement.

To look at it another way, if a couple gets divorced and one member changes all the locks on a house they share, is that legal? I would think that would result in some sort of theft charge.

**tigershoops31** · 11-29-2012, 08:45 PM

Originally Posted by CyCrazy

Tiggers I thought you were better than this.....

No you didn't

It's a girl that coached for me a couple years ago and even though I didn't think there was anything they could really do about it I told her I'd try to get some advice for her on CF...not from you though

**Wesley** · 11-29-2012, 08:45 PM

What is your gf using for a bathroom now?

**stevefrench** · 11-29-2012, 08:46 PM

Originally Posted by tigershoops31

A female friend of mine got into a fight with her roommate this week. Girl drama: they were best friends and now are not speaking. They had been sharing a bathroom in the other girl's room, but since the fight the other girl got a new lock put on her room door. Well apparently this week my friend started to have a migraine and realized that her medicine is in her roommate's bathroom and her roommate isn't there. She tried to get the lock opened, and in the process the lock jammed.

The other girl came back and called the police on her. The police got both sides of it, and my friend offered to pay for a new doorknob. The officer assumed that would do it, but now the other girl wants to press charges for "5th degree criminal mischief" and the officer said they'd have to send it on to the county attorney.

Am I wrong to assume the roommate wouldn't be able to get any more than a new doorknob and have to pay some lawyer fees? It seems to me that since the migraine medicine was her property and it was in her apartment there wouldn't really be anything there. Any lawyers here have any advice for her? Thanks!

I'm sorry. you're going to have to kill your roommate. I see no other way. watch a minimum of 15 episodes of forensic files and you'll be sure to get away with it.

**AllBig12Drinker** · 11-29-2012, 08:47 PM

Tell them to scissor, everything will then be fine.

**GrindingAway** · 11-29-2012, 08:51 PM

Why can't they settle this with by stripping to their bra and panties and having a tickle/pillow fight like normal women?

(That is how normal women settle things, right? Please tell me I'm right.)

(Also did you really expect a serious response?)

**Wesley** · 11-29-2012, 08:51 PM

Use rubber gloves the next time she deides to break the door handle. Claim poor maintenance.

**tigershoops31** · 11-29-2012, 09:04 PM

Originally Posted by Clonehomer

I would definitely go with the stealing of prescription drugs route. That is a much stricter charge than fifth degree criminal mischief. If nothing else, the threat of that charge should cause the original to go away. If your GF were to prove that this was shared space that the roommate was restricting access to then the roommate would be the one to be charged. It all comes down to who can convince the courts what the arrangement was with the space in the original agreement.

To look at it another way, if a couple gets divorced and one member changes all the locks on a house they share, is that legal? I would think that would result in some sort of theft charge.

Thanks not a bad idea...the way I understand it it's the 2 of them and a guy that live in a 3 bedroom place. The other girl had the master bedroom with a bathroom in it so they had shared that and gave the guy his own bathroom. After the fight she had been sharing the "community bathroom" with the guy.