{"id":2153,"date":"2023-03-20T09:52:17","date_gmt":"2023-03-20T14:52:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/iowappa.com\/?p=2153"},"modified":"2023-03-20T09:54:11","modified_gmt":"2023-03-20T14:54:11","slug":"nailed-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/iowappa.com\/?p=2153","title":{"rendered":"Nailed It"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Al Johanson stormed into Leonard Bartson\u2019s law office and shouted, \u201cI need to sue my neighbor!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cCalm down, Al, calm down,\u201d Bartson gently replied with his hands held up.<\/p>\n

It was a warm spring day in 1885. The doors and windows to Bartson\u2019s office were fully open and a slight breeze was interrupting the flight of flies and files of paper.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow, sit and tell me what\u2019s wrong.\u201d Leonard said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat no good drunken Irishman Dale McCarthy stole my favorite hammer. I need to sue him to get it back.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m sorry, Al, but that is not the way to go about it. I cannot sue a fellow countryman unless there\u2019s a case or controversy.\u201d Leonard\u2019s use of legalize was not wasted on Al.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a controversy,\u201d Al responded. \u201cHe stole my hammer and I want it back. He won\u2019t give it back, so there\u2019s your controversy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Leonard realized that he was not going to convince Al that there was a viable lawsuit by using anything he learned in law school. Al was a big intimidating Scandinavian farmer, and Leonard was slightly fearful of what could happen if he didn\u2019t address the situation in a format Al could understand.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat you need to do,\u201d Leonard began to explain, \u201cis to go down to the train depot and send a telegram to the sheriff, telling him that a crime has been committed. This is a criminal case, and the sheriff is the one to set it in motion.\u201d<\/p>\n

Al looked sheepish as he asked: \u201cWill that get my hammer back?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, not right away,\u201d Leonard responded. \u201cThe sheriff will have to investigate and inform the county attorney that a crime was committed, and the county attorney will file charges against McCarthy if there is probable cause that McCarthy did indeed steal your hammer.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter that, I\u2019ll get my hammer back?\u201d Al thought he was beginning to understand.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, Al. The hammer will have to be kept by the sheriff until a trial can be held to determine the guilt or innocence of McCarthy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat!\u201d Al showed his angry demeanor again. \u201cHe\u2019s not innocent; he\u2019s guilty. I saw the hammer at his farm. It has my name engraved in the wooden handle.\u201d<\/p>\n

Leonard did his best to walk Al through the procedures and constitutional guarantees that must be followed in order to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that McCarthy did actually steal the hammer and that it wasn\u2019t just lent to him by Al. Or \u201cMcLarty could have added a \u201cD\u201d before the \u201ca\u201d and an \u201ce\u201d after \u201cl\u201d making the hammer appear to be owned by Dale,\u201d Leonard explained with his most sincere ability to cover all angles.<\/p>\n

Al was getting red in the face. His top was about to blow. \u201cHe better not change one thing about that hammer! If he\u2019s found guilty, I\u2019ll get my hammer back, right?\u201d Al\u2019s ears were beet red, and his long blonde hair was about to stand straight up on his head. Although they were sitting in adjoining seats, Al was leaning over Leonard and Leonard could feel the hot breath that made his neck hairs tickle his spine.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, that depends.\u201d Leonard cautioned him, leaning back in his chair. \u201cHe could appeal, and the evidence would have to remain with the sheriff until all appeals are exhausted.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat do you mean by \u2018all appeals\u2019?\u201d Al asked.<\/p>\n

Leonard had to be truthful, but cautious. \u201cIf he should lose his first appeal, he may want to take it to a higher court, a court we call the Supreme Court.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDo I get my hammer returned to me after appeals?\u201d Al was almost in tears.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou should get your hammer back from the sheriff, unless he lost it, someone stole if from his office, he pawned it, or it was damaged while in his possession. Then, we get to sue the sheriff.\u201d Leonard smiled as he finished the explanation. \u201cThat\u2019s a civil suit. And if we don\u2019t win in district court, we can appeal.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut that would mean that I wouldn\u2019t get my hammer.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAl, if you need that hammer you might be better off if you just go down to the general store and buy a new hammer. It would be less expensive, and it would provide you with a new hammer, immediately. And leave McCarthy alone. If you try to harm him in any way seeking revenge, you will be the one the sheriff visits. That could lead to a criminal case.\u201d<\/p>\n

Al smiled, \u201cbut I\u2019ll get lots of appeals, right?\u201d<\/p>\n

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Al Johanson stormed into Leonard Bartson\u2019s law office and shouted, \u201cI need to sue my neighbor!\u201d \u201cCalm down, Al, calm down,\u201d Bartson gently replied with his hands held up. It was a warm spring day in 1885. The doors and … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[42],"tags":[1062,1061,1063],"class_list":["post-2153","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-criminal-justice","tag-civil-las","tag-criminal-law","tag-fiction"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/iowappa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2153","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/iowappa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/iowappa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iowappa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iowappa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2153"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/iowappa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2153\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2156,"href":"https:\/\/iowappa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2153\/revisions\/2156"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/iowappa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2153"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iowappa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2153"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iowappa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2153"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}