Legal Question in Criminal Law in California

Filing a criminal complaint against an individual

On December 3rd, 2007, my wife and I agreed to lease our

vehicle to an acquaintance in California who we presumed was a

trust-worthy person. My wife executed lease agreement on

December 3rd, 2007 and as of February 1st, 2008, the ''renter''

has stopped making his monthly rental payments on the vehicle

and has ignored our phone calls, voice mails, and emails. My wife

and I moved from San Diego, CA to Honolulu, HI a few weeks

after the renter took possession of the car (we have a witness that saw

the execution of the lease agreement). Unfortunately the U.S. Postal

Service lost the lease agreement while we moved out of California to

Hawaii.

We will pursue this matter civilly through the small claim court

in San Diego County, CA.

Criminally, we offered to provide an affidavit of lost contract to

the San Diego Police Department and it refuses to take our

police report on the embezzlement of the vehicle under Section

10855 of the California Vehicle Code; the SDPD says that since

we lost the lease agreement, we don't have a case.

Could we have an attorney file a criminal complaint on our

behalf and against this individual under section 806 and 813 of

the CA Penal Code?


Asked on 4/24/08, 2:21 am

4 Answers from Attorneys
Edward Hoffman Law Offices of Edward A. Hoffman

Re: Filing a criminal complaint against an individual

Only the government can file criminal complaints. You can't file one yourself, nor can you hire counsel to do so on your behalf. The code sections you cited explain how prosecutors can initiate a criminal case but do not authorize private parties or their lawyers to do so.

You can still bring a civil case in small claims court as you plan, but you will probably have to appear personally at the hearing. Depending upon the value of the car, small claims court may not be the right venue for you since it can only award judgments up to $7,500.00.

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Answered on 4/24/08, 2:39 am
OCEAN BEACH ASSOCIATES OCEAN BEACH ASSOCIATES

Re: Filing a criminal complaint against an individual

The complaint referred to in those sections is to be brought by the district attorney. If your losses are over $ 7.5K or you wish to have the car returned into your possession, then you need to file in Superior Court. Contact me directly for assitance.

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Answered on 4/24/08, 1:21 pm
Rustam Barbee Rustam A. Barbee, Attorney at Law

Re: Filing a criminal complaint against an individual

If title of the vehicle is still in your name and not the lessee's name, you can simply hire someone to repossess it.

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Answered on 4/24/08, 4:34 pm
Scott Linden Scott H. Linden, Esq.

Re: Filing a criminal complaint against an individual

No, unfortunately, only the DA or the CA can file criminal charges, we lowly attorneys are only allowed to file civil actions.

Have you tried to get a new pink (if you don't already have the last one) and just report the car as stolen? The police certainly can not ignore the pink-slip owner of a car stating that their vehicle has been stolen, they know where it is, who did it and where to get it back.

Of course if there's a cat stuck in a tree somewhere in Hillcrest, you may lose 1/2 the force to the "emergency rescue" but I think you get the idea.

Please feel free to let me know if you need help. I went to law school in SD so I know other attorneys down there who can assist you.

Scott

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Answered on 4/24/08, 4:35 pm


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