In Larimer County Colorado,North of Denver the criminal who stole thousands of dollars worth of my restoration tools has never had to pay restitution ordered by the court. Judge Daniel J. Kaup was the Judge. I have tried to get any of the money ordered paid to me by the court. In over five years now the thief has not paid restitution because Kaup will not enforce restitution. When put on work release Larimer County let this criminal out every day to go to work. He just did not go to work. Thank you Daniel J. Kaup, Larimer County Judge. I have been trying to get restitution from you and you just turn your head. You can't even control your own court orders. Dan C. 1927 Ford
Daniel - I understand your frustration. I am no lawyer, but as a retired railroad police officer, special agent, railroad detective, or whatever else RR cops might be called in your area, I can tell you that I have had considerable experience with various theft and vandalism cases whereby I have not only gotten convictions, but also successfully obtained restitution. In fact, I was somewhat "known" for obtaining restitution in cases where restitution was thought to be very unlikely! Believe it or not, as an example, I have actually had vandalism cases whereby the parents of a juvenile "vandal" had homeowners insurance that actually covered the restitution involved. There are usually several ways that legal pressure can be applied, if you go about it the right way.
I'm not sure how things work in Colorado, but where I've worked (Illinois and Washington) the "key" for me was to work with the district attorneys office, or county attorney or prosecutor, whatever they've called where you live. Instead of aiming your frustration at the judge, go and see the prosecutor and see if he won't look at your case and your situation (I'm assuming that what you called your "restoration tools" contribute towards your total income & livelihood) and see if the prosecutor won't initiate whatever steps necessary for a judge to schedule a "show cause hearing" for the purpose of showing the necessity for applying legal pressure to force restitution.
Don't give up Daniel, there are ways to apply pressure if you get "the system" on your side. Your congressmen know the county prosecutors too you know and you ARE a taxpayer, right? Hope this helps,.....harold
Took me over 10 years to get my $5000.00 + dollars from a hot check artist, but after she went back to jail about 6 or 7 times, she saw the light and started making those payments to the court. I would track her down, call the Sheriff and have her re-arrested, she would really get PO'd at me. But during that 10 + years she always had the money for a new Caddie, but none for me.
I finally got smart and I would wait until the holiday season when I had a little extra time and she would have to wait a little longer to get out on bail till a judge would be in court. HA!
Charley
PS--- the DA's office, told me the wait trick.
A few years ago I owned a machine shop. One customer decided not to pay his bill for an amount of $750.00. Not much put that one job would pay my rent for a month. Took him to small claims twice never showed up. Decided to just let it go because of diminishing returns going back and forth to court.
About two years later I get a call from his wife who says they can't sale their house because I put a lien on it. Actually the court did and never told me. I told her to pay the invoice and I'll release her house. Sometimes the law does work.
Excellent point Philip,....that's why I suggested to go and see the people at the DA's or Prosecutors office. Note that I said,..."go and see them"! A mere phone call is sort of a lazy way to go about things in my opinion. The fact that you took time to make an appointment and go down and meet with those folks automatically conveys the message that you are really serious about an issue. You can be "put off" entirely too easily on the phone. If you can get somebody in the DA's or prosecutors office in your corner, as I said, and as Philip just illustrated, there are a variety of legal ways that EFFECTIVE pressure can be applied,......harold
delay - delay - delay
Delaying is a trick that many attorneys and crooks use to get out of things.
They figure that I they drag it out long enough you will ultimately settle for less or give up.
The other way is to ignore you.
We are currently involved in the process of getting over $20,000 that is owed to us.
The guy refuses to reply.
What he doesn't know is that our lawyer told us that the guy would do this and he put a plan in place that will make the guy sorry that he ignored us.
By The way we can prove that the guy has the ability to earn over $100,000