Criminal complaint for property damage
September 17, 2009 | 35,00 EUR | answered by Michael Vogt
Short explanation:
For about 1 year, a woman (Russian citizenship) has been living next to us, constantly confronting and harassing us and my parents with random things. This woman seems to be full of envy. We have been living in our house for 20 years without any quarrels, but since the new neighbor moved in, the peace has been disturbed.
Now to the actual matter: My husband is currently installing a new fence on my parents' property. It should be noted that my parents placed the fence 40cm away from the actual boundary at the time to avoid disputes with neighbors. During the fence renewal, my husband had to remove a bush that was clearly on our property. The neighbor, once again, had nothing better to do and reported my husband on Friday. The police came on Friday evening and assessed the situation. After explaining to the police that the bush was clearly on our property, the neighbor then went on Friday evening to uncover the boundary stones, where she apparently realized she was in the wrong. I believe that before filing a CRIMINAL COMPLAINT against someone, such matters should be investigated beforehand, not afterwards!
According to the police, the neighbor withdrew the request for a criminal complaint, and today we received a written apology letter from her regarding the matter.
This morning, my husband received a summons, which is attached.
Now the question arises whether he can be legally represented at the appointment and who will bear the costs, as well as whether it is ensured that he is completely rehabilitated in the matter, and what we now have against the neighbor.
Dear Seeker,
Based on the circumstances you have described and considering your input, I would like to answer your question as follows:
First and foremost, it should be noted that your husband is not obligated to attend police interrogations or provide information regarding the matter.
Furthermore, he is free to hire a lawyer to represent him.
This lawyer would initially inform the police of his representation and review the police investigation files.
After reviewing this information, the next steps in this matter could be clarified based on the neighbor's statements.
In principle, the legal costs could only be charged to the neighbor as compensation if it could be proven that she deliberately made a false accusation against your husband by accusing him of property damage.
Unfortunately, it seems highly doubtful from my perspective that this proof will succeed, so it is regrettable to assume that your husband will have to bear the costs of his defense in this matter.
Based on your description, I assume that the investigation against your husband will be closed, so further rehabilitation should not be necessary.
Furthermore, since you can clearly prove that the shrub was on your property, as confirmed by the police and also in a written apology from the neighbor acknowledging this, I would recommend that your husband explain the situation to the police in the same way.
Of course, you are free to file a criminal complaint against the neighbor for false accusation.
However, as such proceedings are often dismissed and could potentially worsen the overall situation, I cannot recommend taking such a step.
I hope that my response has provided you with an initial overview of the legal situation.
Please note that this response, based on your information, is only a preliminary legal assessment of the situation. It cannot replace a comprehensive evaluation. Adding or omitting relevant information can result in a completely different legal assessment.
Feel free to reach out to me through the follow-up option on this platform or via my email address.
For legal representation beyond this initial consultation, my law firm is also at your service.
I wish you a pleasant afternoon and remain
Sincerely,
RA Michael Vogt
