please help me restore my rights
Donation protected
In July 2014 my partner (Dustin) and I were stopped by police at 1st street and Roosevelt for running a red light on our bicycles at 1 am on a dead street. We discovered that my partner had a warrant out for his arrest due to a "failure to appear" for something that he most certainly had appeared to. The court had mixed up some case numbers, and it turned out that ultimately, the fact that he had a warrant out for his arrest at all was due to clerical error.
The police who stopped us brought multiple officers to the scene, by cars and by helicopter. When they began to arrest him, I rushed to place myself between him and his arresting officer. I was terrified and sobbing, "He handled this, he handled this". I was trying to hug him and to make the officers see reason. This was extremely naive.
The officers threw me to the ground immediately before I could even reach him, and arrested me as well. They later charged me with aggravated assault on an officer, falsely claiming that I had attempted to hit the officer, however, I accepted a plea for an F6 undesignated resisting arrest felony (the arrest that I resisted being not my own, but Dustin's).
It has been over six years since this event, which is arguably one of the most major events of my life. During this time, I have been unable to sign a lease in most housing situations, have been turned down for endless employment opportunities, and of course, have not been able to vote in all these years.
My felony for resisting arrest is categorized as "undesignated", meaning that I am at least fortunate enough that once all of my fines are paid, I can apply to have my rights restored, and if/when this is approved, my felony will be reduced to a misdemeanor on my record. After this, I am eligible to apply for any housing, any jobs, and to be able to vote.
In the beginning of 2020, Dustin and I had put away some savings that we had planned on utilizing to pay off my $900 worth of probation fines, only to discover that these fines had been accumulating interest over the years, and now stand at $1,800. To top everything, the pandemic took off, leaving my employment situation more unstable than ever, as well as further depleting our savings.
If I can raise this money, and successfully restore my rights, I will not only once again be able to vote, but I will also become a more competitive job candidate, as well as overall be much more secure in my housing prospects (housing being the most significant hurdle I've experienced since obtaining a felony record). All three of these major consequences (voting, employment, and housing) had already had a major negative impact on my life, but now during the pandemic, have become even bigger concerns moving into the future.
Any donation is helpful, and I am so grateful to anyone taking the time to read my story, as well as so thankful to the many friends who have advised me and supported me through the struggles that have snowballed since this happened.
I do have one other request to anyone who might donate to my cause, however: If at all possible, please consider also donating to the Louisville Community Bail Fund, which helps folks pay bail in Louisville, Kentucky, where Breonna Taylor was murdered by police while asleep in her home. If you only have so much to give to me, please give some less, and send whatever that remaining amount is from your budget to here: https://afgj.salsalabs.org/louisvillebailfund/index.html?fbclid=IwAR3SWVGOKhyDx-4w8_Z71q61wkTMo4SsZiYJvqFnQ15CJilkHi2g8-aYF3A
Thank you,
Kharli
.
The police who stopped us brought multiple officers to the scene, by cars and by helicopter. When they began to arrest him, I rushed to place myself between him and his arresting officer. I was terrified and sobbing, "He handled this, he handled this". I was trying to hug him and to make the officers see reason. This was extremely naive.
The officers threw me to the ground immediately before I could even reach him, and arrested me as well. They later charged me with aggravated assault on an officer, falsely claiming that I had attempted to hit the officer, however, I accepted a plea for an F6 undesignated resisting arrest felony (the arrest that I resisted being not my own, but Dustin's).
It has been over six years since this event, which is arguably one of the most major events of my life. During this time, I have been unable to sign a lease in most housing situations, have been turned down for endless employment opportunities, and of course, have not been able to vote in all these years.
My felony for resisting arrest is categorized as "undesignated", meaning that I am at least fortunate enough that once all of my fines are paid, I can apply to have my rights restored, and if/when this is approved, my felony will be reduced to a misdemeanor on my record. After this, I am eligible to apply for any housing, any jobs, and to be able to vote.
In the beginning of 2020, Dustin and I had put away some savings that we had planned on utilizing to pay off my $900 worth of probation fines, only to discover that these fines had been accumulating interest over the years, and now stand at $1,800. To top everything, the pandemic took off, leaving my employment situation more unstable than ever, as well as further depleting our savings.
If I can raise this money, and successfully restore my rights, I will not only once again be able to vote, but I will also become a more competitive job candidate, as well as overall be much more secure in my housing prospects (housing being the most significant hurdle I've experienced since obtaining a felony record). All three of these major consequences (voting, employment, and housing) had already had a major negative impact on my life, but now during the pandemic, have become even bigger concerns moving into the future.
Any donation is helpful, and I am so grateful to anyone taking the time to read my story, as well as so thankful to the many friends who have advised me and supported me through the struggles that have snowballed since this happened.
I do have one other request to anyone who might donate to my cause, however: If at all possible, please consider also donating to the Louisville Community Bail Fund, which helps folks pay bail in Louisville, Kentucky, where Breonna Taylor was murdered by police while asleep in her home. If you only have so much to give to me, please give some less, and send whatever that remaining amount is from your budget to here: https://afgj.salsalabs.org/louisvillebailfund/index.html?fbclid=IwAR3SWVGOKhyDx-4w8_Z71q61wkTMo4SsZiYJvqFnQ15CJilkHi2g8-aYF3A
Thank you,
Kharli
.
Organizer
Kharli Mandeville
Organizer
Phoenix, AZ
