Trimming a hedge is a felony?

By CHRIS GREENFIELD

Special to The Press

After reading Mr. Huskas' article dated July 31, 2010, in The Coeur d' Alene Press, I wanted to offer another perspective on city ordinances and share my situation as a prime example of how selective enforcement of Post Falls City ordinances can have a huge negative impact on a law-abiding citizen.

My personal experiences highlight the misguided, broken system that picks and chooses what to enforce and who to prosecute for an alleged crime based on the prejudice of those entrusted with ordinance enforcement. Today I find myself accused of a criminal "Felony Malicious Injury to Property" charge. If am convicted I will lose my job, my retirement and my medical coverage. I will be unable to work in a state, city, or county job and be unable to work with children, seniors, or any public entity for the rest of my life. I will appear in the court system as a convicted felon. I would be labeled in the same category as a sex offender, murderer, thief, etc. for this alleged crime.

What did I do, you ask? Just a routine trimming of a hedge encompassing my and my neighbor's mutual boundary line. How did I get here? My neighbor and I have a hedge that acts as a fence on our property boundary. A couple of years ago I noticed the hedge had grown to the point where it was obscuring my view. After a dispute with my neighbor over the height of the hedge, I looked up the city ordinances limiting the height of boundary fence lines and found the limit was 6 feet (this ordinance has since been selectively reworded). After being presented with this information, he trimmed the hedge down to the 6-foot limit. I thought the issue was resolved.

In April of this year, I noticed the hedge had crept up again so I hired a landscaper for a routine trimming, bringing it back into alignment with the city ordinance. Three months later, I received a knock at my door and was handed a summons to appear in court for a charge of "Felony Malicious Injury to Property." Apparently, my neighbor convinced the Post Falls Police Department and the District Attorney to not only ignore the city ordinance I was trying to follow, but to take a huge leap forward and file criminal charges against me for hiring someone to trim our adjoining hedge, claiming that the hedge was damaged and needed to be replaced to the tune of $10,000.Regardless of whether the hedge was damaged (it was not), I question why the Post Falls Police Department and Justice Department not only ignored the city ordinance they established, but have now spent a great deal of time and effort, including tax dollars, to harass and bring felony criminal charges against a 52 year-old single mother of three with no prior history of any crime, especially when this is clearly a civil, not criminal dispute.

To illustrate the effect this has had on my life and family, I was sent to Kootenai County Jail to get fingerprinted and was informed that if I did not cooperate a "Bench W arrant" for my arrest would be issued. After arriving at the jail for fingerprints, I was arrested, put in handcuffs, body searched, paraded through the jail, had "Mug Shots" taken, and was then interrogated. After this humiliating experience, I was released and given a date to appear in court.I immediately consulted with local attorneys and found to my dismay that their fees would be in excess of $100,000 to fight the felony charge made against me. I had no choice but to request a public defender to assist me.

On the scheduled day of court I arrived at the jail and sat patiently in the courtroom for my court appointed attorney to arrive, who was unable to meet with me prior to this appearance. After showing up an hour late, he briefly introduced himself and briskly informed me to "Plead guilty and pay the amount of $10,000 per the request of the Prosecuting Attorney."Needless to say I was taken aback since I had not even been given the opportunity to discuss the facts of the case. I explained to him that this was a malicious attempt to harass and convict me for trimming a hedge on my property line. Upon hearing my side of the story, he agreed that there was more to the case. We returned to the courtroom where he asked the judge for a "continuance" until there was further investigation.

I am due back in court in August where a jury will decide my fate for having a hedge trimmed. My court appointed attorney has met with me for approximately 20 minutes and basically informed me that the burden of proof is upon me to prove myself innocent. I thought in the American justice system we were "innocent until proven guilty." Shouldn't my accuser have the burden of proof?It is clear to me that Kootenai County and some Post Falls city officials have their own set of rules and agendas. Two well-known attorneys in our community advised me that if there is a dispute over the trimming of a hedge it should be a civil case and not a criminal case, let alone a felony charge.

I recently had a friend of mine ask if he should continue to trim his bordering hedge in case his neighbor gets "mad at him" and convinces the local authorities to file charges against him for "Felony Malicious Injury to Property." Good question. If anyone has any doubt about the accuracy of the story and the state of the hedge, I invite you to visit me and take a look at the pruned hedge. I assure you it is currently quite lush and beautiful.

It is clear to me that unfair enforcement of the city ordinances can and is being used as a tool by some city officials to unfairly punish anyone they choose.

Chris Greenfield is a Kootenai County resident for over 40 years, and has been a Post Falls resident since 1980.