Posted on 12/23/2024 11:38:39 AM PST by Morgana
CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. — A Clayton County homeowner ended up in jail, charged with criminal trespass after trying to move back into her home occupied by an alleged squatter.
“I spent the night on a mat on a concrete floor in deplorable conditions. While this woman, this squatter slept in my home,” Loletha Hale told Channel 2 consumer investigator Justin Gray.
Clayton County police officers and Sheriff’s deputies were called to the home on Livingston Drive on Dec. 9.
A deputy can be heard on body camera footage telling Hale to look at things from the alleged squatter’s point of view.
“Just think of it from this perspective, though. Everybody isn’t as fortunate as you to have a bed. All the little things, a bed in their house, food in the kitchen,” the deputy said.
But Hale said this all started in August when she found an alleged squatter in the home and called police.
Police cited the alleged squatter, Sakemeyia Johnson, using the new Georgia Squatter Reform Act.
But Clayton County Magistrate Court Judge Latrevia Lates-Johnson ruled that “Sakemeyia Johnson is not a squatter” because she is related to a previously evicted tenant’s partner.
“How can she not be squatting when I’ve never had any type of contract relationship with this person?” Hale said.
In sheriff’s department bodycam video from the scene on Dec. 9, Johnson told responding officers, “I was written a citation saying I was a squatter. But a judge signed an order saying that I wasn’t a squatter.”
That started a multi-month court battle with multiple filings, hearings and appeals. Johnson even filed for bankruptcy, listing Hale as her only creditor.
But on Nov. 18, a magistrate judge issued a final judgment in Hale’s favor.
(Excerpt) Read more at wsbtv.com ...
Stopping squatters is as easy as legislators writing a law.
Florida did it and squatting is a thing of the past.
Why other states haven’t followed suit is beyond me.....unless they want it to continue.
There’s more to this story that makes the situation more nuanced that it appears.
The “squatter” had been living there with permission as the guest of a relative who resided there.
More:
https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/4285958/posts
https://freerepublic.com/focus/bloggers/4285924/posts
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I’ll make a bet.
The squatter is black.
The judge is black.
The homeowner is white.
This is without reading the article.
“The “squatter” had been living there with permission as the guest of a relative who resided there.”
The guest of a relative of a tenant who had been evicted.
This seems to be an issue in many of these cases.
When I grew up, we knew lots of people - usually older widows living alone - who would rent a room or part of a house.
I wouldn’t rent a room at all, these days.
Hale should move into the dumb deputies home and tell the deputy to look at her point of view.
Actually both the homeowner and the squatter are black.
Unless it’s someone who I knew fairly well and had a good reputation, I’d never share my home with someone else unrelated.
And the judge
You can’t trust people, these days; and increasingly you can’t even trust the law to back up the innocent.
They are all black, including the homeowner.
“Clayton County Magistrate Court Judge Latrevia Lates-Johnson ruled that “Sakemeyia Johnson is not a squatter”
The first names give it away......the last names are the same.....are they related I wonder.......if so an unbelievable conflict of interest but considering what I’ve seen out of the black NYC AG and fani willis in Atlanta it wouldn’t surprise me a bit.
So pay up.
Shall we say $15 to FR?
“They are all black, including the homeowner.”
For some reason that’s a bit of a relief.
very popular story I take it
I saw that in the video.
However the judge said the owner could put her out so what went wrong?
The story yes. The absurdity, not so much. Upside down world. Again.
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Deputy to bank manager: "Just think of it from the bank robber's perspective, though. Everybody isn't as fortunate as you and have millions of dollars of deposits."
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