verb: To be arrested and ultimately convicted and subsequently serve time for an alleged crime. A popular phrase in a certain ethnic/socioeconomic demographic when trying to explain their misfortune of being at the wrong place at the wrong time, and how "this" isn't what it seems. A defense mechanism similar to denial when being caught red handed.
Lashauwn was walking around the hood looking in a parked car when he "caught a case" as the police observed him smashing window with his fist to borrow an ipod to listen to. When asked by his associates how he got the bloody knuckles, Lashauwn explains he was borrowing an ipod when he "caught a case".
by icookforaliving February 5, 2008