I had the pleasure of meeting with an escort in Denver. However, 20 minutes in and the police were banging on the door of the hotel room. In hindsight I should have been more careful opening the door and when I did they barged in (3 of them with one with his hand on his gun (still in holster to be fair) but still concerning.
Upshot is, I am now charged with soliciting a prostitute. We both stuck to the story of I hired for her time and what we did with our time is our business. I am set for jury trail in a week or so (even though this is a misdemeanor it could affect my green card for moral turpitude??). The City DA will not plead down my case! My attorney thinks we have a good chance. Any ideas or suggestions or advise would be welcome. Does anyone here have any advice / suggestions of what you should do if police come banging on your hotel room door? What should you do? I was a little peeved that the girl almost froze, ran into the bathroom and did not even get dressed even though I was slow to open the door. In hindsight, I should have taken charge and given her instructions. What would those instructions have been?The main issue is probable cause. Why did the cops...
...knock on the door to begin with, let alone barge in when you opened the door? Even if the woman was the most famous hooker in Denver, that doesn't give the cops probable cause to think a crime was being committed. You could have been her husband or BF for all they knew.
You don't have the same expectation of privacy in a hotel room that you do in your own home. But even if hotel management recognized her, she was BCD with you and not creating a public nuisance. Unless you were swinging from the chandelier and making a lot of noise, there was no reason for the cops to knock on your door.
And where is the "solicitation?" The cops did not see the exchange of money for sex. She was not an undercover cop and I highly doubt that the room had a hidden camera.
You said "City D.A." Cities have City Attorneys, counties have District Attorneys. The distinction is important because a city attorney may be prosecuting you under a local city ordinance while the D.A. may prosecute you for solicitation of prosecution under 18-7-202 c.rs. This crime is listed in Article 7 of Title 18 with other offenses related to "morals." As qwerty said, it is a Class 3 misdemeanor which is a step above jaywalking but conviction under this code section could be problematic for your immigration status.
If this was a bigger crime, your attorney would have made a separate Motion to Dismiss based on lack of probable cause and there would have been a hearing on the motion before the trial date. But he'll probably make the same motion on the day of the trial before the trial begins.
City attorneys don't want to have jury trials on Class 3 misdemeanors. When push comes to shove, they'll offer a deal at trial.
You said "City D.A." Cities have City Attorneys, counties have District Attorneys. The distinction is important because a city attorney may be prosecuting you under a local city ordinance while the D.A. may prosecute you for solicitation of prosecution under 18-7-202 c.rs... As qwerty said, it is a Class 3 misdemeanor...
City attorneys don't want to have jury trials on Class 3 misdemeanors..
It’s not that City Attorneys don’t “want” to hold jury trials on Class 3 misdemeanors, it’s that they don’t hold trials on misdemeanors at all.
As it turns out, the OP plead to a lesser charge, Disorderly Conduct, and had to go to a mongers class.
Denver is a combined City/County. The City Attorney is the DA (and vice versa).
This is probably the source of the confusion.
Sounds like she wasn’t in on it. If she was undercover you would know once they arrest you for sure.
I'am so confused. How did the POLICE come to your room? Something doesn't add up.
Happened to me once as well and we never answered the door, after 5 min they were gone but came back again about 10 min later and knocked again saying police, this time I was ready and quietly looked through peep hole to confirm it WAS the police. She was more scared than me so we both went into the bathroom and started a shower (our excuse for not hearing the door) and we didn't answer again and they left again and never returned. We both assumed they watched her from the parking lot and allowed some time after she entered my door before coming up to catch us in the act. We never did get to play to conclusion but we did take a nice bath together and she even gave me my envelope back despite my objection and she stayed over her normal agreed time we just talked the whole time. We were both happy to avoid what was outside our door!
Happened to me once as well and we never answered the door, after 5 min they were gone but came back again about 10 min later and knocked again saying police, this time I was ready and quietly looked through peep hole to confirm it WAS the police. She was more scared than me so we both went into the bathroom and started a shower (our excuse for not hearing the door) and we didn't answer again and they left again and never returned. We both assumed they watched her from the parking lot and allowed some time after she entered my door before coming up to catch us in the act. We never did get to play to conclusion but we did take a nice bath together and she even gave me my envelope back despite my objection and she stayed over her normal agreed time we just talked the whole time. We were both happy to avoid what was outside our door!