I hit a spa downtown this week (FS!great!)and got to thinking...
I don't think this belongs on Legal Corner, since I'm interested in Washington, DC-specific info.
Here's my question, 3 really:
DC LE shows up and busts the massage parlor while I'm in the waiting area. I should think they try to spook me somehow, but eventually just tell me to take a hike, right? And do I have to worry about them "inadvertently" contacting my wife at home? What can they arrest me for?
DC LE shows up and busts the place while I'm in a room or table shower room - no sexual activity going on. Do they arrest me, yes, no, maybe? If so, what can they charge me with?
DC LE shows up and catches me 'red-handed,' i.e. engaged in sexual activity in a room. If they decide to arrest me, what can they charge me with? Soliciting?
I know this maybe pushes the limits as far as demanding an extensive answer, but I would really appreciate it. I'd be very interested in hearing from anyone who has actually been arrested or someone who's represented same - or someone who has a close personal friend who has faced this.
Also interested in same information for VA.
PMing me is fine, if you prefer.
Thanks,
J
Case number 1: Arrest is very unlikely unless a cop overhears you discussing sexual activites with someone. Grab your stuff and get up and go.
Case number 2: You will be held and questioned. If the cops find enough cash on you to raise their suspicions, you may be charged, but that is not terribly likely. Probably a warning or something like that.
Case number 3: You will be handcuffed and taken downtown, booked, the whole nine yards. Your name will be in the paper as well.
You will need a lawyer and pay him at least $1500 to cop a plea that may get you a continuance without a finding or a small ($500?) fine, or both (court costs)
Alternatively, you could decide go to trial and probably spend 15 - 20 grand on a really good trial lawyer who may convince a jury that you were exercising your rights to have sex with whomever you choose, and that there is no convincing proof beyond a reasonable doubt that you were engaged in soliciting a prostitute.
If you win you get to walk out of the courthouse a free man but $15,000 poorer and the subject of gossip and malicious inuendo from friends, co-workers and neighbors. You will probably lose countless more dollars and suffer heartbreak from either divorce or mollifiying the wife.
If you lose, will still have all of the above plus a larger fine, maybe up to $5,000, and if the judge is a prick, maybe 30 hours of community service or even a few days in the slammer where you will get to experience new sexual thrills.
America - The land of the free.
But, what the hey,it's still worth it.
There was a big thread on this a few months back that went into detail, so you may want to do a search. Basically, they can't prove anything unless they catch you red-handed ( which is why crack-downs on street solicitation are so much easier because an undercover cop actually closes the deal), and I've read on MPReviews stories of guys who were in an AMP when the cops came in. No one got busted, but the cops scared the shit out of them. They told them that if they just admitted why they were there they would let them go. So, all the guys said they were there for "extras". Dumb dumb dumb. The cops took their pictures and let them go.