1. You are not even going to understand the nature of the court proceeding you are attending. Most likely its some kind of Preliminary Hearing where you are EXPECTED to plead Guilty to misdemeanors. The judge is HIGHLY unlikely to even LISTEN to your story, thats not what he does in these proceedings. IF you want to make a plea of innocence, you are going to have to plead NOT GUILTY, post bond, and have a trial date scheduled. I am thinking that at that point, you MIGHT be able to talk to the City Attorney that is prosecuting the case and cut some kind of deal. Unlikely without an attorney, but they don't want this goig to an actual trial.
2. No ONE is going to believe your 'I wasn't there to pay for sex' story, even if its true. 'Let me get this straight, you answered an ad for services that strongly suggest prostitution and visited Ms XXXX who has X convictions for Soliciting, and it was just for conversation?' (Judge bangs gavel to silence laughter in court).
3. If you want to mitigate the damage, you are going to have to pay for an attorney. He can deal with the City Attorney and intelligently make a case that your arrest was not 'clean'; that you did NOT sollicit sex (or did you?), and threaten to make the City produce the provider as a witness as well as the Vice Cops. That eats up a lot of time and resources and at that point, the prosecutor is likely to let you plead to something less embarrassing.
4. Getting off with a total dismissal is likely a fantasy.
mvr
OK
I visited a girl from agency, she got busted before I came and LE flipped her to bust clients.
I came into her room (hotel), she asked me to put the money on the table, which I did. Then she asked me if I wanted to have some fun, I said yes. Never touched her and I had my clothes on. 2 cops popped out from the bathroom, put me handcufs and took me to the station. Once there they threatened me to "cooperate" saying if I made a confession everything will be fine.
I told them I was visiting the girl to talk to her, nothing sexual. By the way this is the truth, as weird as it seems. They gave me the paperwork to go to court. No pictures taken or fingerprint. Paperwork say I am charged with misdemeanor for soliciting a prostitute. Court date is in one month.
Questions:
1) what happens when I go to court? trial? judgement?
2) My intention is to go without a lawyer and tell my story. I gave the girl money for conversation. No sex involved. If for any reason they find me guilty what is the worse that can happen to me?
Jail? fine? State is Illinois
Mat , seroiousy I would be over prepared, don't let this get out of hand..trust me.
there are many men that may want the companionship of a nice lady I myself am celibate & would gladly pay "if I could afford it" for the companionship of a male (no-sex).
it does not seem you did anything illegal. but you need a lawyer ,,the important thing to do is find a good one, they should be able to deal with this..I don't think you will want the conscquences of this on your record ....due to the "stigma" ...that is the worst part...the arrest alone looks horrible on one's record... and will create all kinds of future nitemare & Suffering...please take this seroiusly....and next time only meet at a reasteraunt (although that is were my trouble began).....after ..we left....If I had just taken a chance & driven drunk I would have been better off...
Upon arriving at hotel incall, I'll ask to use the powder room, before the exchange of gifts, and if she says no, I'll say that I'll be right back after I use the one in the lobby....
Sorry to hear about your bad luck
I'm not sure what you might or might not have said, but whatever it is, the cops think they've got you.
If the gal testifies, (and she will), your chances are close to zero.
Nevertheless, you need expert legal advice that only a lawyer can provide now.
I'm curious how this all came about. For example, are we talking a provider with a long record of reviews, or a newbie?
Is this the same gal that was mention on the GD Board as having flipped a lot of guys?
Also, just for the future and other client's (and providers) benefit.
Here's what you tell LE the next time you meet up with them:
Your name and address.
I want to speak to my attorney.
Nothing more!
(still not a lawyer)
Yes, the girl has Many reviews
they have nothing against me, other than the girl asking if I wanted to have some fun and me saying yes. Having fun is nothing sexual to me ( I am from another country)
if the girl testifies I don't think she can say anything else
do you know if they make judgement when I go to court?
or do I have to go back?
LE tells her to say, and it's not going to be something along the lines of that you were there to discuss the latest best seller.
As for the exact rigamarole that you go through, that is just the kind of thing that a lawyer can help you with.
(still not a lawyer)
Do you know why no pictures or fingerprints were taken?
Also cops said it was no big deal, we were only charged with infringing city ordinance. They also said no names in newspaper or article in the press
Dear Busted: The first appearance in court is for arraignment where you will enter an initial plea. I strongly advise you to plead Not Guilty. Do not offer any additional information. Please consult a lawyer and retain one to defend you on this criminal charge. The judge will most likely give you a future date to go back to court. Many states have pre-trial intervention alternatives for first time offenders to avoid criminal record consequences if you qualify. A lawyer in your area can discuss this with you. Good Luck!
Dear Busted: The first appearance in court is for arraignment where you will enter an initial plea. I strongly advise you to plead Not Guilty. Do not offer any additional information. Please consult a lawyer and retain one to defend you on this criminal charge. The judge will most likely give you a future date to go back to court. Many states have pre-trial intervention alternatives for first time offenders to avoid criminal record consequences if you qualify. A lawyer in your area can discuss this with you. Good Luck!
1. You are not even going to understand the nature of the court proceeding you are attending. Most likely its some kind of Preliminary Hearing where you are EXPECTED to plead Guilty to misdemeanors. The judge is HIGHLY unlikely to even LISTEN to your story, thats not what he does in these proceedings. IF you want to make a plea of innocence, you are going to have to plead NOT GUILTY, post bond, and have a trial date scheduled. I am thinking that at that point, you MIGHT be able to talk to the City Attorney that is prosecuting the case and cut some kind of deal. Unlikely without an attorney, but they don't want this goig to an actual trial.
2. No ONE is going to believe your 'I wasn't there to pay for sex' story, even if its true. 'Let me get this straight, you answered an ad for services that strongly suggest prostitution and visited Ms XXXX who has X convictions for Soliciting, and it was just for conversation?' (Judge bangs gavel to silence laughter in court).
3. If you want to mitigate the damage, you are going to have to pay for an attorney. He can deal with the City Attorney and intelligently make a case that your arrest was not 'clean'; that you did NOT sollicit sex (or did you?), and threaten to make the City produce the provider as a witness as well as the Vice Cops. That eats up a lot of time and resources and at that point, the prosecutor is likely to let you plead to something less embarrassing.
4. Getting off with a total dismissal is likely a fantasy.
mvr
I know I used a service that strongly suggest prostitution but if I am correct that doesn't constitute any evidence
Also I am sorry to say that when I talk to these girls (this is all what I do) they tell me having other customers (although not many) also coming for conversation only.
my point is they have no evidence and there is no way I am going to admit guilt for something I did not do.
If they arrested/cited you 'without evidence' they are going to provide whatever they need at trial. Unethical cops don't cite/arrest without evidence so that leaves two possibilities:
1. They actually have everything they need to make their case in court
2. They will fabricate it
This is NOT going to be some Clarence Darrow courtroom battle with cross examinations and witnesses (cops who are very used to being on the stand) breaking down and admitting to lying (or is it lieing? I keep getting it confused). You are going into a misdemeanor court system not much different from traffic court. Yes, you WILL be considered Guilty till proved Innocent no matter what anyone tells you.
I feel your pain but no one is going to believe you unless the provider (remember her? she was the one working with the cops) testifies for you.
A lawyer may help you but wrapping yourself in your righteous belief (no matter how true) that you didn't do anything illegal and going to court by yourself is going to be disastrous most likely.
Best of luck regardless
MVR
OK
Let's say I go to trial without a lawyer, they fabricate evidence and I defend myself like a moron.
They find me guilty in trial
How bad can it be?
From what I hear nobody has ever been to jail for soliciting. At the most a fine of a few thousands.
Here in Arizona, you would in that case serve a minimum of 15 days in County Jail (most likely Tent City). Please don't be foolish and let yourself think that the truth will prevail - you need a lawyer, period.
stick it to you with jail time if he feels you were wasting his and the court's time with a case that you had no real chance of winning.
This is especially true if you have any prior.
At a minimum, (s)he will extract a hefty chunck of change from you.
(still not a lawyer)
... the prosecutor with the overt and willing cooperation of the judge may coerce you into pleading Guilty to the original or a slightly reduced charge by telling you the consequences of going to trial and losing vs. taking the plea, paying the fine, going to 'John School', x hours community service, whatever.
My only personal experience with the system was over a traffic citation arising from an accident. At the time I had a friend that was an attorney that handled cases like that anyway so he took it pro-bono. We played hard ball with the County Attorney, turned down his offers of reducing the charge to a PARKING OFFENSE, stated that I had a witness that the cop had not interviewed (true), and that I was NOT pleading guilty to ANYTHING. They caved and dismissed. I don't recommend that tactic unless you have more than 'he said/she said' to take to court though.
MVR
The sad fact is that, if you insist on going in without a lawyer and on telling the truth, you are very likely to be convicted of soliciting. As others have advised you, you should hire a qualified lawyer and take his or her advice.
In the future, if all you want to do is talk, you may want to talk to someone who is not in the business of selling unlawful services. Some of the men who post on this board choose to take risks because they want the unlawful services, but you seem to have a choice. Psychologists, psychiatrists, and psychiatric social workers, for example, are in the business of listening and talking with their clients (though they probably will not hold your hand or hug you or kiss you, if that's part of what you want). Or maybe you can find a civvie girlfriend with a warm, supportive personality.
If you feel that only a provider will understand what you have to say or that only she will react as you want to what you have to say, and you really don't want sexual contact with her, you might ask a provider to see you in a public place, a restaurant, for example. There is one provider that I know in the area where I live (which is not in Illinois) who offers "social only" dates; there may be others in your area. You should meet the lady in the public place, (discreetly) pay her for her time in the public place, have your conversation in the public place, and part company in the public place. Under no circumstances should you go anywhere with her where sex might happen -- not to a hotel room, not to her home, not even to her car.
-- Modified on 2/3/2009 6:13:18 PM
Sorry but all the alternatives you mention are no good to me.
Psychologists, Psychiatrics? well sorry but I still think I am kind of normal 
actually I have been thinking about that, like picking a sexy looking psychologist but it may cost me a lot of money before I develop any "sensual" conversation .
Meeting an escort in a public place. Yes, but usually very expensive, and much more difficult to organize.
My point is I am very busy with work and have very little time. The only service available where I can find a pretty girl who is welling to talk about anything and I that I can book in less than 5 minutes, cost $300 or less and I am sure is not going to cancel on me is from an escort agency. There are no other services. If you know about one let me know.
Get that lawyer. Tell him everything truthfully. The lawyer can find out what evidence they have, including recordings or just 2 guys listening from another room.
After the lawyer has reviewed their case, he can advise you how to proceed. It may cost you some money to minimize the consequences but it will be cheaper in the long run.
skb
how much does a lawyer cost for something like that?
what about a public defender?
indigence (Meaning your pretty flat out broke.)
So, to answer your question, where I come from (around Boston), lawyers charge anywhere from $300-500/hour. (And no multiple pops! 8o)
You might expect to pay $2,000-3,000 if the thing is settled out of court and at least double that if it goes to a bench trial (That's where the judge sits as the jury.)
If it's a full blown trial by jury, at least $10,000 and up.
I know you feel strongly that you are innocent (I actually believe you, why would you lie here?), but sometimes discretion is the better part of valor.
If you can get a deal where you get a continuance without a finding, and no criminal record in exchange for a few hundred dollars of court costs, take it.
In the meantime, you should alert your local board to this provider who has flipped.
Is it the gal in Chicago by the way?
(still not a lawyer)
yes, she is from Chicago
another guy who was busted posted her name on the Chicago board
If you so up in court without a lawyer the prosecutor will chew you up and spit you out. Plus, judges have no patience who don't know proper court procedures.
Dude, get a lawyer who is experienced in criminal defense.
You did not give sufficient information for anyone to assess what criminal penalties you face. In particular, you did not specify whether you were charged for violating a city ordinance (Chicago has an ordinance with mandatory minimum penalties for solicitation) or state law. And you did not mention if you had any priors which, under state law, at least can convert a misdemeanor to a felony. And even if this is your first offense, that means that you could face a felony charge if convicted a second time. So while the first time penalty for solicitation is slight, the consequences go beyond the penalty imposed. All the more reason to consult an experienced attorney.
He will tell you that “I was just paying to talk to her” defense and “she only asked if I wanted to have some fun” defense is hardly worth raising. The law criminalizes what you do and not how you label it.
He will also tell you how much it will cost to go to court and defend the charge vs a plea. (The answer a lot more, particularly if there is an appeal). Unless you have a better defense than you have described, he will probably recommend a plea.
But better to spend some money up front at least consulting him before you make any decisions.
Its not illegal to hire the service of an escort which is all you have done. You were there to talk, get a back rub, maybe pick her up for a dinner date and a massage.
There's nothing illegal about paying a girl to spend some time with you though.... Isn't this correct lawyer Ron?