Arrested & Detained

[KillzBookiez]

What is the name of your state? New York

I was involved in an altercation during a local weekend festival. I was pushed by another individual and I responded by pushing back, slamming him into a table. I was removed from the area and brought around the corner to the local police station. I refused to answer any questions, but I did provide the officers with multiple forms of identification. Apparently as a result of not verbalizing, I spent the next six and a half hours in jail.
I was charged with obstructing governmental administration in the 2nd degree in violation of section 195.05 and was released.

Was the indentification I provided enough to fight this charge (photo ID, social security card, birth certificate,and 2 credit cards)? Is it mandatory that I must verbalize and affirm my identity?

[CdwJava]

It will depend on the facts alleged.

Here is the section:

S 195.05 Obstructing governmental administration in the second degree.
A person is guilty of obstructing governmental administration when he
intentionally obstructs, impairs or perverts the administration of law
or other governmental function or prevents or attempts to prevent a
public servant from performing an official function, by means of
intimidation, physical force or interference, or by means of any
independently unlawful act, or by means of interfering, whether or not
physical force is involved, with radio, telephone, television or other
telecommunications systems owned or operated by the state, or a county,
city, town, village, fire district or emergency medical service or by
means of releasing a dangerous animal under circumstances evincing the
actor`s intent that the animal obstruct governmental administration.
Obstructing governmental administration is a class A misdemeanor.

Consult local counsel. A local attorney can assess the police report and determine if charges are likely to be filed, and the strength of the potential case.

- Carl

[KillzBookiez]

Thank you for your reply. I have an appearance ticket for August 28, should I request a public defender or will I have to enter a plea before arranging counsel? I apologize for my ignorance, I really haven't been in any trouble like this before. I was absolutely cooperative throughout the entire incident, I just remained silent.

[CdwJava]

I honestly don't know much about NY procedures, so I am not sure what happens when you appear on an appearance ticket. I presume it's similar to our arraignment process, and if some, that will be where you enter a plea and ask for an attorney.

- Carl

[FlyingRon]

You have the right to remain silent, but that also means the police are not required to extend you any leniency. Retaliation is NOT the same as self-defense. "He pushed me first" went out in the second grade.

[KillzBookiez]

The appearance ticket is my day in city court so I assume it is the same. What if I enter a not guilty plea and request counsel,but my attorney deems that it would be more prudent to enter a different plea after we meet? Can I change my position after I speak with my attorney if neccessary?

[KillzBookiez]

Originally Posted by FlyingRon

You have the right to remain silent, but that also means the police are not required to extend you any leniency. Retaliation is NOT the same as self-defense. "He pushed me first" went out in the second grade.

This is true, however, I was not charged with assault. Obstructing governmental administration is a completely different charge. From my understanding, though minimal, the charge seems to imply that I engaged in some type of conduct that hindered my arrest-which is not the case. I really wouldn't have a problem pleading guilty to an assault charge based on the incident, however, I was charged with something else that I don't think I was guilty of.

[CdwJava]

You may be permitted to speak to your attorney after the plea ... they may allow you to change it if your attorney can work out a deal. But, it's also possible that an attorney can convince the state to drop the matter. The devil will be in the details that the police articulated in the report.

- Carl

[KillzBookiez]

Thank you for your help Carl. I appreciate the information.

[clubbed by med]

I'm sorry, but I fail to see how you were obstructing governmental procedure by providing them with the information they requested. What if you couldn't speak due to some sort of disability? Would they charge a deaf man with this same crime? Sounds a little ridiculous.

I had a similar case in Gainesville, Florida. I was stopped for "walking on the right side of the road" at 2 or 3 in the morning by some a-hole cop on a power trip. He explained why he stopped me, so I told him that I was not from Gainesville and had no idea that I couldn't walk on the right side of the road. I told him that I would gladly cross the road at the next legal opportunity to do so, and continue my walk home from work on the left side of the road. The officer asked me where I was from, and I told him that I was from Denver, Colorado (I'm actually from Manchester, New Hampshire, but I had a warrant for my arrest over non-payment of fines from New Hampshire, so I wasn't too comfortable telling a police officer that I was from NH). I told him I did't have any form of identification on me, and gave him a false name. The fine gentleman told me he was going to call Colorado or something like that and ask if they had any record of the (fake) name I gave him ever having had a state-issued identification card. I was pretty tired at that point and didn't feel like walking anymore, so I told him the truth and provided my identification.

I was immediately arrested for "providing false information to a law enforcement officer" or something like that. It was subsequently found that I had an outstanding warrant from NH, and I was denied bail for the night, pending NH's decision on whether or not they wanted to expedite me from FL over an $800 fine (which was originally a public defender's fee from a non-DUI driving offense: habitual offender driving after suspension; hence why I was walking). Shockingly, NH didn't feel like spending thousands of dollars to expedite a non-felon (habitual offender is actually a felony in NH, but I got the charges dropped without the help of my public defender, which is why I chose not to pay for his services) from FL over an $800 public defender's fee, and they dropped the warrant.

By the way, if you want to get a warrant for a petty offense dropped, this is a great way to do that.

Anyway, the false info charge still stuck, and my public defender in Florida was more than happy to have recieved my case. He was very adamant about fighting my case in court, as the local police had actually been charging people all over town with that same charge, most of the time without standing. He told me that it didn't apply in my case, and knew that we could win. He was actually annoying me, because I already knew that after researching the laws on my own.

I ended up moving back to NH, seeing as how I no longer had any warrants from there, before the trial. The public defender actually found me and tried to get me to try the case via television (lol), but I declined. Florida actually dropped the charge when I got picked up on the warrant for failure to appear while I was in California (yeah, I travel a lot).

Don't worry so much. Just because you are charged with a crime doesn't mean you'll get convicted of it. That's the beauty of the judicial system. Cops will charge anybody with anything if they're having a bad day, and they usually just rely on people being stupid enough to think that they can't beat the charge. This seems like that kind of case. If I were in your shoes, I wouldn't even apply for a public defender, but you'd probably be better off doing so if you're not familiar with court procedures.

Good luck, man. Hope this helps, somehow.

[CdwJava]

Originally Posted by clubbed by med

I'm sorry, but I fail to see how you were obstructing governmental procedure by providing them with the information they requested. What if you couldn't speak due to some sort of disability? Would they charge a deaf man with this same crime? Sounds a little ridiculous.

The devil is in the details ... we don't know what the police are hanging their hat on with this charge. There may have been some other perceived action by the OP that gave the police cause to file the charge.

- Carl