leveldeaded
Junior Member
New York State - Brooklyn Courts
My boyfriend and I received a pink summons for "Park after dark" - being in Fort Greene Park after 1 AM. Obviously there's no way we can plead Not Guilty, it would be silly - we were in the park, we are just both from out of town, even the friends we were staying with had no idea the park closed at 1, and the signs we saw said Dogs off Leash only between 9 PM and 9 AM, which implied to us that the park was open all night - the sign with the rule, "no entry after close," and "Park closes at 1:00 AM" was behind a tree and we didn't notice it.
Feel free to mock us for our stupidity, obviously we should have looked for other signs but we'd planned to just cut through the park to our friends house, then we saw lots of people walking their dogs and decided to sit down on a bench, and pretty soon the park had closed and a police car pulled up by our bench and issued the summons.
I'm just concerned because my inclination is to plead No Contest, because I really can't deal with a conviction, I'm a nursing student and I work in pediatric mental health- a field in which ANY KIND of conviction (even a misdemeanor) is a death sentence for your career.
Obviously I should have thought of this before I entered a park at 12:30 am and stayed there past 1:00 am but it's too late for that. Any helpful advice about whether to plead Guilty or No Contest would be most appreciated, I was advised that a letter from out of state often works to get the case dismissed, and my boyfriend lives in Washington State and I live in Chicago.
Thanks for any thoughts you have!
LDWhat is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?
My boyfriend and I received a pink summons for "Park after dark" - being in Fort Greene Park after 1 AM. Obviously there's no way we can plead Not Guilty, it would be silly - we were in the park, we are just both from out of town, even the friends we were staying with had no idea the park closed at 1, and the signs we saw said Dogs off Leash only between 9 PM and 9 AM, which implied to us that the park was open all night - the sign with the rule, "no entry after close," and "Park closes at 1:00 AM" was behind a tree and we didn't notice it.
Feel free to mock us for our stupidity, obviously we should have looked for other signs but we'd planned to just cut through the park to our friends house, then we saw lots of people walking their dogs and decided to sit down on a bench, and pretty soon the park had closed and a police car pulled up by our bench and issued the summons.
I'm just concerned because my inclination is to plead No Contest, because I really can't deal with a conviction, I'm a nursing student and I work in pediatric mental health- a field in which ANY KIND of conviction (even a misdemeanor) is a death sentence for your career.
Obviously I should have thought of this before I entered a park at 12:30 am and stayed there past 1:00 am but it's too late for that. Any helpful advice about whether to plead Guilty or No Contest would be most appreciated, I was advised that a letter from out of state often works to get the case dismissed, and my boyfriend lives in Washington State and I live in Chicago.
Thanks for any thoughts you have!
LDWhat is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?