supreme999
Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? New York state
I was at a high school gymnastics event, but it was hosted at a middle school. I was only there for around 40 minutes and I took 2 30 sec videos figuring what's the big deal with that. This one guy who saw me, approaches me and turns out he's an off duty cop. He asks me if I knew any of the gymnasts competing. I said no I'm just a casual observer. He borrows someones phone and calls the cops on me. I told him before that I'd leave willingly, no problem, but he really wanted to get me in trouble. And he prevented me from escaping at all, said he'd put me in handcuffs himself. The school pressed charges and in one statement the one person said they want me prosecuted to the full extent of the law.
Thing is this isn't the first time. I was also arrested last year in October for the same thing. I ended up getting a 6 month ACD for that which expired August of this year. I know I screwed up big time. Reason I screwed up was because I didn't take the risks seriously enough. Figured if I barely record anything this time, who would care. But people care no matter what, as long as you're using a video camera at some point and don't know anyone at the school and are by yourself.
Anyways my question is, how screwed am I? I'm trying to figure out what the punishment will be. I'm really preparing myself for jail time because I just feel like the prosecutor won't let me off the hook easily this time. At least they'll be a big fine probably. I'm looking for anyone's reasonable guess. What is the typical punishment for a 2nd time offender. Or is it treated as a 1st time offense because of the ACD? I really don't want the maximum jail sentence.
My second question is, is it illegal to enter any high school sporting event where you don't know anyone or only illegal if you refuse to leave when asked to?
The law on criminal trespassing says, it's trespassing in the 3rd degree is someone unlawfully enters or remains on the school property. Part of the reason why I went is because I figured I wasn't banned or forbidden from going to that school, so as long as I leave if asked, I should be fine. But apparently I entered unlawfully. I was looking up what that meant and I think it said something like it's unlawful if you don't have a privilege. Does that mean that if you don't know any of the performers at the school, you don't have a privilege? Therefore it's considered unlawful to enter any high school school sporting event where you don't know any of the performers? The one cop said it's because I was asked not to return before, but that is false. The one coach said he didn't feel comfortable with me taking pictures but that I could move to front row to get a better seat. No one else talked to me. So I was never told not to return. I'm sure the coach didn't want me to return but how was I to know that was 100% a warning to not come back.
I was at a high school gymnastics event, but it was hosted at a middle school. I was only there for around 40 minutes and I took 2 30 sec videos figuring what's the big deal with that. This one guy who saw me, approaches me and turns out he's an off duty cop. He asks me if I knew any of the gymnasts competing. I said no I'm just a casual observer. He borrows someones phone and calls the cops on me. I told him before that I'd leave willingly, no problem, but he really wanted to get me in trouble. And he prevented me from escaping at all, said he'd put me in handcuffs himself. The school pressed charges and in one statement the one person said they want me prosecuted to the full extent of the law.
Thing is this isn't the first time. I was also arrested last year in October for the same thing. I ended up getting a 6 month ACD for that which expired August of this year. I know I screwed up big time. Reason I screwed up was because I didn't take the risks seriously enough. Figured if I barely record anything this time, who would care. But people care no matter what, as long as you're using a video camera at some point and don't know anyone at the school and are by yourself.
Anyways my question is, how screwed am I? I'm trying to figure out what the punishment will be. I'm really preparing myself for jail time because I just feel like the prosecutor won't let me off the hook easily this time. At least they'll be a big fine probably. I'm looking for anyone's reasonable guess. What is the typical punishment for a 2nd time offender. Or is it treated as a 1st time offense because of the ACD? I really don't want the maximum jail sentence.
My second question is, is it illegal to enter any high school sporting event where you don't know anyone or only illegal if you refuse to leave when asked to?
The law on criminal trespassing says, it's trespassing in the 3rd degree is someone unlawfully enters or remains on the school property. Part of the reason why I went is because I figured I wasn't banned or forbidden from going to that school, so as long as I leave if asked, I should be fine. But apparently I entered unlawfully. I was looking up what that meant and I think it said something like it's unlawful if you don't have a privilege. Does that mean that if you don't know any of the performers at the school, you don't have a privilege? Therefore it's considered unlawful to enter any high school school sporting event where you don't know any of the performers? The one cop said it's because I was asked not to return before, but that is false. The one coach said he didn't feel comfortable with me taking pictures but that I could move to front row to get a better seat. No one else talked to me. So I was never told not to return. I'm sure the coach didn't want me to return but how was I to know that was 100% a warning to not come back.
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