lesculptor
Junior Member
North Carolina
I am a 22 year old student at NC State university. I was going to a state park in Raleigh for a fraternity party. My fraternity had rented a cabin for the night. I arrived at the park gate at 8:53 pm to find it closed (the park closes at 9:00pm), an officer was standing at the gate and I told him that I was with the fraternity party. He said the park was closed and that I could not go in. I drove around to the other entrance to find that gate closed too. The officer appeared again and I explained that my fraternity had a permit to be in the park after hours. He said I could not come in. He then told me to call one of the other people in my fraternity and have them come to the gate to talk to him. I tried to call some of the other guys but no one was answering their phones.
I waited around 30 minutes and then I decided that since we had a permit that I should be allowed in. I drove around the gate and entered the park. The officer pulled me over and gave me a uniform citation. I understand that I should not have entered the park but the park was also closed early for some reason. If it had not closed early there would have been no problem.
Here is my question. I have decided to go to court and plead not guilty to the charge. This charge carries with it a misdemeanor. I am frightened as I do not want this to be on my record. I am a good person and this is really my first and only run in with a law officer. If I am found guilty by the judge, how will I ever get rid of this charge against me? They have my general stature violation listed wrong on the ticket and the officer also put an X in the box designating that it is an infraction. I called wake county courthouse and they told me that it was a misdemeanor. The officer has my GS code as conducting a speech without a permit and this is not what i got the ticket for.
I am so sorry and I am very scared to go to court. What is the best way for me to handle this? I have no extra money to hire an attorney. Please help! If I have a misdemeanor on my record it may affect my plans for acquiring my engineering license and jobs in the future.
I am a 22 year old student at NC State university. I was going to a state park in Raleigh for a fraternity party. My fraternity had rented a cabin for the night. I arrived at the park gate at 8:53 pm to find it closed (the park closes at 9:00pm), an officer was standing at the gate and I told him that I was with the fraternity party. He said the park was closed and that I could not go in. I drove around to the other entrance to find that gate closed too. The officer appeared again and I explained that my fraternity had a permit to be in the park after hours. He said I could not come in. He then told me to call one of the other people in my fraternity and have them come to the gate to talk to him. I tried to call some of the other guys but no one was answering their phones.
I waited around 30 minutes and then I decided that since we had a permit that I should be allowed in. I drove around the gate and entered the park. The officer pulled me over and gave me a uniform citation. I understand that I should not have entered the park but the park was also closed early for some reason. If it had not closed early there would have been no problem.
Here is my question. I have decided to go to court and plead not guilty to the charge. This charge carries with it a misdemeanor. I am frightened as I do not want this to be on my record. I am a good person and this is really my first and only run in with a law officer. If I am found guilty by the judge, how will I ever get rid of this charge against me? They have my general stature violation listed wrong on the ticket and the officer also put an X in the box designating that it is an infraction. I called wake county courthouse and they told me that it was a misdemeanor. The officer has my GS code as conducting a speech without a permit and this is not what i got the ticket for.
I am so sorry and I am very scared to go to court. What is the best way for me to handle this? I have no extra money to hire an attorney. Please help! If I have a misdemeanor on my record it may affect my plans for acquiring my engineering license and jobs in the future.