Public Disturbance

[kramers7]

Washington State - My son's were given a court date for Public Disturbance. This is the story. I am not sure of the date but it was a weekday at around 3 PM. My boys moved into a house on a short dead end street. This street has eight houses, four on each side. They have lived there for 6 months. In that time the police have come to the house about 15 times. Each time they were told who phoned in the complaint and it is always the same woman. This is an elderly woman who lives across the street, one house down from the boys. The boys have always been left alone by the police. The neighbors that live next to the woman, went over to the boy's house to introduce themselves and thank them for moving in. It seems they were the womans last victims. The police know this woman and have just made an apperance but that was all it ever came to. Except this last time. The boys are in a band and on that day brought home their equipment from storage. They decided that they could play for a few minutes before they went off to work. The managed to play aobut 15 minutes before the police came to the garage door. He stated that he would ticket them because they had been out before. Please note- They had never been out for them playing. Thier equipment had never been at the house before. I was told this was unconstitutional by a lawyer, through a friend. Is this true? How do we fight this? Should we counter against the woman for harrasement? This is what the law says in our county:
A. A person is guilty of public disturbance if he or she:
.....
d. The creation of frequent, repetitive, or continuous sounds which emanate from any building, structure, apartment, condominium, or yard adjacent thereto that unreasonably interfere with the peace, comfort, and repose of owners or possessors of real property such as sounds from musical instruments, audio sound systems, band sessions, or social gatherings.

Thanks for all the help.

 

[SHORTY LONG]

No disrespect, but although they did not play their band instruments, what about
playing their Stereo to loud? If possible, you need to do some investigating on your
own, such as having a conversation with the neighbors who introduced themselves
to your Son's. Then, once you have all the facts detailed, you can reassess into whither
or not legal action against the woman is warranted!

 

[kramers7]

Ah, so it is true

This is what my boys are afraid would happen. Because they are young the judge would just look at them as loud punk kids and because she is elderly and a woman, she must be right. The boys live next to the owner of thier house. Which happens to be the mother of the eldest boys girlfriend. If there were any real substance to her complaints, they would have been asked to leave. The biggest question I have is: Now that they have a court date and have been charged with Public Disturbance, how do we fight that?
Thank you.

 

[xylene]

"We" don't do anything.

Advice your adult sons to plead not guilty.

Here are some hints on appearing in court:

Dress professionally in clean clothes.

Do not wear message shirts.

Don't chew gum, smoke, or eat. (Smokers...pot or tobacco...literally stink. Remember that before you head for court.)

Bathe and wash your hair.

Do not bring small children or your friends.

Go to court beforehand some day before you actually have to go to watch how things go.

Speak politely and deferentially. If you argue or dispute something, do it professionally and without emotion.

Ask the court clerk who you talk to about a diversion (meaning you want to plead to a different, lesser charge), if applicable in your situation. Ask about traffic school and the ticket not go on your record, if applicable.

From marbol:

“Judge...

You forgot the one thing that I've seen that seems to frizz up most judges these days:

If you have a cell phone, make DAMN SURE that it doesn't make ANY noise in the courtroom. This means when you are talking to the judge AND when you are simply sitting in the court room.

If you have a ‘vibrate’ position on your cell phone, MAKE sure the judge DOESN'T EVEN HEAR it VIBRATE!

Turn it off or put it in silent mode where it flashes a LED if it rings. AND DON'T even DREAM about answering it if it rings.”

(Better yet, don’t carry your cell phone into the courtroom.)


Here are five stories that criminal court judges hear the most (and I suggest you do not use them or variations of them):

1. I’ve been saved! (This is not religion specific; folks from all kinds of religious backgrounds use this one.)

2. My girlfriend/mother/sister/daughter is pregnant/sick/dying/dead/crippled and needs my help.

3. I’ve got a job in [name a state five hundred miles away].

4. This is the first time I ever did this.

5. You’ve got the wrong guy. (A variation of this one is the phantom defendant story: “It wasn’t me driving, it was a hitchhiker I picked up. He wrecked the car, drug me behind the wheel then took off.” Or, another variation: “I was forced into it by a bad guy!”)

https://forum.freeadvice.com/showthread.php?p=854687#post854687

Public defender’s advice

http://newyork.craigslist.org/about/best/sfo/70300494.html