tefcaptain
Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? washington
me and 3 friends parked on top of a small incline that was close to the river we were going to walk to, we walked through a field that came to a dirt road that was next to an orchard, by the time we made it through the field and onto the dirt road a sheriff approached us in a cop car, he told us we were trespassing and said for us to wait until another cop car arrived, so another one shows up about 5 minutes later and the officers get out and interview or question each of us separately and the officers tell us that all of us are getting criminal trespassing 2nd degree, the officers said that the person that owns the land we were on wants to go after anyone who trespasses on his property and this month alone they gave out 51 tickets for the same thing in the same area.
we told the officers we didn't know we were trespassing because we didn't know, there wasn't any signs and it was an empty field.
i looked online and it says you have to knowingly enter or remain unlawfully in or upon premise
heres the law from the washington state legislature
RCW 9A.52.080
Criminal trespass in the second degree.
(1) A person is guilty of criminal trespass in the second degree if he knowingly enters or remains unlawfully in or upon premises of another under circumstances not constituting criminal trespass in the first degree.
(2) Criminal trespass in the second degree is a misdemeanor.
so my question is what would be the best defense in fighting this? we can't afford attorneys and honestly i don't want this on my record, I've never had a misdemeanor or anything criminal before although one of my friends that was with me has
me and my friends are pretty young, i'm the oldest at 21 and my friends are 20, 17 and 16, we were just going to swim at the river but apparently sheriffs monitor that area just to give out tickets.
me and 3 friends parked on top of a small incline that was close to the river we were going to walk to, we walked through a field that came to a dirt road that was next to an orchard, by the time we made it through the field and onto the dirt road a sheriff approached us in a cop car, he told us we were trespassing and said for us to wait until another cop car arrived, so another one shows up about 5 minutes later and the officers get out and interview or question each of us separately and the officers tell us that all of us are getting criminal trespassing 2nd degree, the officers said that the person that owns the land we were on wants to go after anyone who trespasses on his property and this month alone they gave out 51 tickets for the same thing in the same area.
we told the officers we didn't know we were trespassing because we didn't know, there wasn't any signs and it was an empty field.
i looked online and it says you have to knowingly enter or remain unlawfully in or upon premise
heres the law from the washington state legislature
RCW 9A.52.080
Criminal trespass in the second degree.
(1) A person is guilty of criminal trespass in the second degree if he knowingly enters or remains unlawfully in or upon premises of another under circumstances not constituting criminal trespass in the first degree.
(2) Criminal trespass in the second degree is a misdemeanor.
so my question is what would be the best defense in fighting this? we can't afford attorneys and honestly i don't want this on my record, I've never had a misdemeanor or anything criminal before although one of my friends that was with me has
me and my friends are pretty young, i'm the oldest at 21 and my friends are 20, 17 and 16, we were just going to swim at the river but apparently sheriffs monitor that area just to give out tickets.