Advise on bogus fine

[Harley-Davidson]

My friends and I were celebrating the return of our other friend downtown saturday night. We were walking down the sidewalk and my friend said that he needed to use the restroom. He jokingly turned his back to us and walked up to a wall. He stood there for about 1.5-2 seconds and joined the group. He was a little bit behind me. Once I reached the corner, I see a cop exit his car and walk up to my friend as if to talk to him. Before he says anything to my friend, he turns to me and say "You got a problem hero? I suggest you just keep on walking". I crossed the street and waited for my friend. I figured the cop was just looking for someone to get his kicks on. I assumed he would check my buddy for warrants and send him on his way. The cop ended up writing him a ticket for indecency. The cop claimed that when he drove by, he saw my buddy urinating on the wall. I know for a fact that he didn't and so do the three other people there. My buddy asked the cop to go look at the wall and he would see that it was completely dry. The cop said he didn't need to see the wall. He said he drove by and saw my buddy's penis. Unless he has X-ray vision, then this is completely false. My friend even pleaded with other officers to go check the wall. The three other officers refused to get out of their squad cars. Is this worth fighting or should my buddy just pay it. I don't want him to waste his time if it is a lost cause. I am seriously thinking about contacting his supervisor. He was way out of line.

 

[charlie neville]

This statement says it all...

..."Is this worth fighting or should my buddy just pay it." So it's you and your buddy's call I'd say. You need to consider what will you 'win' and what might it 'cost' you if you do win?

charlie

 

[Harley-Davidson]

I just want to know if we have a chance or is it going to be an open and shut case because the judge believes the cops word over ours. There is no evidence in the case. It is one cop's word against three civilian's word. I was told that there is a good chance that he won't show.

 

[T-DESIGNER]

I am not an attorney, and an attorney is more qualified to
advise you on this matter.

The way I am interpreting your post is the police officer
issued a ticket for indecent public exposure, rather than
a ticket for urinating. This is probably why the police officer
showed no interest in whether or not your friend actually
urinated. I can't understand why the police officer did
not make an attempt to explain this to your friend. Was
he trying to bait your friend into doing something your
friend would regret?

If your friend is not working, or if your friend's employer
will pay him for time away from work, or if your friend
works at night, he may want to go to court and explain
to the judge he was joking, and the police officer made
an honest mistake, but nevertheless, a mistake. He
should tell the judge he believes the police officer
assumed he exposed himself, but the police officer
could not have seen him expose himself because he
did not expose himself. In other words, have your
friend tell the truth and hope for the best.

You and your friends should find out:

(1) how much will he have to pay without going to court?
(2) how much will he have to pay if he pleads guilty in court?
(3) how much will he have to pay if he pleads not innocent,
but loses in court?

How much is the ticket per person, if split between the
three/four of you? i.e., the three/four of you may just want to
consider the ticket a cover charge for having a good time.

Citizen Brown

 

[justathought]

I'm not a lawyer, but I have an opinion, so here it is...

Urination or indecent exposure? You need to figure that out because if it's indecent exposure means sex offender, means registering with Megan's Law which means not being able to work with kids or notifying police when you move... Even though it's a low level, non-risk type, it still may become a sex crime depending on where you live.

Have a lawyer check it out before you pay (in case payment=guilt).

Just my random musings....

 

[Harley-Davidson]

There was a list of infractions on the ticket and the officer checked indecency as the infraction. I am assuming that indecency covers indecent exposure and public urination. The fine costs $75. Even if it costs a little bit more than that, I am willing to cover the extra cost. This officer was out of line and it should be addressed. I truly hope this officer was just having a bad night and took it out on us. If he acts like this all the time, then he has no business serving the public.