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medic5

Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? TEXAS

Ok first off i just want to say thank you to anyone that will take this thread serious and help me with this decision i need to make which is ultimately the biggest one i will make of my life.

ok here it is. i was charged with sexual assault of a child last year for having sex with my girlfriend who was 16. i was 19 at the time but was passed the 36 month rule allowed by the state of texas. heres how it all happened. i was going through problems with my ex girlfriend at the time i was with my new girlfriend. one saturday night i was in the bedroom of my house which is not surrounded by any fence and did not have any no trespassing signs. basically a simple house in a neighborhood. i was in the middle of the intercourse when i hear a knock on the window of my bedroom. it was the city police. the officer said at the window for me to open up the door.from what the statements say my ex girl got a call from a friend who told her that i was with my gf. she then got a ride from her friend and went to my backyard to see what i was doing. she peeked into the small hole of my closed blinds and saw the act in progress. she then ran to the street called 911. the cops show up and she takes them to the back yard of my house and they to peek through my blind to see what i was doing. when the cop knocked on the glass i panicked i didnt know it was a cop..i hit the lights because of course i was naked and so was my gf. i opened up the door and said whats the problem. he said "we need you to step outside we have just witnessed a felony being committed" they said they had the right to just run in but i said get a dam warrant first and slammed the door shut. i didnt know what to do at this time. so i told my gf just to go outside with me. after 5 minutes of freaking out in my house i walked outside and so did my gf. i was then placed under arrest. the cops got a search warrant and went inside and found the condom and sent my gf to get a rape kit done which identified her on the condom as well as me and saliva on her breast.

i finally got to this position in court where i was offered a plea deal of 7 years deferred probation plus lifetime registry as a sex offender. i go back june 8th to finalize it.

this is hard for me. my lawyer will only give me options he wont tell me what decision to make.

so would it be in my best interest to take the deal?
i still havent gone through the suppression phase. ive read alot about privacy and the 4th amendment and the texas exclusionary rule. do you think the search was unconstitutional and do you think i should try to fight that?

any advice you guys can give me would be greatly appreciated,
need anymore info just let me know so i can provide it.
 


justalayman

Senior Member
dang, this sounds almost identical to another situation posted here not long ago except that kid got popped for pot possession rather than being a perv.

If I remember correctly, he was in Texas as well.

Do you guys go to the same school by chance?
 

FlyingRon

Senior Member
Nope, I don't give you much hope. If the cops had come and peeked in your window, you might have a choice, but the friend isn't the cop. Given the probable cause of what she said, they came knocking. The further observation of you being naked with the underage girl laid out all the cause they needed going forward.
 

justalayman

Senior Member
actually if somebody would be nice enough to hunt up that other thread that is so similar (really really similar all the way down to the small hole in the closed blinds), there was a long discussion on this and if I remember correctly, the peek in the window might have actually been illegal, even considering it was based on the GF peeking first.


btw: the GF should be charged for trespass and voyeurism or whatever they call a peeping tom in Texas.
 

medic5

Junior Member
Well actually i found this website through that thread by what i typed in the search bar. Oddly enough it does appear to be almost identical.
Anyway i saw on that thread about article 38.23a of the texas ccd. Does this apply to a situation like this?
 
I have some questions.. rather than advice. 1st your deal is bad, but .. youre in a bad position...

I am concerned because you are still referring to her in terms of her being your girlfriend - because I have a concern that you will get on probation, go visit her, even at her request (surely there is a CPO in place) get violated, and go to prison quicker than you can imagine. Once you plea to this case, for the next 7 years, you can be pretty much summarily sentenced to prison as a felony sex offender, if you are found in violation - 1 beer driving, 1 kiss from this girl, 1 joint. You understand that right?

Do you have a PD or a lawyer?

Is the suppression motion already filed?

If its not been filed, why not? There is no real relevance in that motion as to whether or not someone thinks the motion will be sustained, they usually are not sustained - the key is filing a good motion to maybe position yourself a little better for deals and not only that, it is in fact the states burden to prove that the search was legal.

What is the down side according to your lawyer of fighting some more? Why cant he continue to drag it out and work on a better deal? Has he said?

You sir are in a bad spot and no one in their right mind would ever tell you what you should do. Good luck though.
 

cyjeff

Senior Member
For what it is worth....

A police officer is not only allowed but bound to investigate a crime that has been witnessed and reported.

Let's say that you were stabbing her instead of... well... schtupping the little girl.

Would you still be saying that the police could not and should not investigate?

You need to take any deal which will not land you in prison. Prison is a bad place for child molesters.

Let's just say you will get plenty of sex... but there won't be a lot of "thank you's" afterward.
 

medic5

Junior Member
well my lawyer says that the texas exclusionary rule is pretty much washed up and the courts twist its meaning around to suit their needs.

the motion to suppress has been filed on the grounds of my ex girlfriend peeping.

this is what article 38.23a states according to texas

"No evidence obtained by an officer or other person in violation of any provisions of the Constitution or laws of the State of Texas, or of the Constitution or laws of the United States of America, shall be admitted in evidence against the accused on the trial of any criminal case."

also on the other thread the guy mentions expecation of privacy. my ex girlfriend obviously violated this right. wouldnt this be grounds for surpression?
 
The 4th amendment does not protect you from peeping toms - the constitutional guarantees in the bill of rights protect you from government... not crazy ex's...

so if a criminal breaks into your house, finds kiddie porn, turns it over to police.. that doesnt violate your 4th amendment rights... that is probable cause for an officer to investigate you though. That is what the state is going to argue... likely successfully.
 

justalayman

Senior Member
seriously, can you link that other thread? There was some very good discussion as to why a citizens actions that led to the discovery of a crime could be limited if I remember correctly
 

>Charlotte<

Lurker
seriously, can you link that other thread?
Here it is. For anyone who doesn't know, just click the blue arrow thingy next to janelle830 and it will take you right to the thread.

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? texas

in texas, ok straight to the point i was messing with marijuana in my bedroom. a girl that i used to know goes to my backyard and looks through a small hole in the blind and sees me messing with marijuana and calls 911. the cops show up and she walks them over to the back yard and shows them. they bend down to look and see me. the cop then knocks on the window and tells me to open the door because he witnessed a crime. they arrest me and now im in court.

now we are at the hearing phase for a motion to suppress. what can i use for good ground to try and get the evidence suppressed?

is there even a valid argument for my side?
 

CavemanLawyer

Senior Member
The 4th amendment does not protect you from peeping toms - the constitutional guarantees in the bill of rights protect you from government... not crazy ex's...

so if a criminal breaks into your house, finds kiddie porn, turns it over to police.. that doesnt violate your 4th amendment rights... that is probable cause for an officer to investigate you though. That is what the state is going to argue... likely successfully.
But Constitutional rights like those in the 4th Amendment only provide minimum protections. States are still free to provide citizens greater protections through their own Constitutions and statutes and Texas has done just that through its exclusionary rule. 38.23 very clearly and expressly states that the exclusionary rule applies both to private citizens as well as law enforcement.

With that said I don't think there is much argument for suppression since the police were under extremely exigent circumstances when they received the information of the crime in progress. Just because she was willing to have sex doesn't change the fact that its a sexual assault. If there is a sexual assault in progress they don't have time to conduct an independent investigation to develop their own probable cause for a warrant. They rushed in for the protection of the child and once the exigency was gone they backed off and got a warrant. It all sounds very reasonable from the officers' standpoint.
 

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