Im an 18 year old National Guardsmen living in Colorado. About a month ago I was taken in under some ridiculous circumstances. Im totally new to the legal process, ive never commited a crime, or even been caught speeding, nor has anybody close to me had anything legal in the last 40 years (no advice anywhere)
Let me give a summary (sorry for the long post ahead of time, I would however really really appreciate any help, skip to the end for some questions if you dont want to read)
I picked up one of my friends (Alex, 17) late at night from his buddys house (he has no transportation), he needed some school supplies he let another friend borrow so we drove over to their house. We spent probably a couple hours there talking to his friend and his friends mother, playing the piano, discussing movies and such. After he had received the supplies we headed out, usually we drive around and talk, looking for anything interesting to do. I had a meeting with one of my Sgt's in the morning to see if I had improved my run times, Alex knew this and started to harass me about how he thought I was too lazy to run. I challanged him and we pulled over at the first area with a running path nearby. We ran/jog/walked for well over an hour or two talking most of the time (rather then burning gas). When we were headed back to the car we both noticed the doors were all open and the interior lights on. I wanted to approach and question whoever was there or check if they were still in the area, he wanted to head to his work a mile or two away to get to a phone (his phone was in the car). We argued for a minute, he didnt want to walk alone to his work thinking we had been robbed or something of that sort so I went with him, we got maybe 50 meters up a street when an officer pulled around the corner
Officer A (I have no idea what his name was) stepped on the gas and got up close to us, orderd us to halt. He said 'get on your knees, keep your hands where I can see them'. I asked him what was going on, he replied I needed to shut up because I knew exactly what was going on. I asked again, he said you two dont talk while I get more officers here. When they had 3 or 4 cars there they put both of us in cuffs, and seperated us. They asked our names, and what we were doing, along with talking to one another. I lay on the hood of the car (about 110 degrees for the 20 minutes), eventually asked to get up and was told to sit on a bumper next to Alex. They then put all their spot lights on us, a 4th and 5th car pulled up, one apparently had a witness of something. All the spotlights were on us so we couldnt see anything, I would say by now it was well after midnight. They said look at these two, did they do it?. I think he then described what we looked like to the officers while looking at us, they drove him away. We were orderd into the back of one car (I dont know why we couldnt take two with so many there) and told we couldnt talk or there would be trouble. Officer B (female) started to drive us somewhere, I asked where we were going and was told not to talk. Then she asked a few seconds later if they could search my car (I told them the black one WAS mine while they were asking questions earlier). I told her she really needed to tell me what was going on and what we are being arrested for before I would answer her question, she said we were inside a building running around or something like that, then asked again to search. They already went through the car, so I said 'No' (and the cop on the radio said 'Iiiintersting.... ')
We arrived at the station, and were taken in one at a time so as not to talk or something. I was put in a room obviousally meant for planning, and was told th ats because the other one was a mess. Alex was put 10 feet away in another room (main entrance hallway actually). The officers asked more questions (do you have a phone, who are you, is that your car). Alex was asked to call his parents, but he didnt have the phone, it was in the car, it clearly pissed off the officers and they became very hostile that I wouldnt let them take things from my car. One of the officers apparently suffering from schizophrenia played the good cop/bad cop on his own. Asking me if I needed anything, I replied water (I was in a heavy dress coat, and was on a hot car, then in the back of a car all this time) and maybe you could loosen my cuffs, he told me to shut up, stop talking, and not look out the door (the wall is a clear glass wall... I could see anywhere anyways). They moved me a few times, im not sure why, maybe just to keep busy (same room diff seats). Finally an officer came in and said they would like to question me, I told them I would be happy to talk.
Another officer (Officer B, female) came in the room and had a pad, a pen, and a piece of paper. It had my rights written on it, I initialed every line as told and sighned it for them. Then the asking started, it was all trick questions, "Why were you in the building", "Tell us when you left the building", "How did you get outside", "Why were you outside after being in the building", "Were you running from the building". Anything to get a yes, but I was sure to listen and didnt fall for any of their games. I told my story as it happened, one officer took some notes (Officer B) while they both questioned me over and over again. He then told me things would get ugly if I didnt talk, and I would have alot of problems in court, unless I admitted to it now. I asked for a lawyer, and he said 'thats fine, cause now we dont want to talk to you' and left. he came back a minute later and asked if I wanted to talk still and I siad yes, so he asked pretty much the same dumb questions and started to call me a liar so I asked for a lawyer again and he said he didnt want to talk to me ... again. I said I would like a lawyer anyways, reagardless of if he wanted to talk and he walked out.
Alexs parents arrived after a long pause (Russians, really dont know the area that well, or the language). They asked his parents if they could talk to Alex, they must have said yes because I was put in the hallway and they put alex in the room. He told the same story probably damn near exact, cause they came out even more angry. They started to question me again while being outside, telling me I could say I wasnt with him the whole time and he could have done it, kept asking if I was with him. I was, so I told them the truth that we were always side by side that night. They let Alex go, with his parents, telling him I was going to jail now because he wouldnt admit it
I had my picture taken (Full body, 4 sides), they got put in a car and taken to the booking station to get my picture taken, and prints and such taken (they couldnt get the machine to take some of my prints so they ignored it...). I got put in a nice small orange jumpsuit and put in a cell with 4 or 5 other guys. Eventually they let me out and told me to get dressed, I was then driven to my car. I was given a blue piece of paper with some information on it, They checked a box that says 'CRS 18-4-503 CRIMINAL TRESPASS - 2ND DEGREE'. He told me I was supposidly reported in a building (it was across the street, there is like a rocky ditch a street long that seperates it, sprinklers, mud, a wall, etc. We had dress pants, shirts, shoes, jackets on... clean as could be so I dont see how its even possible) and they searched it but couldnt find anybody, and we matched a description and were in the area so he took us in. There is an area at the bottom'ish of the sheet for a description, it reads "JC (MY NAME) , DID UNLAWFULLY ENTER THE PREMISES OF MSL(Location), WHICH WERE ENCLOSED IN A MANNER TO EXCLUDE INTRUDERS." Im actually not sure if that last word is intruders or not, Ive asked 5 people and all say it looks like it so im going with it. Intudens is closer but it does not make sense at all
QUESTIONS
This sheet has a court date , TUES OCT 24 06. I know im required to show up to court, however im not sure whats going on that day.
Do I plea guilty/not guilty?
Do I need to come with a free lawyer, or do I ask for it then?
How do I get a free lawyer?
When should I have him/her?
This whole thing took forever, I had no sleep, and my performace suffered. I was up for promotion for serving my country as well as I had been, however this comming up REMOVED all chances of that (However I am now up for promotion again, for more reasons) and my weak performance that day caused enough problems this month. Now im out for blood so to speak, did the officers do anything illeagle (Searching my car, we know they did because they had to radio the guy that was there 'sitting on it still' to leave before we got there. Furthermore the alarm went off... it only goes off it it gets locked without the keys). This has been a black mark on my honor, i have been searching for jobs and have been open about being accused of trespassing and now nobody wants to hire me even though Im innocent and in the military, bills are now starting to stack up (car repairs, rent)
I was supposed to ship out, get some more training and join the fight closer to the front (Im a combat medic) but I cant leave with this date. If I plea innocent im told they will have to chose ANOTHER date and it could be more then 2 months away (as this one was) and I wont be able to defend my nation for all that time, along with miss all promotions and that sort of thing. I considerd going for a guilty plea if its just a fine or whatever but I cant have this on my record, however if I cant leave soon I wont have the money to pay anything, but if I do go for guilty then the military will come in and charge me with something, and end up destroying my future just like this is destroying my credit and life right now
What exactly should I be doing? What CAN i be doing? Any possible advice, they said they have 2 witnesses (one that found us in a building, and one that heard people running), however I know there were a couple people that saw us running because we said hello to one of them as she came home from what looked like school (alot of books anyways), however I was told to not go in the area or they can get me on a felony charge... how in the world can I find the people that saw us running now?
Thanks ahead of time
Let me give a summary (sorry for the long post ahead of time, I would however really really appreciate any help, skip to the end for some questions if you dont want to read)
I picked up one of my friends (Alex, 17) late at night from his buddys house (he has no transportation), he needed some school supplies he let another friend borrow so we drove over to their house. We spent probably a couple hours there talking to his friend and his friends mother, playing the piano, discussing movies and such. After he had received the supplies we headed out, usually we drive around and talk, looking for anything interesting to do. I had a meeting with one of my Sgt's in the morning to see if I had improved my run times, Alex knew this and started to harass me about how he thought I was too lazy to run. I challanged him and we pulled over at the first area with a running path nearby. We ran/jog/walked for well over an hour or two talking most of the time (rather then burning gas). When we were headed back to the car we both noticed the doors were all open and the interior lights on. I wanted to approach and question whoever was there or check if they were still in the area, he wanted to head to his work a mile or two away to get to a phone (his phone was in the car). We argued for a minute, he didnt want to walk alone to his work thinking we had been robbed or something of that sort so I went with him, we got maybe 50 meters up a street when an officer pulled around the corner
Officer A (I have no idea what his name was) stepped on the gas and got up close to us, orderd us to halt. He said 'get on your knees, keep your hands where I can see them'. I asked him what was going on, he replied I needed to shut up because I knew exactly what was going on. I asked again, he said you two dont talk while I get more officers here. When they had 3 or 4 cars there they put both of us in cuffs, and seperated us. They asked our names, and what we were doing, along with talking to one another. I lay on the hood of the car (about 110 degrees for the 20 minutes), eventually asked to get up and was told to sit on a bumper next to Alex. They then put all their spot lights on us, a 4th and 5th car pulled up, one apparently had a witness of something. All the spotlights were on us so we couldnt see anything, I would say by now it was well after midnight. They said look at these two, did they do it?. I think he then described what we looked like to the officers while looking at us, they drove him away. We were orderd into the back of one car (I dont know why we couldnt take two with so many there) and told we couldnt talk or there would be trouble. Officer B (female) started to drive us somewhere, I asked where we were going and was told not to talk. Then she asked a few seconds later if they could search my car (I told them the black one WAS mine while they were asking questions earlier). I told her she really needed to tell me what was going on and what we are being arrested for before I would answer her question, she said we were inside a building running around or something like that, then asked again to search. They already went through the car, so I said 'No' (and the cop on the radio said 'Iiiintersting.... ')
We arrived at the station, and were taken in one at a time so as not to talk or something. I was put in a room obviousally meant for planning, and was told th ats because the other one was a mess. Alex was put 10 feet away in another room (main entrance hallway actually). The officers asked more questions (do you have a phone, who are you, is that your car). Alex was asked to call his parents, but he didnt have the phone, it was in the car, it clearly pissed off the officers and they became very hostile that I wouldnt let them take things from my car. One of the officers apparently suffering from schizophrenia played the good cop/bad cop on his own. Asking me if I needed anything, I replied water (I was in a heavy dress coat, and was on a hot car, then in the back of a car all this time) and maybe you could loosen my cuffs, he told me to shut up, stop talking, and not look out the door (the wall is a clear glass wall... I could see anywhere anyways). They moved me a few times, im not sure why, maybe just to keep busy (same room diff seats). Finally an officer came in and said they would like to question me, I told them I would be happy to talk.
Another officer (Officer B, female) came in the room and had a pad, a pen, and a piece of paper. It had my rights written on it, I initialed every line as told and sighned it for them. Then the asking started, it was all trick questions, "Why were you in the building", "Tell us when you left the building", "How did you get outside", "Why were you outside after being in the building", "Were you running from the building". Anything to get a yes, but I was sure to listen and didnt fall for any of their games. I told my story as it happened, one officer took some notes (Officer B) while they both questioned me over and over again. He then told me things would get ugly if I didnt talk, and I would have alot of problems in court, unless I admitted to it now. I asked for a lawyer, and he said 'thats fine, cause now we dont want to talk to you' and left. he came back a minute later and asked if I wanted to talk still and I siad yes, so he asked pretty much the same dumb questions and started to call me a liar so I asked for a lawyer again and he said he didnt want to talk to me ... again. I said I would like a lawyer anyways, reagardless of if he wanted to talk and he walked out.
Alexs parents arrived after a long pause (Russians, really dont know the area that well, or the language). They asked his parents if they could talk to Alex, they must have said yes because I was put in the hallway and they put alex in the room. He told the same story probably damn near exact, cause they came out even more angry. They started to question me again while being outside, telling me I could say I wasnt with him the whole time and he could have done it, kept asking if I was with him. I was, so I told them the truth that we were always side by side that night. They let Alex go, with his parents, telling him I was going to jail now because he wouldnt admit it
I had my picture taken (Full body, 4 sides), they got put in a car and taken to the booking station to get my picture taken, and prints and such taken (they couldnt get the machine to take some of my prints so they ignored it...). I got put in a nice small orange jumpsuit and put in a cell with 4 or 5 other guys. Eventually they let me out and told me to get dressed, I was then driven to my car. I was given a blue piece of paper with some information on it, They checked a box that says 'CRS 18-4-503 CRIMINAL TRESPASS - 2ND DEGREE'. He told me I was supposidly reported in a building (it was across the street, there is like a rocky ditch a street long that seperates it, sprinklers, mud, a wall, etc. We had dress pants, shirts, shoes, jackets on... clean as could be so I dont see how its even possible) and they searched it but couldnt find anybody, and we matched a description and were in the area so he took us in. There is an area at the bottom'ish of the sheet for a description, it reads "JC (MY NAME) , DID UNLAWFULLY ENTER THE PREMISES OF MSL(Location), WHICH WERE ENCLOSED IN A MANNER TO EXCLUDE INTRUDERS." Im actually not sure if that last word is intruders or not, Ive asked 5 people and all say it looks like it so im going with it. Intudens is closer but it does not make sense at all
QUESTIONS
This sheet has a court date , TUES OCT 24 06. I know im required to show up to court, however im not sure whats going on that day.
Do I plea guilty/not guilty?
Do I need to come with a free lawyer, or do I ask for it then?
How do I get a free lawyer?
When should I have him/her?
This whole thing took forever, I had no sleep, and my performace suffered. I was up for promotion for serving my country as well as I had been, however this comming up REMOVED all chances of that (However I am now up for promotion again, for more reasons) and my weak performance that day caused enough problems this month. Now im out for blood so to speak, did the officers do anything illeagle (Searching my car, we know they did because they had to radio the guy that was there 'sitting on it still' to leave before we got there. Furthermore the alarm went off... it only goes off it it gets locked without the keys). This has been a black mark on my honor, i have been searching for jobs and have been open about being accused of trespassing and now nobody wants to hire me even though Im innocent and in the military, bills are now starting to stack up (car repairs, rent)
I was supposed to ship out, get some more training and join the fight closer to the front (Im a combat medic) but I cant leave with this date. If I plea innocent im told they will have to chose ANOTHER date and it could be more then 2 months away (as this one was) and I wont be able to defend my nation for all that time, along with miss all promotions and that sort of thing. I considerd going for a guilty plea if its just a fine or whatever but I cant have this on my record, however if I cant leave soon I wont have the money to pay anything, but if I do go for guilty then the military will come in and charge me with something, and end up destroying my future just like this is destroying my credit and life right now
What exactly should I be doing? What CAN i be doing? Any possible advice, they said they have 2 witnesses (one that found us in a building, and one that heard people running), however I know there were a couple people that saw us running because we said hello to one of them as she came home from what looked like school (alot of books anyways), however I was told to not go in the area or they can get me on a felony charge... how in the world can I find the people that saw us running now?
Thanks ahead of time
