Vandalism Charges That I Didn't Commit

[aguajoe]

My question involves juvenile law in the State of: California

Last night me and my friend were at a liquore store and he was inside and i was outside because i had heard noises. then i looked down the street and someone was tagging. then a car stopped and looked at him he started to walk towards me and i knew who he was but i didnt affiliate with him. him and one other person walked by me and a car pulled in and a guy came out and pulled a gun out. the two ran the other way and the off duty cop told me to get on my knees and put my hands behind my back. i kept asking wat i did i didnt do anything. but i had a marker in my pocket. this all happened quickly and i had never had a gun pointed at me. He said is that your friend and i told him no. he told me to go home. my house is the same way the taggers ran. and i saw a bunch of cops the next street down and i was taking pictures waiting for my friend to walk towards my way. then a cop pulls me over again and tells me i match the third suspect saying i was there. OF COURSE i was there they ran passed me! and a witness said they had seen me with them. they took me to the sherrifs station. later on they had found a marker in my pocket and they gave me a piece of paper that said my charges were 594(b)(1)pc and 594.8(a)pc... okay i deserve the charge for having a marker that relates to graffiti but i did not vandalize or deface someones property!! the marker i had was white and the graffiti was in black spraypaint. they caught the other guy too. i am going to fight this case but i want some info about this please.. i am 17 and asian and the gang the guy wrote is a mexican gang.. if i didnt vandalize or destroy 400 or more of property how are they going to falsely accuse me of it... PLEASE HELP ME!!!! :[

they also caught they guy that did vandalize the walls and had seen him vandalize it... My dad is going to get a attorney for me and i am a 4.0 student who goes to a private school... i recently made a resume for a job and turned in about 17 applications around my city...

[PTPD22]

Even from your own account, your story raises suspicions and red-flags that lead to more questions.

Last night me and my friend were at a liquore store and he was inside and i was outside because i had heard noises.

Why were you and your friend going to a liquor store when you are a juvenile and prohibited from possessing alcohol? What “noises” caused you to remain outside? Do you suppose that a cop seeing two underage males approach a liquor store, one goes inside, while the other takes up station outside the front door & looking up and down the street might raise the idea “211 in progress”???

then i looked down the street and someone was tagging. then a car stopped and looked at him he started to walk towards me and i knew who he was but i didnt affiliate with him.

“I didn’t affiliate with him.” Meaning, you recognized him as affiliated with a criminal street gang. Just not a gang that you affiliate with. That raises the obvious question…Do you affiliate with some other gang? Does your gang and his do business together or are you rivals?

a car pulled in and a guy came out and pulled a gun out. the two ran the other way and the off duty cop told me to get on my knees and put my hands behind my back.

So, the “guy” with the gun was a cop? Did he identify himself? How do you know he was “off duty?” Did he yell, “Freeze! Off-duty police!”? Was the cop the same person who “stopped and looked at him” before this gang member approached you? Would the circumstances of your proximity to these two gang members lead to a reasonable suspicion that you were associating with them? I’m really thinking the answer to that last is a firm “YES.”

i kept asking wat i did i didnt do anything.

Ok, but did you comply with the cop’s (who was pointing a gun at you) directions to get on your knees and put your hands behind your head? EVERYBODY confronted by the police claims they “didn’t do anything!” But, arguing and failing to comply with directions tends to suggest guilt…not to mention raises the risk of getting hurt. Especially when the cop already believes the situation is serious enough to have his gun out and pointed at you.

he told me to go home. my house is the same way the taggers ran. and i saw a bunch of cops the next street down and i was taking pictures waiting for my friend to walk towards my way.

Ok, so the cop lets you go and tells you to “go home.” But, instead, you stop to take pictures??? What were you taking pictures of? The gang graffiti? The activity of the cops who had stopped the gang members who made the graffiti? That does not sound like the reaction of someone who is unfamiliar with the drama of a police/gang confrontation. It also provides further suspicion that you were associated with the gang activity.

then a cop pulls me over again and tells me i match the third suspect saying i was there. OF COURSE i was there they ran passed me! and a witness said they had seen me with them.

Ok, so the cops had reasonable suspicion that you were associated with the gang members' activity…and had a witness that verified those suspicions. Which kinda leads back to my first question…if you weren’t up to no good, why were you there?

later on they had found a marker in my pocket and they gave me a piece of paper that said my charges were 594(b)(1)pc and 594.8(a)pc... okay i deserve the charge for having a marker that relates to graffiti but i did not vandalize or deface someones property!!

So, the police catch two gang members spray painting gang graffiti. The circumstances suggest that you were associated with them and a witness verifies this. Low and behold, you are illegally in possession of graffiti tools. Circumstances indicate a strong probability that you are, at least, a gang associate (providing that the cops don’t already have you documented as a gang member/associate from prior intel). And, now you are surprised that you get charged with vandalism and graffiti tools???…and want us to sympathize with the injustice of it all???

the marker i had was white and the graffiti was in black spraypaint. they caught the other guy too.

And, was there any graffiti in the area made with white marker? Was there any gang graffiti in black marked out with white, or vice versa? Are you trying to tell us that you don’t tag/graffiti and the graffiti tools in your possession was entirely innocent? It’s really not that hard to match the marker to the graffiti made with it.

i am 17 and asian and the gang the guy wrote is a mexican gang..

So what? Not all gangs are racially segregated. Many, many gangs have members of multiple ethnicities. Even racially segregated gangs associate with gangs of different races and “put in work” together in joint enterprise.

if i didnt vandalize or destroy 400 or more of property how are they going to falsely accuse me of it... PLEASE HELP ME!!!! :[

Your version of events does not convince me that you are innocent here. I’m not convinced that there is any “false” accusation at all. But, even if you are innocent of the vandalism (at least this specific vandalism), you put yourself in the circumstances that shine suspicion on you.

My dad is going to get a attorney for me and i am a 4.0 student who goes to a private school... i recently made a resume for a job and turned in about 17 applications around my city...

The attorney is a good thing. You need it. The 4.0 might help you, especially in showing that you might be a good candidate for a diversion program. The resume and 17 applications do nothing to help you.

[aguajoe]

No me and my friend werent buying alcohol.. I heard violent yelling so i was curios and looked, the side of the street is leterally a couple steps away so i looked, and its a very small city. i am a local at the skatepark and i skated with him before at the park i do not know him like a friend or anything. I wasnt taking a picture of the graffiti that he had done i was walking home and the guy had ran the same way that my house is and a bunch of cops were there so i was taking a picture to tell all my friends what had happened. We were getting snacks for the movies because they are too expensive at the theteres. My bad i wasnt detailed enough. and on my way back from church today me and my dad stopped to see the graffiti and it was gang graffiti. it was in black spray paint and i had a white marker there are NO white marks anywhere.. and the only reason i asked what happened to the guy that i know was because i wanted to know but he didnt even mind me and also the off duty cop said something but im sure it wasnt im a cop freeze! the way i found out is when he told me to get on my knees he told me. i cooperated with him. Thank you for replying back....

oh and the off duty cop that pointed the gun at me wasnt the car the car he was yelling at was a suv, but after the off duty cop let me go, the SUV, and the off duty cop, and another white van all went chasing that guy.. i am not guilty for the vandalism that was done, but i am guilty for having a marker on me... please reply back!!!

and i read up the 594(b)(1) aand it states that in order to get this charge you have to destroy or deface property and have destroyed for than 400 worth of stuff.. i didnt do any of that... I was just at the liquor store getting snacks with my friend...It really is mind boggling to be accused of vandalising when i did no act of that whatsoever... and yes i used to tag long time ago but i stopped but i still like the real art not defacing propert so i have books at my house to draw in... that is why i had it and i didnt take it out of my pocket..