Indecent Exposure

My question involves criminal law for the state of: West virginia

My day started at the gym. I went to a shopping center, had a change of clothes in my vehicle. I pulled into a space where no one could see me, no one was around, but while changing my clothes a woman was walking to her vehicle and looked into my vehicle, seen me changing ( i never seen her ) she called police, and i was later called by police to come in to be questioned. She says i exposed my self to her, I never did such thing. I just changed clothes. She has no proof of anything. Is this enough for a jury to be convinced to say im guilty ?

Nope. That story has been done over and over. Most of my convictions that are on my load have told a variation of this story.

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I pulled into a space where no one could see me, no one was around

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Any juror who has even been in a shopping center is going to have a hard time believing that. Especially when, as it turns out, someone DID see you. Any juror who has even been to a gym will understand that you could have changed THERE, and yet strangely, chose not to. Circumstantial of course, but a good portion of convictions occur with just that.

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She has no proof of anything.

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"Proof" INCLUDES the testimony of witnesses as well as circumstantial evidence, as noted above.

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Is this enough for a jury to be convinced to say im guilty ?

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It's certainly not little enough that you don't need to worry. Consult local counsel.

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Quoting viol8te

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Nope. That story has been done over and over. Most of my convictions that are on my load have told a variation of this story.

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If I'm not mistaken, that exact story has been told here on this forum.;)

Hell, just in the medium sized town I used to dispatch for we'd get two or three of those cases a WEEK. Shopping center parking lots are overly ripe for such activity (why? Oh I dunno...maybe because "shopping center", by definition, implies a place where people GATHER to shop. Hardly the type of place one can expect to pull into to take one's pants off with ANY level of privacy. Things that make a jury go "hmmmm".)

The question is whether you changed your clothes but whether you exposed your "sexual organs". You can sit there in your car in your tightie whities or dance around that way in the parking lot and not be guilty of WV's indecent exposure statute. So unless you were taking your underpants off and she's going to testify to having seen your junk, you're not guilty.

I once worked with a guy who...well...had to put lotion on a rash on his weenie (that was his excuse). Of course, why he could not do this in the bathroom is beyond anyone's guess.....no, he thought stepping behind a pallet would be sufficient. Needless to say, two of us saw him (plenty more than we wanted to see), and he got canned.

Myself...I've had to change clothes in goofy spots before. Solution? Stop at McD's or a store with a bathroom at the entrance, and use a stall in their bathroom....

Seriously though...why didn't you change clothes at the gym? Or use the restroom of the shopping center?

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Quoting jk

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If I'm not mistaken, that exact story has been told here on this forum.;)

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OP needs to browse previous posts before he spins a story huh?

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Quoting PandorasBox

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...why didn't you change clothes at the gym? Or use the restroom of the shopping center?

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My guess would be that such activity would not have any sort of "entertainment" value.

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Quoting souperdave

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My guess would be that such activity would not have any sort of "entertainment" value.

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I didnt change at the gym. Normally when im done , i leave the gym and go home. I do have my gym bag, and clothes in my car. I left the gym and drove to the outlets. I got out and was going to shop in my shorts and coat that I had on. It was really cold and windy that day, the cold air was blowing all over me. I went back to my truck, after looking at the directory sign to see what stores me and my girl friend went to the night before looking for clothes for her , for christmas coming up. There was a food court around back of the outlets ( wanted to get something to drink that was hot and food ) , and pull into a spot surrounded by big SUVs, My truck is a full size pick up. It was 1030 am, not many people were around. I wanted to get into something warmer, so i changed my clothes. I was never fully naked, i never seen anyone around me, I have no idea where she came from. She stated that she looked into my truck. Even though i took off my shorts, I was still covered up by them, i had my coat on which also covered my lower half. Since she claimed to have seen me, only thing i can say is she seen me changing clothes but she stated that i was over there having a grand time with myself. The process of the change only took me about 1 minute, the incident happened at 1030, i shopped from 1030am to about 1230pm ( i have credit card receipts to prove that), her report the police was called in at 1:38 pm. The police came, I wasnt there though. I had already left right at 1230. So why she reported it later I have no idea.
The charge is indecent exposure, and if that means the intent needs to be shown, or proved, I dont see how it can be proved. Did I change my shorts into pants ? Yes. Was anyone around me ? There was nobody around, she had to walk up as I started to change, then she looks into my truck. Her statement says that. I dont see how a jury can say im guilty if there is a reasonable doubt, which I feel there is. Mainly because I didnt do anything more than just change clothes. yes i could have changed at gym, yes i could have froze to death in my shorts shopping and not changing at all, but does that prove my intent was for someone to see me change ? I guess if you have a personal bias against me and the situation and that influences you then i guess you would say guilty. But her just making an accusation, with no witnesses, no other proof then just her saying what she said, I dont see how I can be found guilty. If people can get charged and prosecuted for anyone making any claim, then what stops me from making a claim the woman flashed her breasts at me, and I felt sickened by that and was to get charges on her ? Then I need to prove my case. They need to prove I did something wrong as in changed cloth or exposed myself with intent for some one to see me. If i was a pervert i could just ran through the parking lot naked, or had some long coat on and flash myself to people at the outlets. Im innocent of this, and im hoping a jury will see the same thing.

Also I would like to say, I have never had any type of charge, infraction or anything in my life, other then speeding tickets.. Also former military and have tried to join police force for quite some time. Far from anything that a person might think about me as in being some pervert.