Disorderly Conduct: Loitering in Detroit

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Quoting LittleD1981

On March 27, 2004 I was pulled over in Detroit and was given a ticket for not using a turn signal (that ticket is resolved) and a ticket for "loitering in area where narcotics are sold, kept, or stored" (in parentheses it says "purchase crack cocaine") for which I was to appear in court on a specified date. I went to 36th District Court and pleaded not guilty, as I was not by any means loitering. I was simply driving through a Detroit neighborhood just outside of Hazel Park. After pleading not guilty, I was then told to attend a "Health AIDS Class," lasting maybe an hour or two. I attended that, and then I had to pay $50 bond, and was given a date to return.

This was probably an ordinance violation, and it is quite possible that the ordinance at issue has since been substantially revised or amended. You can start by identifying the actual charge (statute or Detroit ordinance number) so we can look at the elements.

You appear to be stating that the charge remains unresolved. Should we infer that, had you appeared in court, you would have been eligible for a dismissal based upon your attending the class? (Did you or the course provider forward documentation of your attendance to the court and, if not, you still document your attendance?)

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Quoting LittleD1981

Having lost my license for unpaid traffic tickets in Ferndale (all now resolved), I had no transportation to get back down to 36th District Court on the day I was supposed to return. I know I lost the $50 bond, and I also know that a warrant was put out for my arrest, having been told that they will not come to find me where I live, but would take me into custody if found in Detroit city limits.

That is to say, you chose not to appear in court while being aware of the consequences.

Quote:

Quoting LittleD1981

Later, I received a 14 day notice, having failed to appear that second court date. The notice says "traffic/misdemeanor" on it, yet when you turn it over it says "violation: narc/drg vio". How did a loitering ticket become a narcotic violation?!?!?! :confused:

You have told us that the charge was for "loitering in area where narcotics are sold, kept, or stored" - that would seem to be the explanation. A "traffic/misdemeanor" ticket can be used for either.

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Quoting LittleD1981

Anyway, this ticket is still unresolved. I want to get my license back, but know that I can't if this ticket is still unresolved. It's been 9 years since I got that ticket!! What can I do now?

You will need to go back to court and, as they say, take your lumps.

If it were me, I was looking at an unresolved, 19-year-old misdemeanor, and I wanted to get it over with as quickly as possible, I would try contacting the prosecutor's office to see if I could work out a deal to take care of the bench warrant and charge in a single appearance. I don't know if you're concerned with having a misdemeanor on your record; if you are, you would want to try to negotiate a favorable resolution of the misdemeanor as part of that negotiation. (Even if you're not, that would seem to be the place to start - realistically speaking, you won't get a better offer than the first one you ask for.)

Note, you have to be very careful about surrendering yourself on a bench warrant, lest you spend a night (or weekend) in jail before you can get in front of the judge. For that reason, if it were me, I would be using a lawyer. Also, given the age of the charge, its relatively minor nature, the dubious facts, and what I expect to be the prosecutor's considerable difficulty in bringing the charge to trial (assuming no plea), a lawyer might be able to work out some sort of dismissal on payment of a fine, perhaps without your even appearing in court. That sort of outcome is usually much harder to negotiate in pro per (that is, when you represent yourself), and sometimes the prosecutor won't even talk to a self-represented defendant until he shows up in court; also, odds are somebody is going to have to go to court to tender payment and, if not a lawyer, that would mean you.

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Quoting LittleD1981

I still do not have any reliable means of transportation by which I could be certain to appear multiple times at 36th District Court.

Make friends with somebody who has a car. Have a relative do you a favor. Use public transportation. Call a taxi. Rent a car....

Quote:

Quoting LittleD1981

I just want to get this over with. Any help is greatly appreciated. BTW, before I found this site, I came across this (related to my inquiry): http://www.wxyz.com/dpp/news/local_n...tering-tickets

This ordinance?

Quote:

Quoting Detroit Municipal Code, Sec. 38-5-1. - Disorderly conduct.permanent link to this piece of content

Any person who shall make or assist in making any noise, disturbance, or improper diversion or any rout or riot, by which the peace and good order of the neighborhood is disturbed, or any person who shall consume alcoholic beverages on any street or sidewalk, or who shall engage in any indecent or obscene conduct in any public place, or who shall engage in an illegal occupation, or who shall loiter in a place of illegal occupation with the intent to engage in such illegal occupation, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.

Note, the conduct covered by that statute is broader than mere loitering - but if that's the ordinance the officers are using there still appears to be considerable overreach.

If you were charged under that ordinance, I suspect that it has been revised since the time of your charge. Loitering ordinances are frequently over-broad, and were subject to many legal challenges over the past few decades such that few such ordinances from the 1960's - 1980's have not been substantially revised. You may have a constitutional objection to the ordinance under which you're charged, assuming that you did not enter a guilty plea and that the matter would be scheduled for trial upon your surrendering yourself on the bench warrant.