Unlawful Entry Charge for Refusing to Leave a Zoo Concert

Better video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5D9dNVu_LgU#t=82

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Your best course of action is get a lawyer, your combined defiance of authority and ignorance of the law isn't going to get you out of these charges.

You weren't arrested for "merely standing up." You were arrested because you didn't leave when the cops told you to (or you could have availed yourself of their offer to sit down).
Violence is not an essential part of disorderly conduct in DC, you only need to have acted in such a manner as to annoy, disturb, interfere with, obstruct, or be offensive to others.

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Quoting arrestedatthezoo

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It seems that you are getting too invested in the comments section of the news article. There was a gentleman next to me who did do some questionable things. I think a few people didn't realize that we weren't related. I merely silently stood up. Not sure where you got intoxicated from. I don't see a reason for a disorderly conduct charge as I wasn't violent, mouthed off to anyone, or threatened anyone. Resisting arrest could only be added if this is recognized as a lawful arrest.

Thus is my reason for asking for legal advice. What is my best course of action in court?

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well, unless he was also taken to the ground in a headlock, they were talking about you.

you don't have to be violent for disorderly conduct

(b)

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It is unlawful for a person to engage in loud, threatening, or abusive language, or disruptive conduct, with the intent and effect of impeding or disrupting the orderly conduct of a lawful public gathering, or of a congregation of people engaged in any religious service or in worship, a funeral, or similar proceeding.

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your conduct was disruptive and it did have the effect of disrupting the orderly conduct of a lawful public gathering.

and it was a lawful arrest so resisting is definitely a possibility

To repeat the unanswered question. Say you are walking down the street, and an officer pulls up and tells you to leave all DC public property, are you expected to face arrest if you don't comply?

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Quoting arrestedatthezoo

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To repeat the unanswered question. Say you are walking down the street, and an officer pulls up and tells you to leave all DC public property, are you expected to face arrest if you don't comply?

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depends on his reason but you were not asked to leave ALL DC public property. In fact, you were not even originally asked to leave the venue involved. It was only after you decided you thought you had some right to be an idiot and stood your ground on that point were you arrested.

I sincerely hope you do not believe you are right in this matter and that you have a valid defense to much of anything because you are wrong if you do. You need to prepare to defend yourself, legitimately. Not with some BS arguments and wild claims of rights you don't have.

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Quoting arrestedatthezoo

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On May 11, 2014, I was arrested and charged with Unlawful Entry. The incident in question occurred during a charity concert at the National Zoo in Washington DC. Unlawful Entry is defined by DC law as:

It is illegal in D.C. to enter or attempt to enter any private dwelling, public building or other property or to remain within such property without lawful authority and against the will of the lawful occupant. ”Private dwelling” is defined as a privately owned house, apartment, condo or any other building used as living quarters. The maximum penalty for this offense is a $1,000 fine and 180 days of imprisonment. D.C. Criminal Code 22-3302.

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That's a summary of only one small part of the statute,

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Quoting D.C. Code, Sec. 22-3302. Unlawful entry on property

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(a)

(1) Any person who, without lawful authority, shall enter, or attempt to enter, any private dwelling, building, or other property, or part of such dwelling, building, or other property, against the will of the lawful occupant or of the person lawfully in charge thereof, or being therein or thereon, without lawful authority to remain therein or thereon shall refuse to quit the same on the demand of the lawful occupant, or of the person lawfully in charge thereof, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and on conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine of not more than the amount set forth in § 22-3571.01, imprisonment for not more than 180 days, or both. The presence of a person in any private dwelling, building, or other property that is otherwise vacant and boarded-up or otherwise secured in a manner that conveys that it is vacant and not to be entered, or displays a no trespassing sign, shall be prima facie evidence that any person found in such property has entered against the will of the person in legal possession of the property.

(2) For the purposes of this subsection, the term "private dwelling" includes a privately owned house, apartment, condominium, or any building used as living quarters, or cooperative or public housing, as defined in section 3(1) of the United States Housing Act of 1937, approved August 22, 1974 (88 Stat. 654; 42 U.S.C. § 1437a(b)), the development or administration of which is assisted by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, or housing that is owned, operated, or financially assisted by the District of Columbia Housing Authority.

(b) Any person who, without lawful authority, shall enter, or attempt to enter, any public building, or other property, or part of such building, or other property, against the will of the lawful occupant or of the person lawfully in charge thereof or his or her agent, or being therein or thereon, without lawful authority to remain therein or thereon shall refuse to quit the same on the demand of the lawful occupant, or of the person lawfully in charge thereof or his or her agent, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and on conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine of not more than the amount set forth in § 22-3571.01, imprisonment for not more than 6 months, or both.

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The statute is not limited to residences, and is not limited to circumstances where the original entry is uninvited. The statute applies to all property where a person with authority to do so tells you to leave and you refuse to leave.

When a crowd of people is sitting on the grass trying to watch a concert, they're not there to watch your hiney even if you believe you have some sort of legal right to stand up and block their view.

You managed to escalate a situation that you likely could have resolved simply by sitting down into one in which you're facing a criminal charge.

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Quoting arrestedatthezoo

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To repeat the unanswered question. Say you are walking down the street, and an officer pulls up and tells you to leave all DC public property, are you expected to face arrest if you don't comply?

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You were not on DC public property. You were on the grounds of the National Zoo which is owned by the Smithsonian, not that it matters. Just because the property is owned by the government doesn't give you the unconditional right to be there. You could be told to leave at any time for any reason.
Once you're told to go, you were trespassing when you didn't.

I understand the desire to stand, dance, etc at a concert. Having seen the venue you were at, that simply is not an option without interfering with others' enjoyment of the event. At that point, you become the bad guy.

If it had been a different type of crowd, someone might have forcibly sat you down prior to police involvement.

With the same manner, you could say the metropolitan police have jurisdiction or are "lawfully in charge" of the whole city. In a hypothetical scenario, you are walking down the street, and an officer pulls up and tells you to leave all DC public property. Are you expected to face arrest if you don't comply? Are you implying that the law allows this?

I appreciate your concern and the words of moral wisdom, but please understand, I'm not here for that.

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Quoting arrestedatthezoo

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I appreciate your concern and the words of moral wisdom, but please understand, I'm not here for that.

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Ok, here is is in a nutshell:

you did something really stupid. You broke the law. You are lucky if the is the only charge filed against you. You have no valid defense and your hypothetical situations are meaningless.


is that what you wanted?

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Quoting free9man

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I understand the desire to stand, dance, etc at a concert. Having seen the venue you were at, that simply is not an option without interfering with others' enjoyment of the event. At that point, you become the bad guy.

If it had been a different type of crowd, someone might have forcibly sat you down prior to police involvement.

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Hey! I completely agree! At the time I could see two outcomes, people grumble about and all end up standing up, or no one stands up, and I reluctantly sit down after a few minutes of making a fool of myself. I just couldn't see a reason for the police to get involved, but hey, I'm naive.