Charged With Solicitation of Prostitution
My question involves criminal law for the state of: Cumberland County , North Carolina.
I was giving a citation for soliciting for prostitution yesterday. I have court on 10 Feb 16, this the first time that I have ever had handcuffs on me. I don't have a criminal back ground, I wasn't taking to jail but release there on the spot. I am in the military and the incident occurred at a hotel where the female undercover cop was. Is there a way that criminal lawyer can get a head of this before my court appearance? Will this affect my career if my command doesn't know? What type of charge is this? Please help...
Re: Citation for Solicitaion for Prostitution
Quote:
Is there a way that criminal lawyer can get a head of this before my court appearance?
such as?
it isn't going to just go away because a lawyer shows up. There's a process for these things, even if they result in either a dismissal or some sort of deferred adjudication.
Quote:
§ 14-205.1. Solicitation of prostitution.Except as otherwise provided in this section, any person who solicits another for thepurpose of prostitution is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor for a first offense and a Class Hfelony for a second or subsequent offense. Any person 18 years of age or older who willfullysolicits a minor for the purpose of prostitution is guilty of a Class G felony. Any person whowillfully solicits a person who is severely or profoundly mentally disabled for the purpose ofprostitution is guilty of a Class E felony. Punishment under this section may includeparticipation in a program devised for the education and prevention of sexual exploitation (i.e."John School"), where available. A person who violates this subsection shall not be eligible fora disposition of prayer for judgment continued under any circumstances. (2013-368, s. 5.)
so the deferred adjudication appears to be not happening.
penalties for a class 1 misdemeanor are
1-45 days in jail
fine at the discretion of the judge but as something to give a hint:
a class 2 mis is up to $1000 and a class 3 is up to $200.
Re: Citation for Solicitaion for Prostitution
Just get yourself an attorney ASAP.
Re: Citation for Solicitaion for Prostitution
As you were evidently cited and released and thus not taken before a judge after the arrest your first court appearance is going to be your arraignment and possibly a bail hearing. The arraignment is where you are formally advised of the charges against you and then you enter your plea on the charges. The court might also set bail at that hearing, too. If you plead not guilty then a trial will be set on the charges to be held at some later date. It would be a good idea for you to get a lawyer to represent you before that February hearing and certainly you should have one before you go to trial or before you accept any plea deal that may be offered by the prosecutor.
If your command never finds out about this it would not affect your career. But there is a problem for you in this. You may be required by the regulations for your branch of the service to self-report the fact that you were arrested on this charge. The Navy has such a regulation, for example, that covers sailors and marines. They must report the arrest or filing of criminal charges, the date of the arrest/criminal filing, and nature of the charges but do not have to disclose any facts of the incident itself (i.e. you do not have to explain what happened in that hotel room). Failure to self-report when required is a violation of the Navy regulations and may itself lead to problems with your career. For example, in the case of U.S. v. Castillo, involved a navy sailor (machinist mate fireman) who was arrested on a DUI charge and failed to promptly notify her command of that charge. A member of her command noticed her name on a list of court appearances at the court house and informed her superiors. She was prosecuted in a court-martial and found guilty of violating the regulation, with the result that she was given a bad conduct discharge, fined $5,000, and busted to the lowest enlisted rank in the Navy. The United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces upheld the regulations requiring the self-reporting and affirmed her conviction. You did not say in what branch of the military you serve, but you may well be subject to a self-reporting regulation. If you are then you need to report this arrest and thus your command will know of it. If you fail to report it and your command finds out about it later you may face court-martial like Ms. Castillo did or incur other discipline as a result of the failure to report even if you ultimately avoid conviction on the solicitation charge. So I suggest you promptly find out if you have any self-reporting obligation and perhaps immediately consult a lawyer who practices in the area of military law and the UCMJ for advice on how to deal with that requirement.
Even if you don’t report it, there are a number of ways the military may find out about it. You cannot count on keeping this hidden from your command forever. And a conviction on a prostitution related charge certainly can adversely affect your military career. The maximum punishment for that by the military is apparently a dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and confinement up to a year. So you really need to get a criminal defense attorney to help you handle this charge, preferably an attorney who understands the impact of this kind of conviction under the UCMJ.
This is a serious charge and you should take it seriously. In addition to the possibility that this could end your military career, you might also end up having to serve time in a jail/brig and end up with a criminal conviction that will follow you around for years. That can make getting civilian jobs harder, prevent you from getting professional licenses, etc. Get a lawyer involved ASAP and start researching your obligations for self-reporting and takes the steps you need to do to comply with whatever that requirement is for your branch of the service unless your lawyer advises you that the requirement is likely invalid (but the attorney should look at the Castillo case first before advising on that). Have a lawyer on board before your arraignment and see what options the lawyer says may be available to you to deal with this.
Citation for Solicitation for Prostitution
My question involves criminal law for the state of: North Carolina
My question is what type of charge could I face for my first offense for soliciting for prostitution? Is it a misdemeanor or felony? I have no criminal history and currently serving in the military. Is there a way that I can get it taken care of now instead of waiting until my court date? Will this make it back to my unit since it happen office post and I wasn't arrest? Please help I am a nervous wreck Thanks.
Re: Citation for Solictation for Prostitution
You need a lawyer, NOW. Prostitution (provided it wasn't with a minor) is a class 1 misdemeanor. That's still serious even though it's not a felony. You COULD go to jail for it. If you've been charged, you've been technically arrested. Things don't always go down like you see them on TV. Convictions can also have serious implications on your military career. The military can take disciplinary action if you're found to have violated orders by being a criminal.