Wrongfully Ticketed for Solicitation of a Prostitute

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

At night last week, i was getting in my car to drive home after getting groceries and some chick comes outa nowhere asks for a ride, says her brother owes her some cash and she'll give me 5bucks for gas , so i'm like whatever. We drive a few blocks, she gets out and seems to be talking to someone, gets back in and says her brother is not there and we gotta go to the 7-11 a few blocks away so we go there, of course her brother is not there either,
so no gas money for my time, i say fine whatever i'll drop you back off at the grocery store where i meet her, its only a few 4-5 blocks away and its on my way back to where i'm staying, as we start drive she starts toughing my hair and asking if i got any money, i ask "why?" then she SOLICITS me saying she'll suck my dick for $10, i shoot her down and say, we're almost back to the grocery store yo can get out there.
I drive her back to the grocery store and as i'm pulling over to the side of the road to let her out, a cop throws his lights on.
We go throw the normal song and dance of license and registration andsays he's been folliw me since seeing me pull into the 7-11. He tells her to get out, uses her first name, appearently shes a well known prostitute in the area and I tell them i now know that cause she had just solicited me. when they questioned her this whore lies and says I solicited HER, so these pigs write us BOTH a ticket for solicitation, and then let me go on my way. No arrest, just a ticket which is written out on one of those standard traffic ticket forms.
Its just a misdemeanor but i think its absolutely rediculous i'm getting ticketed for this based on the word of a supposedly WELL KNOWN prostitute. I'm from illinois visiting a friend in West Virginia so it sucks i have to deal with being in court on Dec 16th when i live almost 600miles away.
Any suggestions on what to do. Obviously i'm gonna go to court and plead not guilty. But is there anything else i can do? What are the odds this charge will stick? Any and All help is greatly appreciated. If i posted this in the wrong section, mods feel free to move it to the appropriate section.

Rule
1) don't pick up strangers
2) don't pick up strangers
3) see rules one and two and repeat

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Obviously i'm gonna go to court and plead not guilty. But is there anything else i can do? What are the odds this charge will stick?

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We cannot give you "odds". The court doesn't work that way.

You've already decided upon the course of action folks here would recommend - show up for court and plead Not Guilty. You'd do well to retain counsel.

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Quoting LawResearcherMissy

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We cannot give you "odds". The court doesn't work that way.

You've already decided upon the course of action folks here would recommend - show up for court and plead Not Guilty. You'd do well to retain counsel.

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would it be a waste of time to get a court appointed attorny?

Retaining counsel is never a waste of time.

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Quoting LawResearcherMissy

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Retaining counsel is never a waste of time.

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right, but i know court appointed attornies have a rep for not being the most helpful
does the court appoint them at the time of the court date?

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Quoting fenriswolf

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right, but i know court appointed attornies have a rep for not being the most helpful
does the court appoint them at the time of the court date?

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This would appear to be a possible jailable offense, yes, BUT, you can only get a court appointed attorney IF you are indigent, papers will have to filled out declaring income, expenditures, etc.

considering the cop doesn't have a shred of proof i solicited for sex other than the word of a known hooker trying to get herself out of trouble, and i don't have a criminal record, this should get thrown out without needing to spend money on some attorny right?
any one know what the income limit is for court appointed attornies?

First of all, I hope this is a 'made up' story and that you're just toying with the readers. Beyond that, I have to say it seems amusing....especially your crude description of the chick's proposal.:p

If this is true, I think it may be a bit of a hassle but you should prevail. It seems highly unlikely that she'll be willing to testify against you. I'd suggest you talk with an attorney and get some advice on the best way to proceed. It doesn't seem to me that spending money on a jury trial would serve the interests of the prosecution in your case.

Also, did you happen to save your grocery receipt? I think that could prove very helpful since it would seem pretty unlikely that you'd leave the grocery store and then drive to the 7-11. After all, if you were truly looking for some professional attention, you'd most likely go to the grocery store afterwards.....so your ice cream wouldn't melt.;)

Well, first, I'd advise you to not miss your court date, despite how far away
it is.

Luckily, the ticket could probably get dismissed in court, as there is no
exact evidence that states that you had solicited her, other than her own
word. No witnesses. Nothing.

It seems that they'll probably just have you pay a fine. If you don't want to
pay it, just plead not guilty and allow a jury to decide.

In the future, it would probably be better to never pick strangers up again.

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Quoting chuckycheese

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First of all, I hope this is a 'made up' story and that you're just toying with the readers. Beyond that, I have to say it seems amusing....especially your crude description of the chick's proposal.:p

If this is true, I think it may be a bit of a hassle but you should prevail. It seems highly unlikely that she'll be willing to testify against you. I'd suggest you talk with an attorney and get some advice on the best way to proceed. It doesn't seem to me that spending money on a jury trial would serve the interests of the prosecution in your case.

Also, did you happen to save your grocery receipt? I think that could prove very helpful since it would seem pretty unlikely that you'd leave the grocery store and then drive to the 7-11. After all, if you were truly looking for some professional attention, you'd most likely go to the grocery store afterwards.....so your ice cream wouldn't melt.;)

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as retarded as this all sounds i am dead serious. i actually spoke with an attorny over the phone, he laughed at the idea of this NOT getting throw out in court, so that was comforting, but he said he's not an expert in these kinda cases so he gave me the number of another attorny he knows in the area thats more geared to this sort of case so i'll call him today during business hours.
And yes! i do have the receipt for that night, brilliant suggestion, thank you. no ice cream on the receipt but i did have frozen pizzas so maybe that'll count for something, the cops even saw the groceries that night

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Quoting stoic

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Well, first, I'd advise you to not miss your court date, despite how far away
it is.

Luckily, the ticket could probably get dismissed in court, as there is no
exact evidence that states that you had solicited her, other than her own
word. No witnesses. Nothing.

It seems that they'll probably just have you pay a fine. If you don't want to
pay it, just plead not guilty and allow a jury to decide.

In the future, it would probably be better to never pick strangers up again.

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so this will mean two court dates? one where i go before a jugde/magistrate and one where i gotta go before a jury to avoid paying some absurd fine? sorry but i'm not real familiar with this sorta thing.
And i've never had to deal with this sorta nonsense back home, it seems the ppl in west virginia are just truly ****ed up, no wonder the rest of the country laughs at this state. I'll def be sure to never help another person i meet in this state again

Yes, it could mean two court dates, provided you plead not guilty.

It's difficult, but it's worth it, considering you don't want to plead guilty
to a crime you didn't commit, namely, solicitation of a prostitute.

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Quoting stoic

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Yes, it could mean two court dates, provided you plead not guilty.

It's difficult, but it's worth it, considering you don't want to plead guilty
to a crime you didn't commit, namely, solicitation of a prostitute.

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any hope of being able to counter-sue anyone for all this shit??

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Quoting fenriswolf

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any hope of being able to counter-sue anyone for all this shit??

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Sue who? For what?

Hey, if you have the money to pay an attorney, they'll start the ball rolling against anyone you want. I don't see that you have a case against the prostitute or the officer, but if you have a few thousand sittin garound, go right ahead.

First, I'd spend that money on a criminal defense attorney to try and head this charge off at the pass.

- Carl

If I was a juror and I heard the story above, I wouldn't believe it. I would think you were out cursing for hookers.

That being said, I wouldn't find you guilt without actual proof no matter what I thought.

Hmmm, The word of a local prostitute or the word of an out of towner. Hmmmm. Better hire the lawyer.