The person I am accused of tampering with is my cousin. I was wondering how I could be charged with tampering when she wasn't a witness and I honestly didn't think that she would be a future witness. I thought that after the cops talked to me and heard the whole story, they would realize that I didn't steal her bike and that I wasn't trying to sell her property. The truth is , I got a small loan on the bike and when I got paid, I attempted to pay off the loan and redeem the bike. I was unable to do this because the detective looking into the case put a hold on the bike. The pawnbroker even gave me a piece of paper saying that I did indeed try to pay off the loan, but he was unable to release the bike to me.
Also, if my goal was to obtain money by trafficking in stolen property, I would have just sold the bike or pawned it for the maximum amount that they offered me.
Again, I have no criminal history and I haven't ever been arrested for anything.
On a seperate note, how easy/difficult is it for the prosecution to get a conviction for witness tampering when it's one person's word against the other's? My cousin didn't save the message I left asking her to drop the charges , she simply told them that I had called her asking her to drop the charges. I fully intend on taking the tampering charge to trial. I am the farthest thing from a thug-ish bully that tried to "compell her to give false testimony". In fact, she filed a no-contact order against me after the prosecution originally chose not to arrest or charge me, and at the no-contact order hearing she admitted to the judge that I have never threatened her and that I am not a violent person. The judge denied her request for the order.
Lastly, I am still wondering if anybody knows if I did indeed commit the crimes of first degree theft and trafficking in stolen property in the first degree. I am not saying that I did nothing wrong - I know that I was pretty underhanded about the whole thing. But she DID voluntarily loan me the bike (I didn't steal it) for an open-ended period of time and I DID NOT sell her bike or even pawn it for the full amount. Also, like I said, I went back to the pawn shop to redeem her bike. Is what I did illegal? Is it first degree? It just seems ridiculous that I am being treated no different than a person who breaks into people's garages, steals their stuff and then sells it for drug money.
Lastly, I would like to thank you all for your comments and advice. I really do appreciate it, as I am quite scared and frustrated by this entire thing.
Thank you all.

