Ahhhh, those wacky Ron Paul supporters. Part 68

This one is great...A moron harasses a 17 year old girl at 3:00 AM by drunkenly pounding on the door. Then he wonders why he is charged with trespassing, along with drunk and disorderly. The best part is, to get legal advice, the first place he turns is the RON PAUL FORUMS!

Predictably, he got a LOT of horrible advice.



JohnnyWrath
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Any lawyers here know criminal law?
I need some advice quickly, and this forum to me basically is the largest collection of liberty minded people I know of, so I wanted to ask a question. Since the answer is needed fairly quickly, and I have no money for a lawyer, I really hope someone reads it here and has an answer... perhaps the mods will move this, but I know my best chance for an answer in time is in the section...

I was at a friends house last weekend.. woke them up in the middle of the night because I was stuck in their yard.. the home owner I have been friends with for 10 years now was not at home at 3 AM.. her 17 year old daughter was. I pounded on the door persistently in an effort to wake up this person knowing she would be less than happy, but her daughter who was home alone called the cops instead...

OK, that was a mistake, but I had little choice because I was miles from anything and had no phone with me...

The issue I have is that I was charged with disorderly conduct.. a catch all, and criminal trespass. the charge of disorderly I have less issue with, the trouble I have is the charge of criminal trespass.The next day after a night in jail and a 250 dollar impound, I called the homeowner who told me she was NOT pressing charges. It is the deputy who pressed trespassing charges against me...

I was never asked to leave that night... (nobody answered the door), nor have I ever been in the ten years I have known this woman.. I have always been welcome to stop by. Can a deputy press charges of criminal trespass on his own against someone on private property even if the owner of that property is not pressing charges? ? ? ?

In fact I am still welcome to enter onto this private property by the owner even after this.. doesn't "trespass" mean you are on property you know you are not allowed on and have been asked to leave? Can a deputy press charges of trespass against someone even if the land/home owner is not pressing charges?

BTW, this is Ohio