Busted in PA, need advice

NEVER represent yourself in cout. at worst get a state appointed attourney. they know loopholes. your ticke out of this is a good lawyer. and depending on the charge yes they can put you in jail even if you werent initialy arrested. in your case i higly doubt it though. clean up for court cuz u may be tested. if you test clean you have a better chance at it.

 

im not really sure how much power a park security officer has....but if he had probable cuase (i.e. smoke and smell) he does legally have the right to search...

but that's assuming he has the same legal power as a cop....which im pretty sure he doesn't have. i'm not sure if thats really fightable though

 

I'm not sure, but some public places have signs that say that stuff you bring onto their property can be searched, like bags and I guess that could include cars as well. Definitely get a lawyer. (What amusement park were you at, by the way?)

 

They MUST ask for permission to search. And thats the REAL cops. I dont think the rent-a-po's can search your car, ever..

 

Sound advice. You are not smart enough to represent yourself. I mean no offense with this comment by the way, but none of us are smart enough to represent ourselves. None of us has any legal training. The only people who can represent themselves in court are lawyers, with very few exceptions. If you have no training in law it would be unwise to even think about representing yourself.
Get yourself a lawyer, or at least a state appointed attourney. I'm pretty sure that the security guard can't legally search your car without the owner's consent. If this is the case then the evidence must be thrown out, cause that means the cops obtained the evidence illegally.

 

If you werent arrested I don't believe u can get a state appointed attorney. I was in ordinance court before and saw somebody ask for an attorney and the judge laughed and told them they only appoint attorneys for criminal cases, not ordinance violations.

I don't get why u guys let him get in the car, u should have either locked it or just driven off, theres no crime for fleeing and amusement park security guard.

 

dude, were you at Kennywood?

just thinking of parks in pa.. and that is the only one thats comes to mind.


I can't believe that he searched your shit. He wasn't a real cop, he was a rent a cop and they can't do shit.

 

If you can afford a lawyer, definitely do so. Have an initial consultation, first, though -- just to make sure you're not gonna be spendin that $$$ if they can't get the charges dropped.

The sommons is for you to appear for your preliminary trial. It'll be held at a local, district court. If they have enough evidence to take it to trial, they will. If not, your case will be dropped. This is where the lawyer comes in. If you have a good lawyer, he could prolly get your charges dropped so you don't have to stand trial... If not... Keep reading

You'll probably get ARD. I was recently arrested for paraph... I was freakin 'cause I saw that it carried a potential 1 year jail sentence... PA has a program for first time offenders (ARD)... It's non-reportive probation... Basically, you agree to waive your right to a speedy trial (usually for 1 year). If, after the year is over, you haven't messed up again, and you pay your court costs, they drop the charge and let you go. It's like it never even happened.

Sit down with one and see if he can get it dropped all together. It MIGHT have been a legal search depending on any disclaimers the park posted (like if they reserved the right to search your vehicle for any purpose, or whatever)...

You can if they actually charge you, and find you guilty. But you'll probably just get ARD. And yeah... I'm from PA

 

Hershey Park is still open isn't it ?


Anyway ...GET a Lawyer.

The fact that you were searched by a "rent a cop" and not a real cop ,has a whole lot to do with what real cops can and cannot do ,which for everyone in your current situation becomes a huge grey area...... Best determined by the ones closest to the "current letter of the law".

Because they read the fine print .

I'm from Pittsburgh by the way.

which park ?

http://www.amusementparkspennsylvania.com/

 

if your records clean youll get probation. shoulda just drove off. dont sweat it, they're both misdemeaners.

 

Seems like that could be an intricate situation to distinguish the appropriateness of the rent-a-badge's actions. You were on private property, but it was your car.. Tough one.

 

well first of all a security guard cant legally do that because first of all unless you were hotboxing the car then he shouldnt have any reasonable suspicion to search around and second of all even if he did have reasonable suspicion he ISNT a cop. read the bill of rights man it can save you

 

id get a lawyer man...im pretty sure a security gaurd cannot search your car like that...you could def get off with shit like that...i knew a guy whos place got raided and the cops found about an 8th less then a qp but i hear he might get off cause the cops didnt have a warrent!!!

 

since it was a rent-a-fuzz he had to ask you if he can search your car...since he didnt, it was invasion of privacy. now...IF he had called the real cops over and then THEY search your car...THEY can use suspicion...but not a "security" guard. so..get yourself the lawyer...even a cheap one would do...tell them EXACTLY what happened and chances are theyll get you out of it...that and theres usually a "pre-hearing" where they interview you to get your side of the story, if you tell them that the guy just up and search your car, then you prolly wont have to say anymore than that...you wont get your piece back tho...i had something similar happen to me, i was at my now ex-bfs house and a cop came in..to serve him his summons for something or other, and there was the stash box on the coffee table across from me..so a few days go by and i get one too..apparently..even if i didnt kno that there was anything in there, it was suspected to be mine since it was withing arms reach..so i sat across the ladie who was documenting everything on her laptop and asked "since that laptop is within reach does it make it mine..." and they let me go....as long as your smart about it, things should work out...srry for the long rant

 

Do some research!
Call the park and ask them what rights a securtiy has at the establishment.
I personally dont think that he had the authority to search your car, nor did he ask.

 

if they have a reason to search your car they can. One of my friends is a cop. They cannot check the trunk though, they need a warrant for that.

and yeah it depends on the park, i think, if they can search you

 

Rent a Dorks dont have the right to search you. So it actually may be possible for you to sue that sec gaurd for something im sure if you speak to a cheap lawyer you can build a case on that guy. Also its like nothing u got caught with so no worries...

 

I'm going to go ahead and rule out Waldameer in Erie, PA. It's a small old amusument park and I don't think they have very many security guards, especially out patroling in the parking lot. I've done bong rips in their parking lot, so I doubt it's Waldameer.

 

I would get a lawyer.
If you are going to court you can get a court appointed attorney even if you were not arrested. I got a public defender when I got a small possession charge. I never got arrested, they got me with a tiny nugget that had got lost under my car seat and I got court appointed attorney, so can you.
Police need to ask permission to search your vehicle. Granted they do use the probable cause clause.
Peace