Legal Question in Criminal Law in Virginia

Virginia Trespassing Charge

Recently, I was charged with criminal trespassing, and I am supposed to stand

court for it in July. I was curious about what information I should divulge

or not divulge to the Fairfax County judge, given the following scenario:

My friends and I were in a public park at around 4:00 in the morning (while it

was still dark out). As we were driving out, an officer saw us leaving and

pulled us over. He made us all step out of the car, and the driver allowed the

officer to search the car. When he searched the car, the officer discovered two

marijuana pipes, which he tested positive for marijuana (although there was no

actual marijuana in the car aside from that). He individually searched the

passengers, and found nothing on our persons. The driver was charged with both

possession of marijuana and criminal trespassing, while us passengers were just

charged with trespassing.

What I am concerned about is exactly which information I should relay to the

judge in court. Since I am just being charged with trespassing, am I correct

in assuming the cop is not allowed to mention the marijuana? I am a university

student with a very high GPA and no previous criminal record. Are these facts

that I should bring up


Asked on 1/29/09, 4:12 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Jonathon Moseley Moseley & Associates Law Firm

Re: Virginia Trespassing Charge

Whatever money you save not getting an attorney will probably be a "false economy" in terms of the long-term costs and damage of having a conviction on your record. So you really should get an attorney to defend you. AND MAKE SURE THE ATTORNEY IS NOT JUST GOING TO HOLD YOUR HAND WHILE YOU PLEAD GUILTY. Make sure they are going to actually fight.

First, one key issue that MAY help you is that trespassing normally involves first being asked to leave and then refusing to leave after being asked to leave. This did not happen. A posted sign might serve that purpose, but technically you should be asked to leave before being charged with trespass.

Remember that the cops are not lawyers and are struggling to know as much as lawyers, so they sometimes just throw the charges on and let the judge sort it out.

Also, it appears that the police officer did not see you in the park, but only in the car, which could mean you were just driving in and turning around in the driveway for all he knows. (But with so many defendants, someone is likely to give that away.)

As to the marijuana, YES, he can and probably will mention the marijuana. HE SHOULDN'T. But he almost certainly will, and -- especially in Fairfax -- the judge will probably let him get away with it.

If you are going to trial in General District Court, you should probably EXPECT to be found guilty, and then you have to APPEAL it and get a new trial, from scratch, in Circuit Court.

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Answered on 1/29/09, 5:33 pm


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