Do I need to get a lawyer for second degree trespassing? -

A few days ago I got a 2nd degree trespassing ticket for skateboarding at my local park in Wilmington, NC two days before it officially opened. The concrete workers that built the skatepark told me that it was supposed to open on Friday, the day that I got the ticket. There are quot;no trespassingquot; signs on the fence around it. I am 19 years old but was not arrested. The ticket the officer gave me says quot;without authorization entered on premises of another after being notified no to enter there by a notice posted not to enter the premises. NCGS 14-159.13quot; Should I represent myself, hire a lawyer, or get a court apointed lawyer? Thanks in advance for advice.

If you do not feel you are guilty of a crime, by all means plead quot;Not Guilty!quot;

You might get the best deal by negotiating with the officer so that the conviction is for an offense that will have the least possible impact on your college application process or, if you are already in college, future job applications, although convictions at this level rarely have to be disclosed. Many municipalities don t really care how the charge is listed as long as the fine is collected. If you are very persuasive, you might even convince him to drop the charge altogether. You are not likely to gain anything by hiring an attorney in a municipal court. With a little preparation, you can present your case just as well yourself--better, actually since you won t engage in the kind of legal maneuvering that tends to annoy municipal judges. To verify this, sit through a few sessions of the court where your case will come up before yours does. If you keep a tally, I think you ll find that defendants who represent themselves in a calm, efficient, and organized way do just as well or perhaps better than those represented by attorneys. The attorney would charge more than the amount of the fine at any rate. What you are charged with is a violation of a municipal code, and is less serious than a moving violation. If you were charged with a misdemeanor or a felony, the picture sould be very different.

pay the ticket and be done with it!

dont get a lawyer its only a misdemeanors and only a small slap on the wrists woot NC

Well, my brother got a trespassing warrant at a place for skating outside of it. Then later that month he got another warrant under someone else s name at the same place. Trespassing normally isn t that big of a deal if you were just skateboarding, unless you continually do it.

Plead guilty and pay your fine, punk.