Non-traffic citation for criminal tresspass in PA...what to do

[terlaine]

I received a non-traffic citation for criminal trespass in PA. Several months ago I received a no contact letter from an ex's attorney. I have not attempted contact before last week. It's been about 6 months. Last week I was in town (I live out of state) and thought I'd step out in faith to see him and apologize for things that went awry in our relationship. We simply did not get along. I didn't understand his no contact as there were never any threats or altercations between us. Actually he was more threatening towards me telling he was afraid he'd hit me at times but he didn't. Anyhow we had known each other years before the relationship and I thought I'd see if he was OK and apologize.

I asked him for nothing but to apologize. He opened his door chatted with me and agreed that night that we had treated each other badly. He was decent towards me until I asked about a cat we had gotten together. He told me to hold on and came back with the cat in the carrier stating that he didn't want any reason for me to return. I told him I wouldn't if that remained his wishes. He got very ugly all of a sudden after that and began making accusation of things I have honestly not done. I took the cat and left after he shut his door and I suspected he was calling the police. He made it clear he wanted me to leave and I did. However, I told him I couldn't take the cat. He ignored me and left the cat outside withe me.

I left immediately. But upon driving home I realized that I can't keep the cat. This cat has a terminal viral infection and I cannot keep him as I have other cats at home that would be exposed. He knew this. So I decided to chalk up my loses and return the cat. When I did I placed him on the porch and knocked on the door and left.

Instinct said it wouldn't end well. As I was about 1/2 a mile from his house the police pulled me over. I was given a citation. I spoke with an officer who said that he has been called to that residence at least 4 times in the last few months. My ex has accused me of being there. He said one time my ex was even out of town and called claiming I was at his house. I told him that was absurd and completely untrue. I live a few hours away and have not been in that area for months.

I don't know what vendetta this guy has against me but no matter what my intentions I violated a no contact letter thinking different about my ex's intentions in the end. I figured he was just angry at the loss of the relationship and enough time had passed. Even though he opened the door and chatted with me nicely he turned nasty and I left immediately.

I am not sure if I should ask for a hearing to explain the situation or just pay the fine. I did not have any ill intent. Nothing happened to warrant a no contact letter in the first place. I am wondering if this will end up on a criminal record as I am a professional and this seems so ridiculous to me. Had there been threats or altercations I would understand but trust me I got the point last week.

Also on the citation the information regarding my ex's d.o.b is wrong. Does this matter? I also wasn't pulled over at his house but it states that this is where the incident took place I guess. The police were not there. It does not state where they met with me down the road. Does any of that matter?

Any advice would help. I would just like this to go away.

[phantasm]

I received a non-traffic citation for criminal trespass in PA. Several months ago I received a no contact letter from an ex's attorney. I have not attempted contact before last week. It's been about 6 months. Last week I was in town (I live out of state) and thought I'd step out in faith to see him and apologize for things that went awry in our relationship. We simply did not get along. I didn't understand his no contact as there were never any threats or altercations between us. Actually he was more threatening towards me telling he was afraid he'd hit me at times but he didn't. Anyhow we had known each other years before the relationship and I thought I'd see if he was OK and apologize.

I asked him for nothing but to apologize. He opened his door chatted with me and agreed that night that we had treated each other badly. He was decent towards me until I asked about a cat we had gotten together. He told me to hold on and came back with the cat in the carrier stating that he didn't want any reason for me to return. I told him I wouldn't if that remained his wishes. He got very ugly all of a sudden after that and began making accusation of things I have honestly not done. I took the cat and left after he shut his door and I suspected he was calling the police. He made it clear he wanted me to leave and I did. However, I told him I couldn't take the cat. He ignored me and left the cat outside withe me.

I left immediately. But upon driving home I realized that I can't keep the cat. This cat has a terminal viral infection and I cannot keep him as I have other cats at home that would be exposed. He knew this. So I decided to chalk up my loses and return the cat. When I did I placed him on the porch and knocked on the door and left.

Instinct said it wouldn't end well. As I was about 1/2 a mile from his house the police pulled me over. I was given a citation. I spoke with an officer who said that he has been called to that residence at least 4 times in the last few months. My ex has accused me of being there. He said one time my ex was even out of town and called claiming I was at his house. I told him that was absurd and completely untrue. I live a few hours away and have not been in that area for months.

I don't know what vendetta this guy has against me but no matter what my intentions I violated a no contact letter thinking different about my ex's intentions in the end. I figured he was just angry at the loss of the relationship and enough time had passed. Even though he opened the door and chatted with me nicely he turned nasty and I left immediately.

I am not sure if I should ask for a hearing to explain the situation or just pay the fine. I did not have any ill intent. Nothing happened to warrant a no contact letter in the first place. I am wondering if this will end up on a criminal record as I am a professional and this seems so ridiculous to me. Had there been threats or altercations I would understand but trust me I got the point last week.

Also on the citation the information regarding my ex's d.o.b is wrong. Does this matter? I also wasn't pulled over at his house but it states that this is where the incident took place I guess. The police were not there. It does not state where they met with me down the road. Does any of that matter?

Any advice would help. I would just like this to go away.

So you got a "non-contact letter"

You then made contact AFTER you had received this letter by going to his residence.
He told you to leave, which you do, but then you returned a second time.

Leave him alone.

Also his DOB doesn't matter. And it states his residence as the location of the incident because thats where you trespassed. If they stopped you 1/2 a mile away, that wouldn't be the location of the incident.

[counihan]

Go to court and explain it to the judge. I don't know what else to say...

[Piggy]

I think all of the advice we could give you, was not to go over there. If you were aware there was a no-contact order, you shouldn't have made contact. The purpose behind the order is to prevent the Police from being tied up in domestic disputes that are best handled by the court. This is a prime example. Your ex called the Police, which tied up the dispatcher, tied up a squad car or two looking for you, and tied up an Officer's time while he completed the report. Now you're going to tie up a court clerk and a judge.

He didn't want to have contact with you so that's the reason for the no-contact order. If you need to contact him, go through his attorney and meet at one of your attorney's offices.

I'm not sure I understand the thing about the cat either. Why would you want to get a dying cat, and why don't you have the thing put the sleep? Why didn't you just leave it on his porch, he would have figured it out sooner or later. You could have called his attorney and told his attorney you left the cat on his porch.

You can try to go to court and explain your story, but you don't have much of a chance of being found not guilty. You knew of the order, you decided to make contact anyway against the order.

Probably not the answer you want to hear but I don't think you'll hear anything else.

[mcsap]

You were formally notified to NOT go to his residence. You knowingly, willingly and voluntarily chose to disregard that warning. Your attempt to justify your visit is nice but doesn't overcome your warning to stay away.

You also knew there is no way you could keep the cat so why did you even bother taking it ?

You may have been well intentioned but you still violated the trespass law. You'll get a fine for Simple Trespass of probably $150. It is a Summary Non-Traffic Citation that does not inlvolve fingerprints or photographs.

If you feel that you were not guilty of this offense ( but his being nice at first does not somehow negate the warning that you had been given) , then plead not guilty and go to court. You'll have to take time off of work and if you don't go with a lawyer ( $$$) , you'll be at a disadvantage.

You should probably never go back to his residence.

[terlaine]

Thanks for the feedback. I am not ignorant to the fact that I violated a no-contact letter. I did not have ill intentions doing it but will pay the consequence of that.

As for the cat- I did not know what to do and just wanted to get out of there. I grabbed the cat and left. I suppose I was not thinking clearly but I guess I am the only person in the world who has ever done so in a moment like that. Obviously I thought more positively and differently about the situation or I wouldn't have gone over there in the first place. Sorry to have wasted the time and resources of the police department.

The only thing I want to know now is whether or not this will give me a criminal record. It happened in PA.

[terlaine]

And no I will never be returning to that residence or ever have contact with that individual again. Optimist turned realist. Thanks.

[mcsap]

You will have a " local " criminal record. That means that the only record of your citation will be in the police department that was directly involved. Unless someone calls THAT specific department, there is no other record.

Since there are no fingerprints or photographs , there is no PSP or FBI based criminal history generated. For a Misdemeanor 3 type of offense ( which can be Disorderly Conduct) , that includes the prints and photos and generates a criminal history that any police agency in any state can check up on and easily determine that a person had been arrested.

[terlaine]

Thank you MCSAP. I appreciate your helpfulness in answering my questions.

[drummer-eman]

Gee, I cant wait to see you in court for this one.

[drummer-eman]

ONly kidding. I dont think I issued the citation.
relax....

Like everyone said, plead either not guilty and take a hearing and beg the judge for leniency or plead guilty and take a few small lumps.
The onus is on you the person being banned from making contact as prohibited by the no-contact letter you received.

Its not on him to not contact you.
Good luck

[terlaine]

Thanks drummer-eman...

No one will see me in court. I paid the fine and unlike what some people may believe there are those of us who do take responsibility for their actions. Despite the fact that I had good intentions I am not ignorant to the fact that I violated a no-contact letter. I just wanted to know the ramifications and explain the situation to get some feedback. I did not want a criminal record to be generated over something like this. But not everyone tries to weasel out of what they do. That was not my intent. I'm sure you deal with a lot of "interesting" people. So do I...I'm a therapist

I'm curious. If I posted on here from the beginning that I'm a therapist and my relationship ended with my ex telling me how suicidal he was, how he was playing chicken with cars and trucks on the road and how he was cutting himself...would you have believed me? Or would you think I was making it up as a spurned ex-girlfriend? My ex lost his wife to cancer in 2006 and then last year our relationship clearly didn't work out. So in the end I got the threat that he was pushing everyone out of his life, his life was going to come to a miserable finale and wham- a no-contact letter appears in my mailbox. Can't do anything as the letter implied that I had harassed him in some manner. I walked my own way. I had no choice.

Now if I was cold-hearted I wouldn't care. But 6 months later I took a chance to stop in while I was in town. I live hours away. I apologized for anything that may have hurt him in our relationship and I had a chance to see if he was OK.

Yes, he was decent at first but then suddenly he shared how homicial he was towards me last year and how paranoid he's been. Not suicidal now...homicidal and paranoid. His house is for sale, he quit his job in December and he intends on roaming around "living out of his truck". I asked about our cat and next thing you know it's on the doorstep. I was torn as to taking it or leaving it but I knew I had to leave by what he was saying to me. It was NOT a safe situation. I felt badly when I left and knew I couldn't keep it so I took the chance and returned it to his front porch. I DID NOT make contact with him again. What he shared was upsetting enough and intimidating enough. I didn't trust with the way he presented that he wouldn't call the police and make some absurd accusation about how I got the cat. I was right, he had called the police and who knows what he said. I don't care.

So, yes, I violated a no-contact letter. I paid the fine. I will be OK. But good luck to those who will cross his path. That will be when you all will be needed the most. What's sad is how the police treated me that night. My ex has called them on several other occassions apparently and claimed I was at his house. I don't even live in the same state! But by the way they talked to me I decided NOT to share what he said to me. Only to tell them it wasn't true. I truly don't believe they would have listened to the facts. So I condensed my story and what I said was true but left out HUGE details of his behavior. Afterall, he's wasted their time enough and they were clearly irritated and trying to accuse me of going up there just to see him. They even took my friend's number to call and verify that I was visiting in town for other reasons. So, no, I didn't trust them not to accuse me of being a spurned ex if I told them the truth. They had already made up their minds.

It's sad really that people don't feel they can talk to law enforcement as often it seems a judgment has already been made. Did I violate a no-contact letter...yes. Is there more to the story that's going on? Hell yes. But what do you care? I'm just a dumb blonde bothering an ex boyfriend aren't I? It's truly, truly sad.

Hope you won't be called out on any true emergency regarding my ex. Paranoia is hard to break through. He's clearly gotten worse in 6 months to go from suicidal to homicial and paranoid. A nice talk to a former professional he worked with recently has me agreeing that his time is coming. He won't keep it together long. As for me, I paid my fine. I'll be OK. Sadly he won't and my trust in law enforcement remains lower than it ever should.

Thanks for the nice coments on here everyone

[borninblue]

Regardless of what your intentions are you violated a court order plain and simple. If you wanted to give him a message or request to get the cat you should have petitioned the court. No contact means NONE, regardless of your intentions. Regardless if you believe there was nothing to warrant the no contact letter, the court thought otherwise. You violated the order, now just pay your fine and stop making excuses.

[mcsap]

Even people like your ex have the right to be left alone. Sure, we may have to deal with him but do you think your unlawful visit was going to change that ?

We have to deal with all knids of people under all kinds of circumstances. Sometimes , said circumstances are worsened by an ex-girlfriend who won't leave them alone.

[terlaine]

Well "Borninblue" it seems you don't read very well. I already paid the fine and I made no "excuses". There's a differences between what one's motivation is and what one uses as an "excuse". There's a difference behind someone's intent. Besides I have repeatedly said that I know that I violated a no contact letter and I paid the price of that. So you can keep your condescending comments to yourself.

Are you blind or do you take offense to the reality that some police like to make assumptions about situations and just convict everyone claiming to be better than those who break the law? Your job is not as judge and jury. I came on here asking questions and explaining a situation not asking to be mocked. Yet what did I get from many of you? It's sad. Then you just proved my point in your comment. You can take offense to what I wrote but many people feel the same way. Your defensiveness speaks volumes. You know you can actually become a better cop if you would listen to people sometimes. You are far from perfect.

Thanks MCSAP. I now understand that what occurred could make situations more difficult. If I had realized that beforehand I would not have stopped by. You know what they say about hindsight. I was not trying to cause problems but I see how it did. I walked into a mess that I have taken responsibility for on my end. But I still find it sad to be judged as if my intentions were to harass or harm before being asked one question that night. Not everyone is out to do wrong. Not everyone is trying to evade responsibility. Yet, interestingly on this site, no matter how many times I take responsibility and admit that I know what I did was wrong cops like to get on here and keep condemning. But I appreciate your feedback in this matter. You have been much more respectful and helpful than anyone else on here.