Criminal Law Disorderly Conduct Business Travel

[tonycim]

I recently visited the US on business & holiday. I arrived in Friday evening, and joined some friends for a night out. On leaving a club at around 04.30 Saturday morning, I was pushed around by the doorman for no reason, I did not react violently & I didn't curse in any way. I asked not to be pushed around, and noticed there were a couple of NYPD officers standing outside, so asked them if they could get this doorman to back off. The officers told me to move along ... and as I did I commented "ok, don't shoot me" ... yes a stupid sarcastic comment which I probably shouldn't have made. However, next thing I knew they had me in hand cuffs and put me in the back of a police car! The whole time I was very polite, and didn't want to aggravate anyone, and asked to be released so that I could go back to my hotel. They took my name, and my hotel address, and after 10 minutes released me with a pink "summons" slip.

Being a UK citizen, I had / have no idea about US law, so went to see an attorney, who charged me $1000 and told me he would appear on my behalf to get the Disorderly Conduct charged lessened. As I was only there on holiday, I will not be around on the date of the court hearing/summons.

I have a few questions related to the above, and would really appreciate it if someone could give me their advice...

1) I visit the US every now and again (not Manhattan) for business, will the above disorderly conduct charge be recorded against my name anywhere? I mean when I enter the US on business, will they see from my name that I have had a disorderly conduct charge? (NO one took my passport number from me, and the officers even miss spelt my first name)

2) Do I need to declare the above as an arrest or anything else on my visa entry form (green slip) when I enter the US next time?

3) Will I have to go back to Manhattan to specifically appear in front of a court, or can the attorney do everything for me?

4) Could I have ignored the pink summons slip and just returned home, without any future repercussions for entry into the US?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

[Michael Wechsler]

I recently visited the US on business & holiday. I arrived in Friday evening, and joined some friends for a night out. On leaving a club at around 04.30 Saturday morning, I was pushed around by the doorman for no reason, I did not react violently & I didn't curse in any way. I asked not to be pushed around, and noticed there were a couple of NYPD officers standing outside, so asked them if they could get this doorman to back off. The officers told me to move along ... and as I did I commented "ok, don't shoot me" ... yes a stupid sarcastic comment which I probably shouldn't have made. However, next thing I knew they had me in hand cuffs and put me in the back of a police car! The whole time I was very polite, and didn't want to aggravate anyone, and asked to be released so that I could go back to my hotel. They took my name, and my hotel address, and after 10 minutes released me with a pink "summons" slip.

Being a UK citizen, I had / have no idea about US law, so went to see an attorney, who charged me $1000 and told me he would appear on my behalf to get the Disorderly Conduct charged lessened. As I was only there on holiday, I will not be around on the date of the court hearing/summons.

I have a few questions related to the above, and would really appreciate it if someone could give me their advice...

1) I visit the US every now and again (not Manhattan) for business, will the above disorderly conduct charge be recorded against my name anywhere? I mean when I enter the US on business, will they see from my name that I have had a disorderly conduct charge? (NO one took my passport number from me, and the officers even miss spelt my first name)

2) Do I need to declare the above as an arrest or anything else on my visa entry form (green slip) when I enter the US next time?

3) Will I have to go back to Manhattan to specifically appear in front of a court, or can the attorney do everything for me?

4) Could I have ignored the pink summons slip and just returned home, without any future repercussions for entry into the US?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

I don't know specifically but hopefully there will be an immigration attorney posting here who might have dealt with this.

In short, I don't think that going home and ignoring the summons will just make it go away completely although given what you're telling me I'm not sure how anyone can make the connection. First, what did the attorney tell you? Second, it is possible that the attorney can negotiate a plea for you and reduce the charge, which I'm confident could be accomplished. Whether you could have done this yourself is beyond the scope of my knowledge or the facts here. Let us know how things turn out and hopefully one of our immigration attorneys will be here shortly.

 

[Husty]

If you have been arrested or cited, you MUST appear in court; if you don't, that can lead to new, dangerous situations. You need to follow up on this as closely as you can. Last thing you want is to be denied entry because you have a warrant out for your arrest because of your "failure to appear" or being considered in contempt of court....
Also, keep in mind that disregard of the U.S. law and escaping the jurisdiction of U.S. courts is not seen kindly by U.S. immigration officials.
You should resolve this matter by any and all means.
I'm NOT an attorney, this is NOT legal advice!
Good luck!

 

[tonycim]

Conclusion

Just wanted to close this thread, by letting you all know what the outcome was. As mentioned, I paid $1000 for an attorney to represent me in court, since I could not be physically present (I am at home in the UK). When the allegations were read out, the judge apparently laughed, and after my attorney explained my situation, and argued against the accusation of disorderly conduct, the case was dismissed!

I'm glad to see that the American judicial system has a sense of humour, and that common sense and justice prevailed! For a while, I had lost faith in the US, and was feeling quite disgruntled with the NYPD! 2 months after they slammed the hand cuffs on my wrists, I still have numbness in my hand.... if only I had the time, money & balls to sue them....

Anyway this is the end of this thread as far as I am concerned. "Case Dismissed" !