Property Invasion, Damages, Trespass Trespassing Charges, No ticket, but a court date

[jjy12]

In June 2008 friends and I were stopped for trespassing on land we have used for most of our lives. The land is owned by a big quarry but they have no buildings or representation on the land. The road is over 60 miles long and has no buildings just some no trespassing signs every once in awhile off the road. Coming back from a hike into the woods my friends and I were stopped by a sheriff and told to the leave the property, this is odd because we had been coming here for over ten years and had never even seen a cop,sheriff or ranger over any kind. This sheriff took all of our information, but said he was out of the papers for writing tickets and told us we would receive a ticket in 4-6 weeks via the mail. Months went by and none of us ever received a ticket in the mail, it is now November and we each received this week an order to appear in court for these trespassing charges. Now, none of us ever received tickets, do we have any legal recourse because we never received any tickets don't the officers involved have an obligation to give you a ticket before they can bring you to court? Otherwise is there anything I can do to fight these trespassing charges?

 

[presutin]

You and your friends were told that you would receive a ticket in 4-6 weeks time. Why didn't you go after that information knowing that you had been orally issued the ticket but once the deadline had passed no ticket was received? Your chances to fight these charges are very small as, per your posting, there were sporadic signs posted over the property. You can make the case to the judge that you have been using the short cut on the property for the past 10 years and never had any problems with the law. It is up to him to decide how you will be sentenced. Consult with an attorney if you feel that you have a much stronger case though.