Do the cops have me?

I recently got arrested for racking cans... and we had to go back to my place to get my ID to prove I was who i was.

I totally forgot I had a sketch on my dresser and the cops took it and another one that had a bunch of tags all over it and a bomb that I have city wide ups on....

They investigated it and took a shit load of pictures and today I was interogated for two hours, not once admitting to that it was me doing that - saying that I copied what I saw because I believe me as an artist I could do it 'better'...... they tried absolutly everything to get me to confess to it including constantly lying to me, and I didn't confess - I kept saying it wasnt me.

So yeah, now im going to court for 23 charges of mischief... so do the police have me by the balls or the are fighting for air?

No flames please. :(

If they've got a sketch, it's not gonna be too pretty...Get a really good lawyer, the $ is worth it.

I know it doesn't help, but you should've made them wait outside...(I assume they didn't have a warrant.)

Originally posted by LaCosaNostra@Feb 25 2005, 02:38 AM

I know it doesn't help, but you should've made them wait outside...(I assume they didn't have a warrant.)

Quoted post

Yeah thats what I tried to do.... and then they had to be at arms length of me to make sure I didnt get a weapon or stash somthing... our city is pretty stupid when it comes to graffiti, its covered with it and the cops know nothing about it... thats what you get for living in Canada...

I dont think the police had the justisdiction to even take that, did they? they even took news paper clippings off my wall....

I figured that if I just said I copied it from all over the place that wouldnt have means to press charges?

Serves you right. DONT RACK PAINT. nothing good can come of it. You are basically fucked This will probably end up costing you thousands of dollars. It sounds like they are going to crucify your ass

GOOD LUCK... most likly your fucked because you suck at racking.. sorry bro..

your best bet is to keep your story the same, and dont give in to any deals with them... talk to a lawyer

look, lighten up on the guy for chrissakes.

but yeah, i stopped racking shit years ago. Sure, it might not qualify me as a "real" writer in the eyes of some but I figure paying $30 for a bunch of cans is better than paying $3000 in court fees, fines, jail time, lawyer shit, etc....

basically LaCosaNostra has it down. Hire a lawyer and cross your fingers.

In the future, don't ever leave any graffiti related stuff laying around in your house and that includes magazines, markers, spray cans, sketches, blackbooks, tagging on your door, etc.....

you might think it looks cool and "urban" but it's the proverbial red hand i tell yah! I keep all my shit locked up at my friends house anyway

maybe you could try to say that the sketch was a friends.

and i dont know about canadian laws but in the us if theres a cop at your door because of you being in legal trouble or a call to your place, with or without a warrant you cant deny them entrance no matter. even if your just going back in for you shoes, they have to walk you in and escort you out and while they are in your house they can look at anything they want. so dont sweat going to jail barefoot in some situations, lock that shit and go.

so in other words if the cops come through without a warrant dont unlock the door, but in your case it sounds like this couldnt have been avoided.

the fact that they interrogated you for two hours might be a good sign. you must ask your questions to an attorney so you know what to do next.

i dont think they can take that shit without a warrent...but im not in canada...

get a good lawyer and get a good lawyer fast, pay the amount for the lawyer rather then pay fines and get taken in on all community service and all that bullshit......over here for racking cans all that happens is you have to pay for them and your not even allowed into the store anymore, sometimes u dont even have to pay for them......and always remember dont tell the police anything, seems like you did a good job so far....make sure u remember that because they will try to trick you no matter what, thats their job to trick people into saying things that they want to hear.....good luck and just make sure u get a good lawyer and find out from him what its gonna be.

Should not have let them in your house.... ever.

THEY DON'T HAVE SHIT!!

A. they didn't catch you in the act

B. you didn't confess

they have you on the racking chgs and really you should be able to plea down the graff shit.

yesh, they dont have shit on you. the part of saying you copied what you saw was pretty good, itll help out some. Get a good lawyer even a decent one can get you out of this shit hopefully.

Originally posted by CACashRefund@Feb 26 2005, 12:46 AM

yesh, they dont have shit on you. the part of saying you copied what you saw was pretty good, itll help out some. Get a good lawyer even a decent one can get you out of this shit hopefully.

Quoted post

thanks you guys, ive been talking to some heads and some are saying i can get away scott free practically... yeah, after the interogation, they phoned my friend asking him if he knew if I did graffiti or not [the cops] - so they are obviously running out of ways to turn.

And word up to the haters that say I 'suck at racking cans' cuz it was my buddy that got me caught - he was putting them in his pants pocket and was wearing a tight shirt while I had a coat on w/ 10 cans on me and you couldnt tell.

when you get caught racking, run away

Originally posted by ARCEL@Feb 26 2005, 02:53 AM

when you get caught racking, run away

Quoted post

I did, the only thing I dont have experience with is police tactics obviously, its a long story and incase law enforcement agencies might run across this I dont want it to be too obvious of who they are dealing with... So I just gave points of the whole ordeal.

Well, regardless, what they did is not legal. While they do have probable cause to enter your place, that does not mean they can seize anything without a warrant. If they wanted to presue it they could've made observations of what you had, then requested a search warrant. Since they did not do that they basically fucked themselves of any chance they had to take the case further beyond retail theft. Get a good lawyer and change your name.

Also, do by all means rack paint... Just don't do it if you think you might get caught. Advising someone not to rack paint because it is illegal is the exact same thing as telling them not to paint street spots and to stick to permission walls, not only is that a bunch of horse shit, it is also not your place.

Hopefully you learned a lesson, whatever it was.

dont admit to anything except the racking charges

why do you think they are trying to make you confess??

good lawyer, keep calm n dont be admitting shite...

You sound like you handled the questioning well, which is a good thing. Empty your house of anything remotely illegal if you haven't already.

Some kid was on here not too long ago after the cops told him "we have your friend in the next room and he told us everything" he admitted to doing hundreds of bombs afterwards and I haven't seen him on here since. Stupid.

Originally posted by GnomeToys@Feb 26 2005, 07:51 PM

You sound like you handled the questioning well, which is a good thing. Empty your house of anything remotely illegal if you haven't already.

 

Some kid was on here not too long ago after the cops told him "we have your friend in the next room and he told us everything" he admitted to doing hundreds of bombs afterwards and I haven't seen him on here since. Stupid.

Quoted post

Word up...

I did empty everything, actually half of everything before I even got caught and everything is taken out of my room... But yeah, my friend whos dads a lawyer talked to him and his dad said that they didn't have permission to take that paper. not like it was legal advice or anything mind you...

I look forward to rubbing it in their faces.

ask a lawyer. theres nothing more to do.

There is no evidence. You copied what you had seen on the streets. You are guilty of the paint theft, but not of vandalism.

Originally posted by b0b@Feb 28 2005, 01:01 PM

There is no evidence. You copied what you had seen on the streets. You are guilty of the paint theft, but not of vandalism.

Quoted post

I got away with this testimonial 2 years ago. They had flix, markers, stickers and a detective asking me for names and info on a local "writer's bench"(what, is this guy watching style wars?)

I told the detective I was copying what I had seen on the streets and convinced him that there were a plethora of people out there writing it.

This was Michigan, however. Not exactly the epicenter of MDOP familiarity when it comes to graffiti in the courts. Plus, I dropped ridiculous loot on a good lawyer, an expense that continues to cripple me financially today.

as soon as you say "i want a lawyer" they have to stop interogating you.

you should've done that too...

you let them into your house?

They wont hold you in jail for a shoplifting charge under $1000

and if it was just to get your ID, then you should have told them

to wait outside.

oh... I just read back and saw they had to be with you. damn.

You should have told them to hold you and called a friend to

go get your ID and bring it in to the station.

Love how everyone is saying the police should have waited outisde. Do you have some stupid police officers in your cities? Since when does a policeman, who has you under arrest, let you go walking off by yourself when they don't even have an id on who you are? Get real. They didn't have to go back to his house, he could have gone to the station and gotten someone to bring some id down for him, but no policeman will let you walk away from them like that as for all they know you could be some crazy axe murderer they have been after for 5 years and you go into your house, then leave by the backdoor and are never seen again. Then it is all over the papers about how the cops let some crazy axe murderer slip through their fingers.

but the idea at this point is that the cops didn't do "right" in that situation. Sure as a cop I would've done the same thing to get this vandal criminal, but it's gonna look ugly in the court, especially if the lawyer is good. In most of the cases that i've heard where writers have walked free it's always been the same deal: Lawyer picking on the police and their wrong actions... no search warrant, evidence not processed through whatever crime labs to make the evidence valid... so on.

It's funny because it feels like cops always get sloppy when they catch writers. seems like they're not thinking the crimes are so bad so they could just as well do it the easy way, and not the more legitimate way. If it was the axe murderer or a rapist they feel it much more personal and "why-I'm-a-cop-for" way. so when a writer comes up with a good lawyer and just wedgie the police, they get pissed and take it more personal... and this is where you get all these ex-cop vandal squad fanatics and increased police funds agains vandal action in your city. it gets all blowed out of proportions.

You probably already know what to do, but anyway a couple of good tips could be welcome here for everybody to know...

whatever you write, don't have any of that inside your apartment. No graffiti at all would be very good, though it's really hard to get rid of all those magazines and nice stuff. If you do have flicks etc, keep them in a box hidden somewhere so that they're all at one place so your moms, sister or girl/boyfriend can go get them IMMEDIATELY you're taken in custody because the cops are already on their way with a search warrant for your ass. In some countries they dont need a warrant, they'll get it later on anyway. The reason for all this is because if the piggies have ANY idea of what you might write, they will collect your belongings into 20 boxes and come up with a warrant in the court, and unless they hit the jackpot they'll charge you for having illegal amounts of flammable chemicals in your house (in the form of spray paint cans) .

"no comment" its a good way to behave when hey ask questions. If they had enough evidence they wouldn't ask you anything. just say you dont want to talk, depending on your country the only shit you HAVE TO give away is your personal info and address. The truth is extra card you don't have to give. the worst mistake is to make up simple lies, like "my friend did that sketch" The pigs'll jump up and down on their chairs screaming about your friend, his friend and his grandparents and nephews. now you either have to RAT someone for YOUR sketches or make up a story about a friend, Freddy something who moved out and his whole family died in a car crash so you kept the sketch as a memory...I don't know about you but lying to the police isn't easy for everyone, I wouldn't recommend that as a general tip here on this message board. Their job is to detect lies and break you up. and if you shut up at this point where your friend did the sketch, they've got an anonymous friend on paper, which will be passed around in court. so you'll just have more explaining to do. It's like milking a cow. they keep milking until they think they've got enough milk. But if you're not a cow what the fuck they're gonna do with you?

nothing.

dont take your cell phone with you when painting. at least turn it off.

It's basically that microchip that tells them where you are and where you've been, it's just not planted on your neck. the police can easily ask your mobile provider to give out the info. if your personal phone has been near that wall/train at the time its color was changed without permission, you're fuck (not just fucked. you're fuck).

that's all. :chicken:

hey, why dont you just not get a lawyer and just basically play it like a game of roulette, and wing it and see what happens....come on it'll be fun...it'll be like an experience, like if you get off, then yipeeeeee hoooraaaaaay and if you get fucked, daaaaaaaaamn son that was waaaaaack!! cool idea, kina like a roller coaster ride!

yeah I know... Im hoping that I get off without having to spend that much of amount of money on legal services...

I asked the cop on the ride home what he thought about graffiti and he said "Well they are all a bunch of losers and If I caught them I would pound them"

do you think I could use that against them? lol.