Building an Ocean City Prostitution Defense

Prostitution charges alone can have serious consequences, including social stigmas, and a strong defense is necessary. The process of building a case and defense strategy for prostitution includes figuring out what witnesses to call and what evidence to produce by a prostitution lawyer. When the state puts together their case, they look at each element of the offense that they have charged. They need to make sure that they have evidence to prove every element. Building an Ocean City prostitution defense involves many different parts.

Methods for a Strong Defense

The defense of entrapment is sometimes used when building an Ocean City prostitution defense. An undercover officer that was involved in the case would make it easy to convict someone, but if the situation were to rise to the level of entrapment, then that would potentially be a defense.

In order to present the defense of entrapment, the defense would have to be able to prove that the defendant was not predisposed to commit prostitution prior to having law enforcement make contact with them and that the defendant was induced or persuaded by law enforcement to commit the crime.

If the person was already predisposed to commit prostitution, then they would not be successful in using the defense of entrapment. The defense of entrapment can only be raised when the defendant has no contact with law enforcement. Although it is law enforcement that is providing the opportunity for the crime to be committed, the situation does not necessarily mean that it involves entrapment. For it to be entrapment, the circumstances have to call for law enforcement trying to induce the person to commit a crime that the person would not have otherwise committed. Entrapment is ultimately up to the judge to decide whether or not it occurs.

Gathering Evidence

If the state is alleging that it was prostitution, or there was an actual event in which intercourse was exchanged for money, then they would have to be able to prove that. If the crime was under the theory of assignment, then they would need to have proof that there had been an appointment or a meeting between the person soliciting and the person that would be performing the sexual act for money.

Witness Testimonies

Sometimes the evidence that the state uses comes from testimonies, which means it may or may not have any physical evidence to introduce. It could be based solely on the testimony of the accuser.

It is a much stronger case when there is a testimony from an undercover police officer. If an undercover police officer was invited in the situation and was either posing as a John or posing as a prostitute, then they would be allowed to come in and testify about their entire interaction.

It is important to understand that any statements that a defendant makes can be used against them in court. The undercover officer would have to be able to testify about the experience between them and the defendant, and the experience must involve a conversation surrounding money in exchange for intercourse. All of that could come in as evidence for an Ocean City prostitution defense.

Constitutional Issues

If the bulk of the evidence relies on the statements made by the defendant, then the defense strategy is to try and get those statements excluded. If you can get the statements excluded, then the state cannot use them as evidence. There would also need to be an analysis of when the statements were made. Was the client in custody? Were they subject to interrogation, had they requested a lawyer, and/or had they been advised of their Miranda rights? Was the client coerced into making a statement? These questions are taken into account in an Ocean City prostitution defense.