If you’ve been charged with any of the following crimes, you should contact a prostitution defense attorney as soon as possible. While your position may appear hopeless, an experienced and skilled prostitution defense attorney will assist you in understanding various defenses that may help you win your case.
Let’s look at a few instances of plausible, viable defenses that can be used by your skilled
prostitution defense attorney.
Entrapment
You’ve undoubtedly seen a TV show where an undercover cop goes on a sting operation to arrest prostitutes and johns in areas where illegal conduct is rampant. In some instances, the officer wears typical street attire and sits in an unmarked automobile until a person approaches the vehicle unintentionally. Meanwhile, the cop is wearing an undercover microphone, and the whole thing is being filmed. From the street, backup law enforcement and police squad cars are hidden.
The police must wait until the individual approaching the car says anything that sounds like a sexual favors exchange. After that, the suspect is apprehended and placed into police custody to be questioned. You could believe that the individual was caught and set up during the sting operation and should not be held responsible for any illegal activity. If a person solicits sexual favors from others frequently, they cannot invoke entrapment as a defense.
Entrapment as a defense would only apply in this situation if you were persuaded or pressured into trading money for sex, something you would not ordinarily do. As an unwitting spectator, you may get caught up in a sting operation. If you have been the victim of such behavior, a prostitution defense lawyer can present your case in court to have the allegations against you dropped before or during the trial.
Insufficient Probable Cause
Police may sit in an unmarked automobile, looking for illicit criminal activities. The defendant may approach a car to converse with the other occupants. Both persons are detained at the same time for suspected criminal behavior and prostitution. This arrest may be unconstitutional. Without a recognized probable cause, a law enforcement agency cannot make an arrest.
Before the arrest, the police officer must show that the offender intended to commit an act of prostitution. It will be up to the prosecution to persuade the court that the defendant intended to engage in prostitution beyond a reasonable doubt. In this scenario, the prosecutor must provide sufficient evidence to reach a high standard of proof, such as a tape in which the defendant consented to solicit prostitutes for a price.
Intoxication
It’s likely that you were at a party and were inebriated when a solicitation of prostitution took place. It’s feasible that drunkenness may be used as a legal defense against prostitution solicitation or acceptance. Your prostitution defense attorney can check your police records to see if you were under the influence of alcohol at the time of your arrest. The legitimacy of the accusations would next be assessed in your situation.
Due Process
The arresting officer may have violated your
constitutional rights. An officer may, for example, have arrested you without informing you of your Miranda rights. A cop may have misbehaved, such as engaging in sexual intercourse for monetary gain. A court may dismiss a case if a government employee or an arresting officer misbehaves and violates the code of ethics.
Age
Every year, many youngsters flee their homes and become victims of sex trafficking. You will have a legitimate defense if you engaged in prostitution as a minor or were victim of a sex trafficking network.
Lack of Knowledge
In most circumstances, not knowing the law is not a sufficient defense for crimes committed. To claim lack of awareness as criminal defense, your prostitution defense attorney would have to show a specific purpose. However, the prosecution may need to show that you knew the illegal action before breaking the law. Prostitution, for example, is permitted in several Nevada counties. Perhaps you participated in an unlawful activity you believed was permissible in Texas because it was legal in another state.
Duress
It is unlawful to compel or persuade another individual to engage in acts of prostitution under Texas state law. If you were threatened with violence or other acts under pressure for refusing to exchange sex for money, you could have a good case.
No Exchange of Compensation
No money is exchanged when two consenting adults meet in a hotel or a vehicle for a sexual encounter. Sexual interactions such as these are legal. Your prostitution defense attorney may claim in court that no crime was committed if there was no agreement to exchange any remuneration for sexual services.
Compensation doesn’t need to be monetary. As payment for sex, a defendant may solicit or receive valuable commodities, property, or narcotics. If no forms of pay were exchanged, it is simpler for an attorney to have a prostitution allegation dropped.