My husband got ticketed for false reporting, I don't know what our next step should be?

My husband came home late one night and didn't have a key to our house so he crawled in the basement window. When the alarm went off I called 911 because I had no idea he was coming home... and it was 2:30 in the morning. To make a long story shorter he said something to the police in the sense of it being a good test for our alarm system. Unfortanetly they took it as he was testing them to see if they would respond to the alarm. So he got ticketed for false reporting and I am just not sure what step we have to take next. I have never got a ticket in my life and neither has he. Do we need to get a lawyer or just got to his court date and find out what they are going to do? So stressed right now. To add to it my due date is a week from his court date!

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Asked by Anonymous at 4:17 PM on Feb. 9, 2010 in Politics & Current Events

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I am sure that if you tell the whole story when you get to court, it will all be cleared out. Just to be on the safe side get yourself an atty.

Answer by older at 4:20 PM on Feb. 9, 2010
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...and IMO this should be a lesson to not be a "wise guy" next time you talk to a police officer! For good reasons, they take their job very seriously--they don't think highly of sarcasm while on the job!!!

Answer by LoriKeet at 4:23 PM on Feb. 9, 2010
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I have to agree with lori comments like that to officers are a really bad idea. Go to court and explain what happened, if your lucky you get a judge who will listen, if your not he wil send it to trial and you'll have to come back. Yes i have actually seen judges send a ticket to trial when someone tried to explain their side, just depends how much of a jerk the judge is.

And remind hubby to take his key with him and never be a smart mouth with a cop again, the guys take that stuff pretty seriously, no matter how small the comment it gets in the report.

Answer by 3_ring_circus_ at 4:33 PM on Feb. 9, 2010
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Actually he wasn't being a "wise guy" at all. He apologized a thousand times. He honestly felt very bad about the situation and was in no way being disrepectful and making any sort of jokes. Neither of us made a joke out of the situation. You don't know the whole story so if you have nothing helpful to add maybe you should keep it to yourself. In no way to I ask this question so that you could make my stress any worse. Maybe you should think before you add a rude comment.

Answer by Anonymous at 4:35 PM on Feb. 9, 2010

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Sorry, OP. Good luck.

Answer by LoriKeet at 4:40 PM on Feb. 9, 2010
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This is a normal ticket for them to give, you husband should have knocked on the door to get let in. He knew you had an alarm and set it off, and you called 911. It is a straight forward ticket like a traffic ticket, you go to your court date explain your side, and most likely you will have the fine knocked down and be a lesser charge, have it dismissed, or pay the full fine. I am fairly certain you will get it knocked down, the judge will want your DH to learn a lesson but not be a total punishment.

Answer by truealaskanmom at 5:11 PM on Feb. 9, 2010
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It's easier and cheaper to just pay the fine. He will be charged court costs and miss time off of work. Police don't take false alarms lightly.

Answer by Anonymous at 7:00 PM on Feb. 9, 2010

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Let this be a reminder, no matter why you are interacting with the police, say "yes sir", "no sir", and "understood sir", and nothing else. If it was just a ticket, you go to court and get to tell your side of it to the judge. The cop who was there probably won't even bother to come to court. The judge may do one of three things, Make you pay the ticket, reduce the amount of the ticket and make yolu pay it, or totally dismiss the ticket. If you guys aren't in the habit of having the cops over every Saturday night to break up drunken domestic fights, it had a good chance of getting dismissed. You don't need a lawyer, it's pretty much like traffic court.

Answer by Anonymous at 7:02 PM on Feb. 9, 2010

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Just pay the ticket. In my business, if my alarm goes off and police have to respond to a false alarm, they will send you a fine. Same with the fire dept. Not much you can do about it.

Answer by stacymomof2 at 8:10 PM on Feb. 9, 2010
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Pay the ticket and get on with your life. The police officer's don't work for free. In this economy many departments are short on staff and dollars...false alarms are anything but funny.

Answer by yourspecialkid at 8:47 PM on Feb. 9, 2010
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