Client Talks to Prostitute, Drives Away, Arrested, No File

Our client, age 30, was returning home to his fiancé after bowling with some friends.  It was about 11:00 p.m. and he was heading northbound on Sepulveda Boulevard in Van Nuys.

As he drove by the intersection of Sepulveda and Lowell, he noticed a woman along the side of the road who looked like she was waiting for someone.  She was wearing a red miniskirt and a white top, as well as white boots with high heels. 

Our client drove by her and turned around.  He then approached her along the side of the street, rolling down his passenger window to speak to the woman.

He at first asked her if she needed a ride somewhere.  She responded that she did not and asked him if he wanted to get to know her better.  Our client was a bit shocked by her question, but answered, “What do you mean?”  She then bluntly asked, “Do you want to fuck?”  Our client hesitated and thought for a few seconds before saying “Yes.”

The woman then asked our client if he had a condom.  Our client said he did not and she then said, “Oh, no problem, I’ll go get some from my car” and turned to walk away, apparently toward her car.

Our client then left, driving home. 

Our client made a right turn at the next major street, then a left turn on another street and then a right turn onto his street where he lived.  He had driven about a half mile or so when he noticed the blue and pink lights of a police car in his rear view mirror.

A police officer asked our client if he knew why he was being stopped and our client stated he did not know. 

The cop explained that soliciting a prostitute was illegal and our client asked the cop what did he do that was wrong.  The cop did not like our client’s self-confidence or lack of fear of him, so he arrested our client.

Our client then spent the next 17 hours, until 4:00 p.m., in the Los Angeles Police Department Valley Station near the Van Nuys courthouse.  His fiancé became very worried when he called her to pick him up from the station when he was released.

He told her he must have been picked up by mistake, but his fiancé apparently remained skeptical of this.

The client then called Greg Hill & Associates and explained what had taken place. Greg listened and agreed that solicitation of prostitution did not take place because the client and the prostitute did not agree to exchange money for sex and in fact, money was not discussed. 

However, Greg explained, the client could face a criminal case for loitering for purposes of prostitution, although merely turning around and then speaking to a prostitute did not really seem like he was loitering.  He was not, in other words, circling the area for twenty minutes and slowing down to stare at prostitutes in the area, only to continue on and do the same thing over and over.

The client further explained that he was a college student about to graduate from CSUN next year and owned a diamond store.  He was also the president of one of the local city’s chamber of commerce (the name of the city will not be named to protect our client’s identity).  He also was very nervous about his engagement being ended by his fiancé over his arrest.

The client then hired Greg Hill & Associates.  Greg then explained how such cases are generally handled by the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office and further explained how judicial diversion operated and was requested.

Greg then wrote a letter to the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office, requesting that it decline prosecution of the case since our client and the prostitute never even discussed exchanging money for sex and our client did not take a substantial step toward fulfilling an agreement to have sex with exchange of money. 

There was no response to the letter before the date for the arraignment arrived.

Greg then appeared on the client’s behalf in the Van Nuys Superior Court and was told that the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office had declined to file the case.

The client was extremely relieved and happy about this.