Q: Can I fight a no trespass notice?
I was stopped/detained at the grocery store store for concealing items and therefore shoplifting. The person who stopped me was in plain clothes and did not show me any id. I did cooperate, however my ID was in the car. They called the police, however before the police arrived I was allowed to send my husband to the car to retrieve my id. No charges were brought against me, i was not arrested. However, I was given a no trespass notice. The form was filled out incorrectly by the plain clothes security, my photo was not attached as stated it should, and it was not signed by a witness. Can I get the notice thrown out? Do i Have any recourse against being stopped and detained by someone without ID?
A: It's difficult to envision the forum in which the no trespassing notice would be contested. Although you have not yet been charged it's conceivable criminal charges will be filed against you, and you could raise challenges to the lawfulness of the stop at that time. If you are charged you should immediately retain experienced criminal defense counsel.
A: A no trespassing notice may be verbal. A written notice is not required, and just because a preprinted form has a space for a witness signature does not mean there is some law that invalidates the notice when no witness signs it (there is no such requirement in the law). Neither is a photo required under the law. You were caught re-entering a store you had been given notice not to return to, and pointing out technical noncompliance with the store’s internal form is not going to be a defense. Your primary concern should be whether the store decides to charge the shoplifting offense, which they can still do. If you contest the trespassing charge claiming the notice was invalid (it isn’t), then if they had not already decided to charge the shoplifting offense, they probably would in that case. Chances are a lawyer can work out a deal to get the charges dropped or put on the stet docket in exchange for some community service, so you can avoid all the worst case scenarios. In other words, hire a lawyer.
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