-Prostitution is legal in licensed brothels
throughout the state of Nevada everywhere
except the places you want to be, Reno and Las Vegas.
-The law specifically states in Nevada,
that in counties where the population is above 400,000--
that would specifically be Reno in northern Nevada
and Las Vegas in southern Nevada--
that prostitution is absolutely illegal.
And based upon that false assumption,
many people who would otherwise try to be law abiding citizens
find themselves in trouble.
-Prostitution does not necessarily
entail engaging in sex in exchange
for money or something of value.
Prostitution can simply be offering to engage in sex acts.
And so a lot of people feel that because there
was no sexual conduct, there's no case.
Unfortunately, the law does not require sexual conduct
to occur.
-Prostitution is a misdemeanor.
If you're convicted, you likely would face probation, perhaps
some jail time.
And there's a maximum of up to six months of jail time.
As well, a lot of times it will be
required that you take an AIDS test
and that you stay away from the location where it occurred.
But perhaps, the worst ramification
of a prostitution or solicitation conviction
is having it on your record, because it's embarrassing.
It's a red flag for employers, and you
don't want to be in a situation where you're in a job interview
and you want to be talking about your experience
or your qualifications, but instead you
find yourself explaining why you've
been convicted of solicitation.
So if you're charged with this offense,
you want to do everything that you
can now to fight it and keep it off your record.
-It's not uncommon on a solicitation case,
especially if our client has no prior record,
to negotiate a result whereby our client might agree
to take a class or post and forfeit some money in exchange
for a dismissal or a reduction to a charge,
like a trespassing charge or a disorderly conduct charge.
-The class that clients sometimes
are required to take as part of a plea negotiation
is commonly known as a "John School" class, which
is a one-day class encompassing between four to eight hours,
where they're required to attend a session.
Sometimes it can be done online.
Sometimes the court requires that they actually
be done in person.
But that often is a class that allows someone
to avoid having the soliciting prostitution
charge on their record once that class is completed.
-Prostitution and solicitation is
one of those crimes where it can be surprisingly
difficult for the prosecutor to prove the case.
And first of all, we find a lot of times
that there's ambiguity in the language that's used.
So we'll get a police report in a situation
where there was an undercover sting,
and the undercover was posing as a prostitute.
And it will say that our client offered the undercover $50
for oral sex.
And when we actually get the tape and the transcript
and we look at it, it's not nearly that clear.
Our client may have said, how much do you charge,
and what would I get for that, and where would we do it,
and are you a police officer.
But there's never a point where our client explicitly
says, OK, I'll do it.
I'll pay you $50 for a blow job.
And without that explicit language,
it's difficult for the prosecutor to prove their case.
Also, we find that there's a lot of situations where
our client really wasn't serious.
So a lot of guys like to go up to people
who they think are hookers and kind of jive with them,
and pretend like they're bargaining,
and ask them what they do, and pretend
like they're a potential customer.
But the reality is that they have
no intention of going through with it.
They have no intention of really paying
the person money for sex.
And if that was not the intent of our client,
to really go through with it, then it's
not the crime of prostitution.
-It's not uncommon in a solicitation case
that we would have a defendant that's
never been in trouble before.
It's often someone who may have a partner.
There may be a lot of embarrassment.
It may be that you don't want your partner
to know that you got in trouble in Las Vegas, specifically
that it involves something such as solicitation.
So we're very discreet with our clients who
come to us with these types of charges.
We really do our best to try to fashion a resolution so
that the charge will not show up on your record,
so there's no explaining to do.
And we do understand how this particular charge
can be very stigmatizing.