-Mike, I know you were a cop for 13 years,
and I know you were in the Vice Squad,
and were involved in the investigation
of a lot of prostitution cases.
And of course, now as a criminal defense lawyer,
you represent a lot of clients accused of this,
and you're sort of an expert in this area of the law.
Tell me, what is prostitution?
What is solicitation?
What's the definition of that in California?
-Well, prostitution is any time a person
is paid money or some sort of reward for having a sexual act.
For example, typically, what you'll see
is they'll be a prostitute working the street, or maybe
at a massage parlor.
And they will solicit someone for extra money,
to engage in some sort of sexual act.
So that's typically what you'll see as prostitutes.
We have seen in the San Bernardino area,
especially, where we have a lot of street prostitution,
where police will do stings on prostitutes.
And but more often what they'll do is,
they'll do stings on prostitutes, clear the street,
then put undercover female decoy officers out there,
and then try to arrest what they call johns, men looking
to solicit prostitutes for sex acts.
-So basically, the john sort of drives up to who he believes
is a prostitute, and has some sort of agreement
to exchange sex for money, and then
is arrested, because it's really an undercover.
-That's correct.
-Now, let's say that there's no actual sex.
So let's say I'm a john, and I talk
to this undercover female officer,
and I agree I'm going to pay you $50 for having sex with me.
But that there is no sex.
Nothing happens after that.
All I've done is agree to pay her.
Is that a crime at that point, or does it
have to be some act in furtherance of having sex?
-No.
Actually, if there's a communication understanding
that the john is offering money for a sex act,
that is a purported violation of Penal Code section 647b.
That of itself is enough to trigger
an arrest and a potential prosecution in that matter.
If you actually have a sex act, it's a separate section.
A lewd act in public's in violation
of 647a of the Penal Code.
But simple solicitation in and of itself,
i.e., I offer you money from sex on me or vice versa,
in and of itself is a crime.
-So merely saying, I'll give you $50 for oral sex.
That alone, just saying that to the prostitute
is enough to commit the crime?
-It is, with the totality of the circumstances.
For example, you don't say that to someone--
let's say you say that to some girl in a bar at El Torito, OK?
-And you're just joking.
It's all in jest.
-Exactly.
But if you're in a known area where
there's prostitution going on.
For example, in San Bernardino on baseline by Sierra Way
is a known area for prostitutes.
-Or Sunset and Hobart in Los Angeles.
-Exactly.
And it's 12 o'clock at night, and you
drive back and forth the undercover decoy
officer 15 times.
And you signal with the light, and she
comes walking up to you.
And you start talking to her, and you
have a five-minute conversation.
Then she says, do you want a date?
And you say, how much is that going to cost me?
And what will I get for $50?
Will you do this?
You look at those totality of circumstances
to really decide whether or not the DA is
to going to be able to successfully prosecute
that case.
-Now, what do you do to defend these cases,
because I know that we get calls all the time from people who
are arrested for solicitation, that accused johns.
And they say, listen, I'm a middle class person.
I'm a professional.
I have a professional license.
I have no record.
I'm a good person.
I made a mistake.
But if I get convicted of prostitution,
and have that on my record, it's going to devastate me.
But they have an undercover.
They have me on tape.
What can you do at that point to try
to keep that off the person's record?
-Two-prong approach, Neil.
In fact, a three-prong approach.
The first one is this, gather all the evidence.
Make sure that it is on video.
Make sure there is audio.
Transcribe it.
See if there's any ambiguity in the language.
Do your own investigation.
Get out to the scene.
Have your investigator out to the scene.
Take photographs.
Is it an area where there's other stings done before?
Is it a known prostitute area?
Get the records from the police department,
from the crime analysis unit.
How many times have prostitutes been arrested in that area?
And the third prong, and this is probably the most important
prong, ultimately, is mitigation,
mitigation, mitigation.
You gather information about your client,
and you let the DA know the devastating effect for this one
aberrational moment.
And oftentimes, and this has been my personal experience,
at least in San Bernardino County,
that district attorneys will look at those cases,
and look at the totality of circumstances.
Look at the person as a hole, and make a decision
as to whether to dismiss that case,
or let him plea to an offense that doesn't involve
a crime of moral turpitude, and doesn't have
any major ramifications on their future.
I'm Mike Scafitti, a retired police officer,
and now a criminal defense attorney with Shouse Law Group.
If you or a loved one are in trouble and need help, call me.