CuriousInCO
Junior Member
Questions about a request to appear in Colorado (pertaining to a "rave" party)
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Colorado
A little background. Over the weekend I was asked to DJ at a local afterhours event. I was not paid, nor was there any paperwork or contracts. When DJing I provide my own DJ equipment which I bring with me. I played my hour long set, packed up my equipment, and stored it behind the stage, then proceeded to hang out at the event for a while. At approximately 11 pm the event was broken up by the Denver Vice/Narcotics bureau. At this time the LEOs advised everyone who was not affiliated with the event to leave. No arrests were made, no tickets were written. As I tried to leave with my equipment I was stopped by one of the officers and told to sit tight, along with the sound and lighting technicians, the event promoters, and the DJ who was playing when the officers arrived (the officers actually handcuffed said DJ and led him off to the side where they appeared to interrogate and search him, with no other explanation as to their reasoning aside from the fact that he was playing music at an unlicensed venue). This seemed a little extreme to me, but being that I didn't want to draw any unwanted attention to myself or my girlfriend, I kept my mouth shut.
Over the next twenty minutes the LEOs collected all of our IDs and ran all of our names, I assume to check for warrants. They made several threats to all of us, saying they were going to seize all of our equipment as evidence because we were involved in an unlicensed "rave", that the venue had been under surveillance for a few weeks, and that they were going to take us all to jail if we so much as thought about arguing with them. No one was read their rights, and no one was given any more information.
The officers eventually returned all of our IDs, and everyone left in the room was released, with their equipment. No arrests were made, but all of us were given a piece of paper (DPD 75) saying "You are requested to appear, with or without counsel, at the Denver Police Department concerning the following incident. (Coincidentally, on my form the box in front of this statement was NOT checked, but the spaces for address and incident occuring, as well as the date, time, and detective/case # were filled out.) The box marked Vice/Narcotics Bureau was checked and a date and time to appear were written in.
So my question is this. Being that I was neither arrested nor ticketed at the time, and I was never informed as to why I was requested to appear, (nor were anyone else there), what could the department's intentions be for bringing us back down to the station three days after the fact? Is there a chance I could be arrested? I also noticed the wording on the paper specifically states that I am requested to appear, not required, and there is nothing stated about possible legal actions if I choose not to appear. Is it likely that a warrant would be issued if I chose not to appear?
Thanks in advance, hopefully someone here can give me some advice. BTW, I'm "requested to appear" this coming Weds afternoon at 5pm. I have every intention of going down there, but I'm poor and cant afford a lawyer, and would really like to know what I'm walking into before I get there. I feel as though I did nothing wrong, and the bureau's actions that night are nothing more than police profiling, which last time I checked is still illegal.What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Colorado
A little background. Over the weekend I was asked to DJ at a local afterhours event. I was not paid, nor was there any paperwork or contracts. When DJing I provide my own DJ equipment which I bring with me. I played my hour long set, packed up my equipment, and stored it behind the stage, then proceeded to hang out at the event for a while. At approximately 11 pm the event was broken up by the Denver Vice/Narcotics bureau. At this time the LEOs advised everyone who was not affiliated with the event to leave. No arrests were made, no tickets were written. As I tried to leave with my equipment I was stopped by one of the officers and told to sit tight, along with the sound and lighting technicians, the event promoters, and the DJ who was playing when the officers arrived (the officers actually handcuffed said DJ and led him off to the side where they appeared to interrogate and search him, with no other explanation as to their reasoning aside from the fact that he was playing music at an unlicensed venue). This seemed a little extreme to me, but being that I didn't want to draw any unwanted attention to myself or my girlfriend, I kept my mouth shut.
Over the next twenty minutes the LEOs collected all of our IDs and ran all of our names, I assume to check for warrants. They made several threats to all of us, saying they were going to seize all of our equipment as evidence because we were involved in an unlicensed "rave", that the venue had been under surveillance for a few weeks, and that they were going to take us all to jail if we so much as thought about arguing with them. No one was read their rights, and no one was given any more information.
The officers eventually returned all of our IDs, and everyone left in the room was released, with their equipment. No arrests were made, but all of us were given a piece of paper (DPD 75) saying "You are requested to appear, with or without counsel, at the Denver Police Department concerning the following incident. (Coincidentally, on my form the box in front of this statement was NOT checked, but the spaces for address and incident occuring, as well as the date, time, and detective/case # were filled out.) The box marked Vice/Narcotics Bureau was checked and a date and time to appear were written in.
So my question is this. Being that I was neither arrested nor ticketed at the time, and I was never informed as to why I was requested to appear, (nor were anyone else there), what could the department's intentions be for bringing us back down to the station three days after the fact? Is there a chance I could be arrested? I also noticed the wording on the paper specifically states that I am requested to appear, not required, and there is nothing stated about possible legal actions if I choose not to appear. Is it likely that a warrant would be issued if I chose not to appear?
Thanks in advance, hopefully someone here can give me some advice. BTW, I'm "requested to appear" this coming Weds afternoon at 5pm. I have every intention of going down there, but I'm poor and cant afford a lawyer, and would really like to know what I'm walking into before I get there. I feel as though I did nothing wrong, and the bureau's actions that night are nothing more than police profiling, which last time I checked is still illegal.What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?
