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-I'm here with top Las Vegas criminal defense
lawyer, Michael Becker.
And Mike, today I want to ask you
about this crime of indecent exposure.
-Indecent exposure is a gross misdemeanor offense
that carries a penalty of up to $2,000 fine and up to one
year in jail.
And you could also be required to register
as a sex offender for a indecent exposure conviction.
-So Mike, here in Nevada, what sort of behavior
would cause someone to get prosecuted
for this crime of indecent exposure?
-Indecent exposure would be displaying your private parts--
genitalia, buttocks, or, for a female, ***.
And it doesn't necessarily have to be in public.
If you, for example, were in a hotel room,
and you left the window open so that others could see inside,
and the state could prove that you were purposefully doing
so to expose yourself to others, that
could also be the basis of an indecent exposure charge.
-What about-- we see a lot of cases
here in Las Vegas where people get really drunk,
and they-- a woman takes off her bra, takes off her shirt,
or they sort of expose themselves in that situation.
If you're at a pool party or really drunk,
you're sort of in a crowd of people that's
all kind of into it, can that still
be something that gets you charged with indecent exposure?
-Unfortunately, yes.
Not withstanding the fact that, for example, Las Vegas promotes
itself as Sin City, and a place where
people can come to get wild and do outrageous things,
for the most part, in terms of how our laws are enforced,
it's not-- a law enforcement officer
will not find that to be a compelling justification
for violating the law.
So one cannot come to Las Vegas and assume that they have carte
blanche to do whatever they want.
You still have to be mindful of the laws.
And the laws are enforced.
And sometimes it even seems that Las Vegas police
will enforce public decency laws more aggressively than you
might even see in some other parts of the country.
-Because they don't want things to get out of hand?
-I think that's probably their justification.
-Have you had success in defending clients
who have been charged with indecent exposure?
-We have had success.
I mean, prosecutors are people who
are sensitive to all of the surrounding
facts of a particular case.
And I think that a prosecutor, for example,
that knew that a bunch of guys were coming in town
for a bachelor party, might be willing to give some deference
to all the facts and circumstances
and not necessarily want to take a person who otherwise
had no criminal history whatsoever
and turn them into, for example, a sex offender for life,
because they got a little bit out of hand
at a bachelor party.
-So the take home for our viewers
is that, if you get charged with this offense,
indecent exposure, all hope is not lost.
It may well be possible to get the charges reduced
or dismissed and to avoid having to be
a sex [? register ?] for life.
And certainly, given those stakes,
it's definitely worth their while
to contact us here at Las Vegas Defense Group
and see what we can do towards that end.
-Absolutely.
I would say that if you find yourself in a situation
where you went to Las Vegas to have a good time,
and you were astonished to end up in custody for something
that you didn't think would be a problem in Las Vegas,
that there's reason to believe that, when the dust settles
and the case is resolved, that you might find that there's
a very fair and reasonable outcome.
-It might be possible to keep it here in Vegas?
-That's right.
I'm an attorney Michael Becker with the Las Vegas Defense
Group.
If you've been charged with indecent exposure in the state
of Nevada, call me at 702-DEFENSE,
and we'll talk about what we can do
to get your charges reduced or dismissed.