From: michael@resonex.com (Michael Bryan)
Subject: Re: tearoom sex and bathroom police
Organization: Resonex Inc., Sunnyvale CA
Distribution: soc
Date: Tue, 12 Jan 1993 10:22:43 GMT

In article <1993Jan12.074713.1053@pony.Ingres.COM> jab@Ingres.COM (jeff bowles) writes:
>
>And that's what it is. The agenda (call it "queer", call it "homophile",
>just don't call it late for dinner) HAS to include  "entrapment" for men and
>"invisibility" for lesbians. To someone in San Francisco, perhaps this
>isn't seen as an issue; for someone in Iowa City, it can't help but be
>an issue.

Don't think it's not an issue in San Francisco... it *is*.

About a year and a half ago, I stopped at the Rest Area on 280 just
north of 92, on my way up to SF.  Although I knew cruising went on there
all the time, and had done so myself a few times, that wasn't my purpose
on this day --- I simply had to go to the bathroom.

While at the urinal, there was a guy standing there wearing sweats,
and sunglasses, who stared at me the entire time I was there.  My
curiousity (and hormones) were heightened, so when I left, I went up
the path to the observation area.  (For those not familiar with the
place, it's about a 150' path up a hill, to an area with a fairly
scenic view overlooking the surrounding hills.)  The guy followed
me up the hill, and sat on a bench about three feet from where I was
standing.

After a few minutes, I started talking to him.  We made general small
talk for nearly 20 minutes, talking about what we did, about the area,
about the drought, about just about everything.  The subject
eventually turned to men cruising the area, and eventually I asked him
if he wanted to do something.  Since it was daylight, (I usually
cruised only at night), I didn't want to do anything in the open, but
he said he had a van in the parking lot, with a curtain that could
close it off from viewers, and he said we could have privacy there.  I
agreed to go down there with him.  When we got to his van, he pulled
out a badge, and his partner also came over.  (He was another guy who
had been wandering around outside the restroom and at the observation
area.)

At the time, it was a very humiliating, and even frightening process.
I was never jailed, but was given a citation for "lewd behaviour", and
told to show up on court on a certain date.  The officer had a tape
recording that he pulled out, and put it in an envelope, along with a
polaroid he took of me.  I was told that if I did not challenge the
charge in court, since I had no prior record, I would probably get off
with probation and a fine.  If I did challenge, they would prosecute
aggressively, and charge me with loitering near a public toilet.
Also, I was told to leave immediately and not tell anyone they were
undercover officers, or I would be cited with interfering with police
business, and jailed.  While at the van, I noticed at least a dozen
manilla envelopes similar to mine, with other polaroids stapled to
them.  I would imagine the pile grew even more after I left.

Needless to say, I was shook up, but I had the presence of mind to
consult with a lawyer a couple of days later.  He told me that based
on what I was saying, it sounded like an arguable case of entrapment.
Also, given that the location of the intended sexual act was in a van
with curtains, they might have a hard time prosecuting the case
anyway, since the charge of "lewd behaviour" implies the act occurred
or was going to occur in a place where people could reasonably be
expected to see.  He said that was a grey area, though, as precedent
had been set that sex in cars counted as lewd behaviour, but sex in
RV's did not, while he did not know of any precedent with vans.

Anyway, all I ended up with was severely frazzled nerves, and a period
of depression.  I never knew exactly what happened, but the D.A. never
filed charges in my case.  My guess is that they realized they didn't
have a case against me after all.  It's about the only thing that makes
sense, as I never actually hired the lawyer for my case, apart from the
one consultation, so nothing was officially challenged.  I just showed
up for my preliminary hearing, and found the case was not on the docket,
and that charges had never been filed.

So yes, entrapment is a problem in this area.  I was lucky, in that I
never had to fight it in court.  I know the various arrests at the
rest area came under fire in the press about a year ago, with several
other people having stories similar to mine.  So far as I know, public
sex has stopped or at least been severely cut back at the rest area.
I wouldn't know for sure, though, as I haven't been back there since,
other than the occassional quick stop when my bladder's full.

-- 
Michael Bryan     michael@resonex.com