Let's just say this has been an incredibly difficult lesson in humility and discipline.

I plead guilty in a courtroom not believing I had done anything even remotely wrong enough to deserve the most severe penalties possible within the Criminal County Courts jurisdiction (i.e., the max for a misdemeanor - any more punishment and they would have had to go for a felony). All of this is because they decided they need to make an example out of me.
This nightmare has taken over a year on bond to even get to the probation phase of this black hole some would call justice.
Not to mention, this is a debt I'm still paying off - possibly until the end of time.

** Okay. When my stomach starts to knot in anger, it's time to step away for a bit!

Posted by Landser Lol if you took my post seriously you should develop a sense of humor XD no offense

My bad, didn't realize as its hard to taste sarcasm on the internet.

Also if your camera has a sync to phone function (over Bluetooth) it might be useful, i usually manually sync my favorite shots (they never ask to check my phone, plus its password protected anyways)

Posted by Peptic Ulcer When you were caught trespassing you were technically under arrest. Hope this helped!

Well sorry to disagree but that's simply not accurate. An officer can "detain" you for whats commonly described as a "brief and cursory time" in other words, sufficient and reasonable period of time to investigate a possible violation without making an arrest.

Posted by 2Xplorations Well sorry to disagree but that's simply not accurate. An officer can "detain" you for whats commonly described as a "brief and cursory time" in other words, sufficient and reasonable period of time to investigate a possible violation without making an arrest.

Yup. There is a point between they approach you with probable cause and getting arrested/released that is just an interview. You can ask if you can go, but that may end up with the cuffs.

But you aren't under arrest at that point. You might talk your way out of it, you might not.

On topic though, I wouldn't try to try to recover the images. Texas doesn't take kindly to trying to sneak out of plea bargains and probation. If they catch you (and your PO might) they'll violate you and remand you to prison until a hearing for violation. Usually a short prison stint + community service and more probation.

As for the right to take the photos, you weren't authorized to be there, to take photos of said property, etc. So you didn't have a right to take photos of the property. There's a very distinct difference between taking photos from a public road, and from someone's shed that you snuck into. (not saying that you did, just referencing it from a privacy/permissions law standpoint)

Police officers may not confiscate or demand to view your digital photographs or video without a warrant. The Supreme Court has ruled that police may not search your cell phone when they arrest you, unless they get a warrant. Although the court did not specifically rule on whether law enforcement may search other electronic devices such as a standalone camera, the ACLU believes that the constitution broadly prevents warrantless searches of your digital data. It is possible that courts may approve the temporary warrantless seizure of a camera in certain extreme “exigent” circumstances such as where necessary to save a life, or where police have a reasonable, good-faith belief that doing so is necessary to prevent the destruction of evidence of a crime while they seek a warrant.


Police may not delete your photographs or video under any circumstances. Officers have faced felony charges of evidence tampering as well as obstruction and theft for taking a photographer’s memory card.


Note that the right to photograph does not give you a right to break any other laws. For example, if you are trespassing to take photographs, you may still be charged with trespass.


If you are stopped or detained for taking photographs:
•Always remain polite and never physically resist a police officer.
•If stopped for photography, the right question to ask is, "am I free to go?" If the officer says no, then you are being detained, something that under the law an officer cannot do without reasonable suspicion that you have or are about to commit a crime or are in the process of doing so. Until you ask to leave, your being stopped is considered voluntary under the law and is legal.
•If you are detained, politely ask what crime you are suspected of committing, and remind the officer that taking photographs is your right under the First Amendment and does not constitute reasonable suspicion of criminal activity.

Posted by DarkAngel I wouldn't try to try to recover the images. Texas doesn't take kindly to trying to sneak out of plea bargains and probation. If they catch you (and your PO might) they'll violate you and remand you to prison until a hearing for violation. Usually a short prison stint + community service and more probation.

I have to disagree.

First of all, recovering images was never an issue, because I wasn't "caught," engaging an any illegal activity. No one knew about this incident until months after, so my photos of that fateful day had been hibernating for some time already when this came up. By the time I was actually placed on probation, over a year and a half had passed before this condition came to be.

As much as the D.A. would enjoy the scenario you have laid out, prison is not an option for a Misdemeanor probation in Texas. Trespassing is always a misdemeanor in Texas, but can be a C, B, or A Misd. with "A" being the highest misdemeanor offense. I used to work in the Texas CJ system, and trust me, I know it well. This is just the first time I've ever had the misfortune of knowing it from the... other side.
Oh, and many, many, many hours of community service are already part of the agreement, so I'll be doing that for the better part of two years whether I get in any trouble or not, btw.

You indicated that my P.O. might find out if I try to recover (or if I destroyed?) the photos. No, there is no way they could know whether or not I honored the "remove and destroy," condition of probation unless they conduct a search and seizure of my home, all of my cameras, data, computers, etc. I'm not a pedophile or a terrorist, so that happening is extremely unlikely for a misdemeanor offense. That said, they technically have the right to do all of that if they choose to, but they won't.

This has been a hard lesson, but in a way it's been even harder to swallow the bitter pill of betrayal (a fellow member from a different group that I've never met snitched me out months after the fact. I will most likely never know what motivated them to do so, only that they went to great lengths to see that my friend and I were made to pay for this particular explore). Until now, I really didn't see what I was doing as something that would be considered "bad," or "wrong." I was naive, and I wish I could go back to that sort of innocent way of thinking and trusting other explorers, but this entire experience has forced me to look at everything and everyone - you guys, those guys, the courts... everything, differently. Betrayal sucks. Being made an "example" of by a wealthy suburban county's legal system is worse.

One last thing.
Your response to this topic leads me to believe that you've concluded I did not do what the court ordered me to do. I actually never said whether or not I complied. I never said I didn't do what I was told (remove all photos taken on the property from anywhere posted online and destroy any and all photos and copies), I only said I wasn't going to confirm or deny my fulfillment of this condition imposed upon me by the court to you guys (or anyone else, most likely).

Accurate conclusions rarely come from hasty judgements (yes, I've been around the lawyers way too long).

I also carry several CF cards for this reason. When I leave a building, I swap it out with an empty card or with some nonsense on it, in case I run into someone asking me to delete.

follow the advice from above for the recovery software in a worst case scenario.

I also carry several CF cards for this reason. When I leave a building, I swap it out with an empty card or with some nonsense on it, in case I run into someone asking me to delete.

follow the advice from above for the recovery software in a worst case scenario.

A police officer can not legally ask you to delete photos. He can arrest you and confiscate the cam... everything.
It's a legal matter then.
I was shooting a Nike base. Purposely and wisely didn't shot any houses or the cops.
Didn't try to hide or deleted anything; WYSIWYG
Got everything back undamaged including the images. My images match my story and ended up having a friendly chat with the police Chief.
Charges were reduced to a ones I could live with and they got some money for some of their trouble.

Stay away from houses... people are trouble.

Had I shot one house or cop things would have been a lot harder. THINK -before- go somewhere and before hit the shutter release.
Every shot counts. If it seems like a bad shot to take, it already is, don't!
Word, integrity. Act like a professional shooter.
This philosophy has saved me at least twice with LEOs.
Both times I was granted permissive to shoot again or continue shooting.
Lying to LEOs is a very bad way to start an encounter with them.
It puts you at a disadvantage.