Let’s suppose a hotel employee becomes aware through compelling evidence that one of the guests is in possession of drugs or is hiring hookers. Specifically, I read the following example in thiscracked article.
The employee was asked to go out to the car of a guest and retrieve a bag, without opening it. Upon reaching the car, the hotel worker found the bag open and drugs and paraphernalia scattered everywhere inside the car. The employee dutifully put the items that appeared to belong in the bag back in the bag, and delivered it to the guest without incident.
The article also describes a bellhop spotting a baggie full of white powder fall out of a patron’s pocket. He scooped it up immediately and quietly told the man in the hotel bar “hey, check your pockets, if anything’s missing I have something to return to you. Meet me at the restrooms.”
Technically, this employee is only returning lost property. He doesn’t know the substance is cocaine, but he suspects enough to be circumspect about returning it.
Has the hotel worker committed a crime, here? If they were caught on camera knowingly covering up drug possession or abuse, what penalties might they be subject to? For that matter, when they carry the guest’s bag up to their room, knowing there are drugs inside, are they actually guilty of possession of drugs at that time? What if they didn’t know but only strongly suspected? (perhaps there was white powder residue or the bag smelled like weed)
The “bag in the car” incident might be enough to qualify for drug trafficking charges. OTOH, I’d also be afraid of what might happen if I go up to the guest and say anything which admitted that I’d seen his Huge Stash O’Illegal Substances.
I don’t see how the employee can be successfully prosecuted unless it can be proven that he knowingly did something illegal. Suspecting is not the same as knowing, and people who are not law enforcement officers cannot be reasonably expected to know that white powder is definitely cocaine rather than baby powder, or that needles are going to be used to inject heroin rather than insulin, or that the lady is a hooker rather than a friend, relative, or business acquaintance.
It doesn’t matter if you know you’re doing something illegal or not… You can be charged and convicted if you break the law by your actions. “Not knowing” some particular fact isn’t a legal shield, it’s just an argument (and often a pretty poor one). There are 10s of thousands of laws people don’t know; breaking them is still illegal.
There is of course a difference between what’s technically illegal and what’s going to be enforced or followed up on. Carrying my stash bag in for me would not be legal (as per the original question)… Whether the bellboy would actually be charged would depend on a bunch of things… But I believe the answer would be he could be. That fact can be used to for example compell the bellboy to give the cops information or other help.
The hooker thing would be harder though… People jump into bed with each other for all kinds of reasons, many of them perfectly legal despite being pretty morally wrong. AFAIK, the act of banging a hooker it’s self is not illegal (any more so than doing it with your girlfriends best friend or some drunk chick from the bar), but it’s where and how the “deal” was made that can get them both in trouble. The follow-through at the hotel it’s self wouldn’t be breaking the law (assuming proper ages, etc).
Mostly incorrect. You may be confusing the doctrines of “mistake of law” and “mistake of fact.” Mistake of law – where you didn’t know something was against the law – is almost never an excuse.
But you do need to have the requisite mental state to be convicted of a crime. Say Boris Badenov has tied up Bullwinkle and left him on the roof of an elevator. Unaware of this, you come along and hit the button for the top floor, killing Bullwinkle. Guilty of a crime? Of course not. But say you’re aware Bullwinkle is up there, and you hit the button with malice aforethought, hoping he’ll be crushed. Guilty of a crime? Of course you are.
Some crimes don’t require any particular mental state. Statutory rape (in most states). Selling adulterated food (in some states). These types of crimes are called “strict liability crimes.”
But as far as the OP goes, the use (not the sale) of drugs is a pretty minor offense in most jurisdictions, and a bellhop who brought a guest his forgotten bag of suspicious white powder would be guilty, at most, of conspiracy to use drugs. In the real world, prosecutors have more important things to do.
Part of the problem for the bellhop would be to prove “I was only holding it for a friend/customer”. If the cops grab him as he’s about to hand over the bag, will the druggie client say “oh, no, that’s mine” or “never talked to this fellow in my life”? If his fingerprints are all over the contents, kind of difficult to say “I was only fetching a bag as requested.”
However, perhaps there’s nobody’s word that the bellhop would have done anything other than fetch a bag. Perhaps the garage attendant saw him go over to a customer’s car and retrieve a bag. Perhaps the request came through the concierge or front desk who can verify the story.
This is one of those “what if” stories; the cops burst into the room and A tosses his stash into B’s lap. Who gets charged? If the cops see the toss, A. If not, B.
Other evidence might be relevant. If the bellhop picks up a baggie and does not immediately return it, or suspects he must be circumspect in returning it, then he is taking possession of what he believes likely to be an illegal substance. Sounds like the intent and the act of possession. In this situation, your best bet is to pretend you did not see, let someone else pick it up. As for fetching a bag from a car, be sure your butt is covered - no fingerprints, closed bag, etc. If it’s going to take more than half a minute to load the bag, better to pretend you could not find the car. Of course, only the employee can judge the risk of arrest while moving bags, and fetching (closed) bags is a normal part of their job - so once he’s loaded the bag with no witnesses, who can say he’s doing anything other than his job?
For prostitutes, the problem is not illegality. The problem generally is the reputation of the hotel. In Canada, there’s the charge of “keeping a common bawdy house”, which IIRC has been used against hotels which knowingly facilitate prostitution. If they’re too lax in controlling room rentals by the hour, etc., then they are guilty. Prostitution laws are changing in Canada, but the act was not illegal - just the offer (“soliciting”) and living off the avails of prostitution (pimping). In most US jurisdictions, I’m not sure what a hotel could be charged with unless it encouraged the act; especially the employees are not doing anything illegal - unless they facilitate arrangements.
Years ago, back in the 80s, I had a part time job working security at a very high-end hotel in Manhattan.
One of my duties was to keep an eye out for known prostitutes. We had a book of face shots in the office, and we were expected to be familiar with it.
If we saw a woman known to be a prostitute in the public areas of the hotel (if she were working the bar, say), and if she was unaccompanied, we were supposed to ask her to leave. Generally, they would leave quietly.
If we saw a known prostitute with a hotel guest, we weren’t supposed to do anything.
Under no circumstances were we to call the police.
DAs have better things to do than prosecute bell hops on weak grounds. Hotel staff have no obligation to inform police of what may be happening. Yes an ambitious prosecutor could try to convict hotel staff in those situations but in the grand scheme of things they are better off not pissing off hotels and getting voluntary testimony from the staff on cases where it really matters.
Not really. The bellhop’s job is to retrieve and hold bags for customers. (And to pick up spilled contents). He does it all day, every work day. So it’s not unbelievable for him to be holding bags for customers.
Now, if I’m on a street corner with a pocket full of baggies filled with heroin and I say I am “holding it for a friend” then the jury can compare both situations and see which one has reasonable doubt.
I agree… Provided it’s not the bellhop’s fingerprints on all the paraphernalia inside the bag. That’s a bit harder to explain away. (This is where a high-end white glove establishment has the edge)
OTOH, rarely does a bellhop’s job involve holding clear plastic baggies of white powder unless it’s a sideline. His best bet in the OP situation is to kick it under the furniture.