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These are the elements as laid out in California Penal Code 647f
My services are routinely used by people in Orange County accused of Public Intoxication Penal Code 647(f) by the Orange County District Attorney’s Office. Most of my cases come from areas in Orange county in cities where there is a large amount of bars. I know on any given night a good person can consume a large amount of alcohol at the local bars and have a bad evening resulting in an encounter with a police officer which results in criminal charges and a night in jail. This happens often but it does not have to end with a public intoxication conviction in court.
1] You were willfully under the influence of (alcohol[,]/ [and/or] a drug[,]/ [and/or] a controlled substance[,]/ [and/or] toluene);
2]When you were under the influence, you were in a public place;
3A. You were unable to exercise care for your own safety [or the safety of others].]
3B. Because you were under the influence, (he/she) interfered with, obstructed, or prevented the free use of a street, sidewalk, or other public way.]
Yes. The prosecution must prove beyond a reasonable doubt for a criminal conviction in a trial for public intoxication charge or any misdemeanor crime. However without proving their case the prosecution would not be able to impose community service or jail time.
It is not ok to stick a person with a guilty plea and give them a negative consequences of a criminal history because they were over the legal limit and failed a few field sobreity test or had some illegal drugs in their system.
A lawyer will get the prosecutions police report and all availible audio and video of the incident of the case against you from the police department.
A Public Intoxication lawyer makes it harder for the state to prove a case against you. Often times police officers arrest people just because they are annoying. Annoying a police officer is not a crime. A dismissal can be won in court court thru a trial and a misdemeanor can be avoided if handled properly
By setting the standard this high and forcing the prosecution to overcome the difference circumtances which explain the field sobriety test and odor of alcohol, we force a plea deal where there is dismissal. The dimissal could be in exchange for community service hours or some kind of alcohol awareness program
In addition a good lawyer will put together a picture that paints the picture that takes your circumstances into consideration and get you a dimisssal so you do not have to answer that you have been convicted on a background check.
The defense strategy against the prosecution is to put the law enforcement officer on the stand and put him on cross examination. In addition to having him on the stand to testify, we would his report and video body camera. Video body camera presents a problem to the officer and prosecution because it shows another side of the story then the police report which is dictated by he officer.
Often times the video will show the absence of slurred speech and unsteady gait. Furthermore, the unable to care for oneself element was just a bad attitude by college students being under the influence of alcohol with suspect circumstances.
The prosecution is left with a case with a minor offense on private property. Even with bloodshot eyes and a defenddnt being under the influence of alcohol. This is good enough for a DUI but not for a disorderly conduct offenses.
Most of the time a person is rowdy because of alcohol and causing a disturbance and this does not mean they are so intoxicated that they will not be able to care for them self.
In addition to this there are no Objective Standard for Public Intoxication and the offesne must take place on public property. Unlike other offenses where there is an objective number at play such as blood alcohol concentration derived from blood tests or even a pseudo test such as field sobreity test, here there is no such standard. In deleveloping a public intoxication defense strategy we want to make them prove that the physical faculties was so gone that our cleint needed medical treatment.
Many excellent criminaI defense attorneys will tell you that it is not enough if you were just annoying and rude to people.
Unfortunately, police are very liberal as to what they deem as public intoxication. Sometimes a person may not be intoxicated enough to meet the Public Intoxication in California. However, they may have failed the attitude test with the police. This is enough to get the charge. Many charges will turn into a misdemeanor if left unchecked. These misdemeanor will hurt a person when they are looking for a job.
You have to be so incapacitated by alcohol that you can no longer care for yourself. This is not the case in a lot of situations. In a lot of situation people are arrested for what they could have done. However, you can not be prosecuted for what you could have done.
However, often times a person police officer will be annoyed by a drunk person and arrest the person for public intoxication. This is not a Public Intoxication. It is public annoyance by a drunk person, but that is not illegal. You are free to be annoying as you want but that doesn’t mean you should be arrested.
If you were inside a bar then you would not be guilty of public intoxication. Furthermore, the state will have to prove that you were blocking access to the street or sidewalk. For example, if you were passed out on the ground and you were not able to move and you were blocking people’s pathway then you would meet this requirement. However, if you are merely being confrontational with other people then you do not meet this prong for Public Intoxication.
At the end of the day People will drink and do things that are out of their characte however one night of drinking should not affect a peson’s professional license and leave them with a public record that stains their chances with potential employers on back ground checks
Public Intoxication is a hard charge for the state to prove. Often times police officers arrest people just because they are annoying. Annoying a police officer is not a crime. A dismissal can be won in court court and a misdemeanor can be avoided jif handled properly
These are the elements as laid out in California Penal Code 647f
These are recent results that we have been able to obtain for our clients.
The State Must Prove
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