Contributing to the Delinquency of a Minor

[paperb23]

OK so here is what happened I am 22 years old and the other night i rented a room at a hotel 6 and had a party in one of the rooms. There was a lot of people in and out the whole night. but then it came to the point were we were making to much noise and the cops were called. when they arrived there just happened to be minor's in the room at the time. there was some alcohol beer and one or 2 of the minor's was intoxicated. they took statements from all the minor's. then called there parents to have them picked them up for an officer drove them home. then came to me and told me to but my hands behind my back and cuffed me and that i was under arrest and put me in the back of the car. about 10 mins later they took me out of the car took the hand cuffs off and wrote me a citation for misdemeanor, contributing to the delinquency of a minor (272 A1) penal code California. any advise or help or someone with knowledge on the this charge would be greatly appreciated.

PS i have no real criminal history at all and this is a first time offence for me

[Mr. Knowitall]

What do you want to know about the charge?

You can read it here.

[paperb23]

is it a really serious crime and what can i expect, or give me an idea what the punishment might be ?

[aaron]

You read the statute, and you're still asking?

[PandorasBox]

Here's a passage from what was already posted:

272. (a) (1) Every person who commits any act or omits the
performance of any duty, which act or omission causes or tends to
cause or encourage any person under the age of 18 years to come
within the provisions of Section 300, 601, or 602 of the Welfare and
Institutions Code or which act or omission contributes thereto, or
any person who, by any act or omission, or by threats, commands, or
persuasion, induces or endeavors to induce any person under the age
of 18 years or any ward or dependent child of the juvenile court to
fail or refuse to conform to a lawful order of the juvenile court, or
to do or to perform any act or to follow any course of conduct or to
so live as would cause or manifestly tend to cause that person to
become or to remain a person within the provisions of Section 300,
601, or 602 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, is guilty of a
misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine
not exceeding two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500), or by
imprisonment in the county jail for not more than one year, or by
both fine and imprisonment in a county jail, or may be released on
probation for a period not exceeding five years.

Basically: You are 22 years old. You rented a motel room. You are responsible for what goes on in that room. You had a party going on, with minors. You may not be related to said minor, but you did contribute to the delinquency.

[paperb23]

why is it that they told me I'm under arrest and put me in cuffs and read me my rights then ten mins later took them off and let me go?

[LawResearcherMissy]

Because they don't need to take you to jail for you to have been arrested. they need only detain you long enough to fill out the paperwork - with or without cuffs - for it to be an arrest.

[PandorasBox]

You were likely released under personal recognizance....aka, you have ties to the community and will show up in court on your appointed date.

A lawyer would be a good idea. Many offer free consults.

[KeyWestDan]

First, the police needed to take control of the situation, hence the handcuffs and putting you in the squad car. Apparently they were prepared to arrest you for the crime. After talking to people and perhaps a supervisor, they made a different decision. Chances are they did not think they had a very good case to take to the DA and criminal court.

The police had two options available. They could arrest you for the CRIMINAL offense of contributing, which would involve taking you in, booking you and putting you in jail until bond was posted. That would have been lots of fun for you.

Instead, they did you a favor and charged it as a municipal ordinance violation which is a CIVIL offense. You do not get a criminal arrest or conviction on your record. They wrote you a civil ticket.

You can still take it to court and fight it, but you probably would lose, assuming they can get the minor witnesses to show up and the cops show up. If you want to do that, talk to an attorney. Or you can just pay the fine.

[paperb23]

do you think I'm looking at jail time? or just fines and probation

P.S. my record is clean except for some traffic tickets