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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jun 2010
    Posts
    4

    Exclamation Charged With Drinking in Public

    My question involves criminal law for the state of: California

    I was stopped walking to a bar about 10 feet from the front door with an energy drink that had a very low amount of alcohol, a friend had offered and i accepted feet before i was pulled over by a police officer on a motorcycle..he had made me empty the drink on the side of the road and wrote me a citation for drinking in public, 7.17.010 FUMC. I was given the citation, told me to show up in court and pay the fine.

    however I noticed that both I and M on my ticket are circled, meaning infraction and misdemeanor. however when I went online to look in the OCCourts.org case index, it shows as a misdemeanor (because that is what the muni code says that law is under)...i have court on July 7th and am curious if I need a lawyer or will this be brought down to an infraction, i have nothing on my record not even a speeding ticket.

    a friend of mine also received a drunk in public however in the city of Newport Beach and was given a fine and left alone. I cannot afford a misdemeanor as I am job hunting, also opening a bar/restaurant with my father and will need to apply for a liquor license alongside him, as well as im a pre-med student in college and dont want that to affect me.

    if someone could let me know how to go about this properly it would be much appreciated, there was a post about a month ago for this and never heard the result, but heard responses that the judge would drop to an infraction, not quite sure. Thanks!

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    Toledo, OH
    Posts
    16,307

    Default Re: Charged With Drinking in Public

    i have court on July 7th and am curious if I need a lawyer or will this be brought down to an infraction
    It's my understanding that these are usually dropped to an infraction. It certainly can't hurt to at least consult with an attorney prior to your court date.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jun 2010
    Posts
    4

    Default Re: Charged With Drinking in Public

    should I not be too worried?

    not sure if I should contact a lawyer, im low on cash just a college student and am worried if I dont have some real representation I could walk out with a misdemeanor and that will haunt me. so im quite worried about it but not sure what to expect when I walk in or anything I can do prior..?

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Oct 2009
    Location
    Los Angeles, CA
    Posts
    36

    Default Re: Charged With Drinking in Public

    Do not worry too much. Likely, since you have no record (especially no record of alcohol abuse) this will be dropped to an infraction.
    If they want to give you a misdemeanor, however, they should offer you DEJ (Deferred Entry of Judgement). Under that program you will have to complete some sort of program (AA or something similar) and if you do that and stay out of trouble, the case will be dropped as if it never happened.
    If the DA wants to keep it at a misdemeanor and doesn't want to give you DEJ, contact an attorney. They will have a better chance and it would be worth it so that you do not have a record.
    But...it is pretty likely that you will just get an infraction, which does not usually show up on background checks.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jun 2010
    Posts
    4

    Default Re: Charged With Drinking in Public

    So I called my family attorney the other day and gave him all my information. Said he would call in and figure out what was going on and to see how it would be filed

    He called me to let me know that the police department files these municipal codes to the criminal department and NOT the DA....he then contacted this dept to find out that the case was filed as a misdemeanor and not an infraction. He advised me to go to court on my arraignment and see how it's truly going to be filed but if it's a misdemeanor I have to go thru the pain of hiring him and paying even more money :/. Now I'm concerned because I have an expunged misdemeanor from when I turned 18 (now am 22) and that may not let me get an infraction out of this even though it was expunged (I was an accessory to credit card theft when my friend got caught I happened to be by his side unknowingly). So I'm not sure what's going to happen but it's stressing me

  6. #6

    Default Re: Charged With Drinking in Public

    Quote Quoting ebaydan777
    View Post
    My question involves criminal law for the state of: California

    I was stopped walking to a bar about 10 feet from the front door with an energy drink that had a very low amount of alcohol, a friend had offered and i accepted feet before i was pulled over by a police officer on a motorcycle..he had made me empty the drink on the side of the road and wrote me a citation for drinking in public, 7.17.010 FUMC. I was given the citation, told me to show up in court and pay the fine.

    however I noticed that both I and M on my ticket are circled, meaning infraction and misdemeanor. however when I went online to look in the OCCourts.org case index, it shows as a misdemeanor (because that is what the muni code says that law is under)...i have court on July 7th and am curious if I need a lawyer or will this be brought down to an infraction, i have nothing on my record not even a speeding ticket.

    a friend of mine also received a drunk in public however in the city of Newport Beach and was given a fine and left alone. I cannot afford a misdemeanor as I am job hunting, also opening a bar/restaurant with my father and will need to apply for a liquor license alongside him, as well as im a pre-med student in college and dont want that to affect me.

    if someone could let me know how to go about this properly it would be much appreciated, there was a post about a month ago for this and never heard the result, but heard responses that the judge would drop to an infraction, not quite sure. Thanks!
    Dear drunk in public.

    An attorney should be able to get this reduced quite easily to an infraction. In fact, an attorney should be able to get this dismissed based on these facts. The code PC 647(F) requires that a person be drunk for one; for two, you must be in public; for three, the person must be so drunk that the person is a danger to themselves or others. Police write these types of tickets up just to piss people off. rarely is there a person who is actually drunk, in public, and is a danger to themselves or others when these cops write this stuff up. The cop almost never gets a breathalyzer test. Anyway, based on these facts, I would probably settle for nothing less than an outright dismissal of the criminal charge. Please do not consider this opinion to be legal advice or created for the purpose of creating a lawyer/client relationship. But if you do need professional counsel please feel free to contact me through my webpage: christopherdoradolaw.com good luck to you.

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