Drunk in Public

 

Drunk in Public

If you’ve been arrested for being drunk in public in Santa Monica, Long Beach or  or West Hollywood or just anywhere in Los Angeles or Orange County, you need to call the Los Angeles Public Intoxication Defense Attorneys at Law Offices of Errol Cook & Associates right away. Being drunk in public is always a matter of opinion...the subjective opinion of a police officer.

There have been several cases where people just sitting on the porch of a restaurant minding their own business or sitting in a friend’s car or even standing outside their own house have been arrested on drunk in public charges. Perhaps something like this happened you, and that is why you need to call the best lawyers at the Los Angeles County Drunk in Public Defense Lawyer at Law Offices of Errol Cook & Associates.

Understanding the Charge of Drunk in Public

At the Law Offices of Errol Cook & Associates explains, the crime of being drunk in public is defined under Penal Code (PC) 647(f) as a person, “who is found in any public place under the influence of intoxicating liquor..... unable to exercise care for his or her own safety or the safety of others [and] interferes with or obstructs or prevents the free use of any street, sidewalk, or other public way.”

In order to prove your guilt under California Jury Instructions, Criminal 16.430 the prosecutor must prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that you were willfully under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs, and at that time you were under the influence you were in a public place, and unable to exercise care for your own safety and the safety of others, or because of your drunkenness you interfered with, obstructed, or prevented the free use of a sidewalk, street, or other public way. My law firm can get you the favorable results you need to move on with your life.

 

Drunk in Public

California's drunk in public law is similar to those around the country. California Penal Code Section 647 (f) states that it is illegal to be in any public place under the influence of intoxicating liquor (or combination of liquor and drugs), in such a condition that renders you unable to exercise care for his/her own safety.  The law of drunk in public also states that if you are under the influence of an intoxicating substance (alcohol or drugs) and your intoxication interferes with or obstructs or prevents the free use of any street, sidewalk, or other public way, you can be charged with a misdemeanor.  However, drunk in public charges are usually filed when alcohol is the culprit.  When drugs are the culprit of one's public intoxication, the a PC 11550(a) is the usual charge.

The misdemeanor charge being of "drunk in public" requires more than a person being drunk and being in public.  The legal standard in California usually requires that a person be so drunk as to be a danger to themselves or a danger others.

California's laws relating to people who are accused of being drunk in public are fairly typical of laws around the country. However, if you or someone you care about is charged with any alcohol or drug related offense, it is critically important that you contact a lawyer in your jurisdiction to give you advice.