Public Drunkeness

[SUPERMANZ]

What is the name of your state?I Am 21 Years Old From Pennsylvania. This Past Weekend I Had Attended A Concert At A Nightclub In A Local City. After The Night Was Over And After Having A Couple Drinks I Had Left The Club And Had Gotten Into A Fight With One Of My Own Friends. The Police Came And Talked To Us Both. I Explained We Had An Argument And We Were Friends And My Girlfriend Was To Take Us Home. They Were About To Let Us Go Until I Opened My Mouth And Said "i Cant Be Arrested" - Not As A Threat But As An Inconvenience. So They Took Us Both In. The Officer Stated I Was Being Arrested For Public Drunkeness. I Knew I Was Right Around The Legal Limit. No Breathalizer Was Given To Me Until I Had Already Been Placed In My Cell And About 20 Minutes Later They Gave It To Me I Blew A 0.06. On The Citation Issued There Was No Blood-alcohol Level, Or Pbt %. The Citation Reads," Defendant Intoxicated In Public Being A Menace To Society And Others"............... Also, They Wrote Down The Wrong Social Security Number.......... Would I Need A Lawyer For This Case? And How Would I Approach The Matter If Not?

 

[CdwJava]

First, I have to ask ... HOW does someone type a capital letter in front of every word!? Not only can I not imagine how to do that while typing, I also find it incredibly difficult to read.

Okay, keep in mind that public intoxication has nothing to do with being at the legal limit for DUI. All that public intoxication really means is that after having some alcohol you started to act in a manner that was endangering the welfare of yourself or others. In other words, you had some drinks and caused a ruckus. Your BAC is irrelevent to the charge unless your local DA makes it an issue ... in my county in CA the DA wants to see a BA of .08+ before he'll file, but his opinion is an anomaly in my state.

Fighting at or near a bar is a good indicator that you were intoxicated.

I do not know what the penalties are for the offense in PA but it probably wouldn't hurt to at least consult an attorney before court.

- Carl

 

[Veronica1228]

First, I have to ask ... HOW does someone type a capital letter in front of every word!? Not only can I not imagine how to do that while typing, I also find it incredibly difficult to read.

- Carl

Caps Lock. For some people it types in all caps, for others (like me) it capitalizes the first letter of every word.

 

[SUPERMANZ]

I Dont Know Why All The First Letters Are Capital, It Must Post That Way.

But There Were No Dui Charges Brought Upon Me. Is There Anything You Know Of That Can Throw Out The Citation Due To The Incorrect Ssn#?

I Recall One Of My Buddies Getting His Citation For Underage Drinking Thrown Out Due To A Misspelling Of His Name.

 

[CdwJava]

Since an SSN is rarely a valid form of ID, I doubt that this error will cause anything but a raised eyebrow. Heck, my SS card has my NAME spelled wrong! It's not a valid form of ID in any state in the union anyway.

And all because your friend had his case tossed for what he thinks was a misspelled name doesn't mean that was the case.

I brought up DUI only to demonstrate that being at or above the "legal limit" (the 'per se' limit for DUI which is usally .08) means nothing for purposes of public intoxication.

You need to consult an attorney to know the full ramifications of the offense and a guilty plea or conviction. It could be a civil offense with a fine only, or it could be a misdemeanor conviction that stays forever on your record. An attorney can answer these questions.

- Carl