Lompoc Public Intoxication Attorney

Lompoc is home to The Wine Trail and multiple wineries, making it a prime location for public intoxication charges. Many natives and visitors from surrounding cities flock to the city to enjoy a beautiful day of wine and fun outdoors. However, alcohol consumption in public if taken too far can lead to arrest on a charge of public drunkenness. 

California Penal Code 647f defines public intoxication as being willfully under the influence while you are in a public area. You must also be intoxicated to the point where you cannot care for your safety or the safety of others around you, and/or to the point that you have become a hindrance or obstruction to other people using the public walkways, such as pavements or streets.

If you have been arrested for being intoxicated in public, it does not mean that you are guilty. It’s important to vigorously fight a public intoxication charge because a criminal conviction will stay on your record and can adversely affect job and educational opportunities down the road.

A former Prosecutor for the District Attorney’s Offices in Santa Barbara and San Diego Counties, Sanford Horowitz and his legal team will offer you a free consultation, investigate the evidence against you, and recommend practical steps to achieve the best possible results in your case.

THE ACT OF PUBLIC INTOXICATION

In order to convict you of public intoxication in Lompoc, the prosecution must prove each of the following elements beyond a reasonable doubt:

• Willfully/Under the Influence: You were willfully [2] under the influence of a controlled substance; AND,
• In a Public Place: You were in a space defined as “public” under the law;[3] AND,
• Unable/Exercise Care: You were unable to exercise care for your safety or the safety of others; OR,
• Interfered in Public Way: You interfered with, obstructed, or prevented the free use of a street, sidewalk, or another public way.

Looking at the above list, you might notice that state law requires that you have willfully become drunk in order to qualify for a conviction on this charge. If someone has put a substance in something you’ve been drinking without your knowledge, you are not willfully drunk.

Next, California law defines a public place as any area outside of a home in which a stranger is free to walk. This can be anything from a sidewalk to a restaurant, stadium, pub, nightclub, a hallway in a hotel or apartment building, or in a car parked on a street. This includes a front lawn, but not a backyard of a home.

For example, imagine a college student, Roger, goes drinking on New Year’s Eve. He gets extremely drunk and wanders outside of the bar in a public street. He doesn’t notice the police car headed his way and almost gets hit. The officer gets out of the car and arrests Roger for public intoxication. Should Roger be convicted?

If Roger got extremely intoxicated and then walked into a public street, obstructing the free use for drivers, he should be convicted. It is irrelevant that Roger wasn’t actually hit by the car. The crime was complete when he wandered into the street after willfully becoming intoxicated.

PUBLIC INTOXICATION PENALTIES

Penal code 647(f) is punishable for up to six months in the county jail with a maximum fine of $1,000.  Often times, an attorney can negotiate to dismiss the case upon the completion of 10 or 20 Alcohol Anonymous meetings.  However, most people are eligible for diversion, which is where a defendant avoids formal sentencing and upon completion of the diversion terms the case is dismissed.

Certain exceptions apply, but most patrons are eligible to participate in pretrial diversion under Penal Code 1000(a). In January 2018, the California Legislature amended section 1000(a) allowing most people charged with public intoxication to avoid a guilty or no contest plea by continuing the case during its pretrial stage. In the meantime, you will be required to complete AA meetings or perform community service. Upon completion your obligations, the court will dismiss your case.

If you are under the age of 21 and you are convicted for public intoxication, you can also lose your driver’s license for one year (California Vehicle Code Section 13202.52). If you do not have a driver’s license, the court will order the Department of Motor Vehicles to delay issuing you a driver’s license for one year subsequent to the time you become legally eligible to drive.

A public intoxication conviction may also have negative immigration consequences. Under the United States immigration law, certain kinds of criminal convictions in Goleta can lead to a non-citizen being deported. Some convictions can also make an immigrant “inadmissible”.

The major categories of “deportable” or “inadmissible” crimes are:

• crimes of moral turpitude,
• aggravated felonies,
• controlled substance (drug) offenses,
• firearm offenses, and
• domestic violence crimes

If a defendant violated this statute because he was intoxicated via drug use or by using a controlled substance, then there may be grounds for deportation or inadmissibility.

Additionally, if you willfully resist, delay, or obstruct a public officer in a discharge or attempt to discharge any duty of the officer, you are guilty of resisting arrest PC 148(a)(1). The crime of resisting, obstructing, or delaying an officer is charged as a misdemeanor. If found guilty, you may be punished by up to one year in jail.