Fullerton, Public Urination, Civil Compromise, Dismissal

Our client, age 24, had been working since his high school graduation with the same company. He had no criminal history. He had lived at home for many years after graduation, saving money to buy his own home one day, so he felt there was quite a bit of delayed gratification in his life.

In a Nutshell: Client urinated on a wall alongside Harbor Boulevard in downtown Fullerton, near El Matador bar. Fullerton police ticket our client for public urination and we have the case dismissed in a civil compromise under Penal Code §§ 1377 and 1378.

He saw someone else urinate along a wall about fifty feet away, so he decided to do the same thing. After all, the other guy who did this was not arrested or cited by the police.

As luck would have it, when our client did this, literally right along Harbor Boulevard, a police car pulled up at the same time. Our client was extremely embarrassed, especially since his friends watched the police officer hand our client the ticket. Our client was so nervous about being placed in handcuffs and arrested that when officers asked him to sign the ticket to avoid a trip to the police station, our client gladly did so.

The promise to appear he signed was then handed to our client and our client sheepishly returned to his friends. The client fully expected that he would have to pay a fine of $20 or less for his urinating in public, like a parking ticket.

The next day, he looked closer at the ticket, which cited him for a violation of Fullerton Municipal Code § 7.110.010(b), and discovered that the offense was a misdemeanor and then, upon looking it up on the Internet, became concerned that he could be required to register as a sex offender for life.

Fullerton Courthouse

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