Our client, age 49, was in town from Pennsylvania for business. He finished his meetings and got a hotel room in Hermosa Beach. He then headed down to the Hermosa Beach Pier Plaza area. It was about 1:00 p.m. on a warm early October afternoon.
Our client walked the four blocks south on Hermosa Avenue to Barnacles Bar and Grill and enjoyed himself a bit too much. At about 5:00 p.m. (8:00 p.m. for him, being still on “East Coast Time”), he decided to head back to his hotel to spend the night.
He spent the night in the Hermosa Beach City Jail instead.
At about 5:15 p.m., prior to being detained and then arrested, our client was reported by a 911 caller as a very drunk man unable to walk, in the 800 block of Hermosa Avenue, which only a block or two from Barnacles.
Police were dispatched to the location and found our client laying on his back on the sidewalk on the west side of the street, having defecated on himself, and unable to stand up. He told officers that he had indeed been drinking at Barnacles and explained he was trying to walk back to his hotel.
Officers drove him to the Hermosa Beach City Jail, where he was booked for public intoxication (a violation of Penal Code § 647(f)), cleaned off and put in the holding tank to sober up before being released.
For the reader’s information, a violation of Penal Code § 647(f) takes place under two situations. First, this law is violated when a person is so intoxicated by alcohol or drugs, or a combination of both, that he or she impedes a public thoroughfare, such as laying on a sidewalk, road, or public stairway. The second way is when a person is so intoxicated by alcohol or drugs, or a combination of both, that he or she is unable to care for his or her own wellbeing or those he is responsible for caring for, i.e., children or an elderly person.
In this case, our client violated § 647(f) in both ways. First, he was very drunk and lying on a public thoroughfare and therefore preventing or impeding others from using it. Second, he was very drunk and defecated on himself, which qualifies as being unable of caring for his own wellbeing.
The client was released from the Hermosa Beach City Jail the following day after signing a promise to appear in the Torrance Superior Court in about three months. He then returned to Pennsylvania and forgot about the situation for a few weeks.
About a month prior to the arraignment, the client called our office and spoke with Greg Hill.
The client explained what had happened and, surprisingly, that he had no prior criminal history. He wanted to know if he needed to fly back out to California for the arraignment and Greg explained that he did not, as an attorney can appear for the client, on his behalf under Penal Code § 977(a) on this type of misdemeanor matter.
Greg then explained how such cases are typically handled in Torrance and how they are prosecuted by the Redondo Beach City Prosecutor’s Office.
Greg explained how the prosecution has changed over the last few years and what judicial diversion is in California.
Greg recommended that the client attend at least ten Alcoholic Anonymous (AA) meetings prior to the arraignment and to give Greg documentation that the client attended such meetings prior to the arraignment, as that can reduce the terms of judicial diversion and show that the client is motivated to prevent such behavior in the future by educating himself or herself about the dangers of alcohol abuse.
The client ended up attending no such meetings prior to the arraignment, which surprised Greg given the client’s age and lack of any criminal history.
Nonetheless, at the arraignment, the Redondo Beach City Prosecutor discussed the case with Greg and offered to dismiss the case if the client showed proof of attending 26 AA meetings.
This was a kind gesture by the Redondo Beach City Prosecutor, as she noted the client’s lack of any criminal history and seemed to empathize with him “just having way too much to drink.”
The client was ecstatic about the offer of a dismissal and quickly attended 26 AA meetings, greatly relieved that he would avoid a conviction on his otherwise spotless criminal history.
For more information about public intoxication, please click on the following articles: