I just got out of jail

Hey brandon.....it just occurred to me that you must have been really drunk. You'd have to be to eat one of those nasty-ass hot dogs from 7/11. Was it all red and shriveled up?

Yep, that had to be a dead give away, man with hot dog from 711 at 2am!


ApuHotDogs.jpg





Homer1.jpg
 
Ok, not really jail. It was just a holding cell. Fascism is rapidly approaching....


Last night I was at a friends house drinking some beer. I had about 6 beers and was mildly intoxicated. Around 2 AM I decided to walk to the 711 to buy a hotdog. The 711 is about 50 yards from his house.

As I was leaving the 711, a cop started following me. He pulled in front of me and jumped out of the car demanding ID. I told him that I am not required by law to present ID and did not want to. He asked me if I had beeen drinking, and I said "Yes I have had a few beers." He then informed me that if I did not present ID he would assume I was under the age of 21 and have to lock me up. Not wanting any more hassle, I complied and presented my ID card.

At this point 3 more cop cars pulled up. After the cop verified that I was indeed old enough to be drinking legally, he told me that I was going to have to take a breathalyzer. I promptly informed him that I would not be taking a breathalyzer. As soon as these words left my mouth, he slammed cuffs on me and threw me in the cop car. I didnt resist the arrest, but did tell him I would fight this in court and appellate court if necessary.

They then took me to the station, made me remove my shoes, socks and belt, and searched all my belongings. They took pictures of me. Then they made me perform physical sobriety tests, which I easily passed. After this, I was thrown into a tiny metal cell with no clock and no windows. I was not allowed to make any phone calls to inform my friend of what happened to me. I stayed there for the next 13 hours.

Finally they let me out, and handed me a summary offence violation for public drunkeness with a fine of only $25.00

I am positive they gave me the smallest fine possible in hopes of dissuading me from taking this to court. If I pay the fine, it only costs me 25$. If I fight it in court, I will lose $200 from missing work to attend the trial. In addition, I might get a corrupt judge and have to appeal it to the next level.

What do I do? Where do I go from here? And most importantly, how the fuck did America become like this?

If you take it to court, it will be their word against yours. They might say you acted violent, and had to arrest you. If this was UK, maybe there would have been one of those cameras on a lamb post, recording it. And then you could have used that to prove that you did not act out.

Cheers
 
A nite out with the Gestapo

This one just happened last november in a nice quiet beach town in SoCal, Palos Verdes. Vincent's Statement
Ross, Eric and I stepped outside our friend’s house on the cliffs of Palos Verdes Estates, ultimately to grab a breath of fresh air and to retrieve an item we had previously left in my car. We were told previously by our friends who occupy the house that police were eager to pinch anyone associated with the residence. Our friends claims were based on their intuition of police attempting to take a stab at building a complaint against those who occupy the house. Our friends who live there also indicated that if we go outside there was a good chance of being harrassed by police, we thought nothing of these warnings from our friends, since we come from a town we're the police are not know for their practice of harrassment on unhostile innocent people. We stepped outside into a very cold night and proceeded to my car, Ross hopped in at the drivers side, me at the passenger, and erick in the rear right seat behind me. No more than two minutes pass by as we're searching for the item we came out to look for a police car turned the corner onto the street in front of us. The police car had it's light's off. We knew the officers were looking for trouble because they pulled directly in front of the house. The police car thent set its light directly on us and at that time Ross already had his left hand raised out the window as to show we mean no harm.The police pulled in front of my car as to block an escape. An officer exited his vehicle and headed towards Ross' side of the car. Ross rolled down the window and before he could ask anything the officer began to yell "Who's got the weed?", we replied We don't have anything sir. The officer then replied " I hate Fu**ing liars!" (Later on after everything was searched thoroughly the officer found out that we were not liar's and we were not concealing anything.) I believe becuase Ross was confused by the officer's yelling and false claims, (I was also confused) Ross asked, "What's the problem officer?" The officers voice raised even higher to tell Ross to exit the car. Ross began to open the car door but had a little difficulty due to the inside door handle was broken and needed a certian pull to open. When Ross was pulled from the car he again asked "Whats the problem sir?" The officer with unnecessary force grabbed

Ross by the arm and moved him toward my car. In the blink of an eye the officer struck Ross in the face and threw him to the ground and landed directly on top of him. Ross still questioned the officer as to why he was doing this to him. Eric and I were also terrified for we thought that our turn for a beating was next. I remained in the car as I knew getting out might anger the officer. I then saw another officer approach. In fear I yelled to the approaching officer ( I will call Officer B)that his partner had assaulted my friend. He told me to shut up and remain seated. I tried to plead the officers that Ross had done nothing wrong. Officer B placed his hand on his gun and yelled at me to be quiet. I remain uncommunicative out of fear that he might assault Eric or me. I was outraged that they had assaulted Ross with no reason. Ross had done nothing wrong and was completely compliant with the officer. The officers then called for back up. An unnecessary amount of police officers arrived at the scene as if my friends and I were armed and dangerous. All of us are college students. Ross and Eric work full-time. I am a full- time honors student as well as an athlete. I could never have imagined myself in such a situation until that night. The officer's questioned us and our complaint's were ignored. They searched us, my car and arrested Ross. I asked the officer if I was under arrest and he replied "no." I took out my phone to call my lawyer and the officer asked what I was doing: I told him and he told me to put away my phone, being scared I complied. Finally the officer left with Ross in the back seat. I have the utmost respect for men and women of the law. But, I belive the gentlemen I dealt with that night, the Palos Verdes Estates Police are a goup of wild cowboys who believe it is acceptable to exert force on those who they are supposed to protect. I believe Ross was assaulted without reason and deserve's retribution and an apology from the Palos Verdes Estate Police Force. The individual officer who took part in the act is no way someone responsible and passive enough to handle the role of a peace officer and should be reprimanded to the highest level.


Ended up paying a lawyer $2500 went to court and the D.A. offered a plea bargain. The bargain included dropping of public intoxication but enter a "No Contest" plea to obstructing police officer's duty (Maximum sentence in Cali 1year in county prison. In the end I recieved 3 years summary probation and $500 fine.

If you guy's would like to see the police report, I should be able to scan it. They totally twisted the story for their favor. When I asked for video tape from the squad car they replied with we dont have active cameras in our vehicles... how convinient!?!
 
Last edited:
Wish CfL could help with stuff like this too. Get stuff like this in local papers. WITH our view of why it's WRONG.

Ok, not really jail. It was just a holding cell. Fascism is rapidly approaching....


Last night I was at a friends house drinking some beer. I had about 6 beers and was mildly intoxicated. Around 2 AM I decided to walk to the 711 to buy a hotdog. The 711 is about 50 yards from his house.

As I was leaving the 711, a cop started following me. He pulled in front of me and jumped out of the car demanding ID. I told him that I am not required by law to present ID and did not want to. He asked me if I had beeen drinking, and I said "Yes I have had a few beers." He then informed me that if I did not present ID he would assume I was under the age of 21 and have to lock me up. Not wanting any more hassle, I complied and presented my ID card.

At this point 3 more cop cars pulled up. After the cop verified that I was indeed old enough to be drinking legally, he told me that I was going to have to take a breathalyzer. I promptly informed him that I would not be taking a breathalyzer. As soon as these words left my mouth, he slammed cuffs on me and threw me in the cop car. I didnt resist the arrest, but did tell him I would fight this in court and appellate court if necessary.

They then took me to the station, made me remove my shoes, socks and belt, and searched all my belongings. They took pictures of me. Then they made me perform physical sobriety tests, which I easily passed. After this, I was thrown into a tiny metal cell with no clock and no windows. I was not allowed to make any phone calls to inform my friend of what happened to me. I stayed there for the next 13 hours.

Finally they let me out, and handed me a summary offence violation for public drunkeness with a fine of only $25.00

I am positive they gave me the smallest fine possible in hopes of dissuading me from taking this to court. If I pay the fine, it only costs me 25$. If I fight it in court, I will lose $200 from missing work to attend the trial. In addition, I might get a corrupt judge and have to appeal it to the next level.

What do I do? Where do I go from here? And most importantly, how the fuck did America become like this?
 
Ok, not really jail. It was just a holding cell. Fascism is rapidly approaching....


Last night I was at a friends house drinking some beer. I had about 6 beers and was mildly intoxicated. Around 2 AM I decided to walk to the 711 to buy a hotdog. The 711 is about 50 yards from his house.

As I was leaving the 711, a cop started following me. He pulled in front of me and jumped out of the car demanding ID. I told him that I am not required by law to present ID and did not want to. He asked me if I had beeen drinking, and I said "Yes I have had a few beers." He then informed me that if I did not present ID he would assume I was under the age of 21 and have to lock me up. Not wanting any more hassle, I complied and presented my ID card.

At this point 3 more cop cars pulled up. After the cop verified that I was indeed old enough to be drinking legally, he told me that I was going to have to take a breathalyzer. I promptly informed him that I would not be taking a breathalyzer. As soon as these words left my mouth, he slammed cuffs on me and threw me in the cop car. I didnt resist the arrest, but did tell him I would fight this in court and appellate court if necessary.

They then took me to the station, made me remove my shoes, socks and belt, and searched all my belongings. They took pictures of me. Then they made me perform physical sobriety tests, which I easily passed. After this, I was thrown into a tiny metal cell with no clock and no windows. I was not allowed to make any phone calls to inform my friend of what happened to me. I stayed there for the next 13 hours.

Finally they let me out, and handed me a summary offence violation for public drunkeness with a fine of only $25.00

I am positive they gave me the smallest fine possible in hopes of dissuading me from taking this to court. If I pay the fine, it only costs me 25$. If I fight it in court, I will lose $200 from missing work to attend the trial. In addition, I might get a corrupt judge and have to appeal it to the next level.

What do I do? Where do I go from here? And most importantly, how the fuck did America become like this?

Quick question... how "old" do you look? Any gray hair on head or in beard or anything?

The point being that if you look "young enough" then their BS reason of needing the ID "to determine whether you were underage" probably WILL stand up in court.

If you got gray hair on head or beard... then there is no way THAT excuse will stand as anything more than BS (with a decent jury). But in THAT case they might begin "testilying" -- and you'd have to do discovery on the report they filed to see what they actually wrote down ("subject was aggressive and resisted arrest" etc.) -- if they wrote it down as you described it, AND you look old enough that no one in their "right mind" would think you under 21, THEN you might have a chance of fighting it. It really depends on how good of a job they did with covering their backsides.

Also was the first cop a county cop? Or a town cop? Or a State patrol type guy? And if more than one type, which cop (Town/County/State) did the actual arresting & report write-up?

Oh, and I am Not a Lawyer... and you need one if you decide to fight it. (But you are right about the $25 fine... it's low so they make you go away... but it WILL stay on your record and haunt you later).
 
Last edited:
Oh, and IANAL... and you need one if you decide to fight it. (But you are right about the $25 fine... it's low so they make you go away... but it WILL stay on your record and haunt you later).

Worst acronym... ever. (going to bed now...)
 
Last edited:
I'd talk to a lawyer. Even something as petty as public intocication will come back to screw you later.
My nephew was looking to rent an apartment and after taking his info and $70 application fee turned him down in about 5 minutes. A p.i. misdemeanor from 7 years ago led to a ding in his criminal check.
Seems like an easy scam for the apartments to me.
So just be aware that even a misdemeanor for p.i. will have repercussions when applying for an apartment or a job.
 
Glad you kept your cool. I would've gone ape-shit if they tried to arrest me for public intoxication. Pay the $25 and try not to stew over it... We need you for more important things.

thereby providing them with all the proof they need to back up the charge they hit you with.

sue them for depriving you of your constitutional rights.

i know of a case where something similar happened, and the county was literally slammed with lawsuits. it cut the shit out immediately.

perhaps find a good lawyer and a few other folks w/ similar circumstances.
 
If I pay the fine, it only costs me 25$. If I fight it in court, I will lose $200 from missing work to attend the trial.

If you pay the fine, you'll give $25 to the corrupt system for he pleasure of being unreasonably harassed.

1.) If you fight it in court, you'll have the satisfaction of knowing you're standing up to the bully, even if he's only picking on you a little bit.

2.) If you fight it in court, the officer will have to take time out of his schedule/life to show up. If he decides to show, you'll hae the pleasure of making him take some unreasonable positions in a court full of people. It may open a few eyes.

3.) If you fight it in court, you'll either learn or exercise valuable skills in public speaking, law, and operating within a corrupt court system. (assuming it's no better that what I've witnessed.)

4.) If you fight it in court, that would be a great day for you and your friends to distribute FIJA literature outside the courthouse, in parking garages, or wherever, depending on how brave your friends are. http://www.fija.org


I understand that $200 may be a lot of money to you at the moment, or maybe it's just enough to make it feel not worth fighting. Don't forget that there are many other factors here, and there are other upsides to fighting these things besides boiling it down to 100% money.
 
I decided I am going to plead not guilty and fight this in court. I cannot afford a lawyer so I am going to do it pro se.

The charge for public drunkeness reads as follows...
Defendent appeared in a public place manifestly under the influence of alcohol to a degree which endangered himself/others or annoyed people in the vicinity

There were no complaints reported against me so therefore I did not "annoy people in the vicinity"

So that means the police officer will have to prove that I was so drunk that I endangered myself or others. I did not take a breathalyzer at the time of arrest. I took a breathalyzer the next morning so I could be released, which came back as 0.00%

I was clearly not a danger to others as no one was around and I was peaceful througout the entire arrest.

What evidence could the officer use to demonstrate that I was a danger to myself? I was not walking in or near a street. I did not have alcohol poisoning. I did not fall down. I passed the sobriety tests.

What are the chances the cop will not show up to trial? Do I get a trial by jury for a summary offense, or is it just a judge that decides my fate? How can I file a lawsuit against the arresting officer without a lawyer? Does anyone know of any good websites where I can teach myself how to fight a case pro se? And what does "manifestly" mean in context of the charge(see above)?
 
Hi Ho Hi ho it's off to court you go.

Fight this with every part of your soul.

This is an outrage.

You were in no way exhibiting a threat to society, endangering the public or breaking ANY laws.
you do not need to take a sobriety test when walking.
You will win and the state will have to pay your costs (depending on where you reside)

This LEO has overstepped his bounds, is ignorant of the laws and is in need of serious reprimand.

Go get 'em
 
A lot of the answers to your questions could be provided if we knew what jurisdiction you were in, brandonyates. State laws vary wildly. For example, in some states such as Missouri and Nevada, there's no such thing as "public drunkenness" or public intoxication.
 
Bingo,

I was just going to say the same thing. ie CA having a buzz doesn't count. Tx reads more strict.

The poster needs to google, violation for public drunk, for their state, to see what the law says.

In both of those states it remains on your record if found guilty.
 
A lot of the answers to your questions could be provided if we knew what jurisdiction you were in, brandonyates. State laws vary wildly. For example, in some states such as Missouri and Nevada, there's no such thing as "public drunkenness" or public intoxication.

His location is listed as Philadelphia.

I'm no lawyer, but if you passed the sobriety test I don't see how they were justified in holding you for any amount of time. You should see if you can find an attorney who will work on contingency.
 
Back
Top