p.i.

[_b.jaye_]

i got picked up on a public intox charge the other weekend. i know all this sort of stuffs state specific, but anyone have any advice on what to expect? (im in indiana, btw)

no crazy situation, me & a buddy were drunk, eatin tacobell in his truck when they got us. they stuck him with the same charge.

the lawyer bs is starting to show up in the mail, & im really just wondering if i should mess with that sort of consultation, or if its a lax enought charge that i shouldnt expect too much when the court date comes.

[Jesda]

I would pack my bags and move to Panama. You're getting the chair.

[_b.jaye_]

they'll have to.. i aint goin back!

[AZhitman]

http://www.in.gov/legislative/ic/code/t ... 0/ch3.html

Kinda surprised neither of you got popped for DUI. Lucky.

It's a Class B misdemeanor. Option of up to 180 days in jail plus up to $1000 fine.

If your record is clean, I'd bet on unsupervised probation and a fine.

[_b.jaye_]

yeah we did luck out, really. him, in particular. we'd even talked about getting a cab on our way to go out. not sure what happened to that plan, but i wish we'd stuck with it.

id saw that max after a google post & was hoping to get some personal tales a bit south of that.

I'd bet on unsupervised probation and a fine.

thats along the lines of what i was thinking/hoping, but even with the company i keep, i couldnt find anyone to own up to a personaly expirence, lol. thx.

[dusred]

me & a buddy were drunk, eatin tacobell in his truck when they got us.

Does this mean that you drove to TacoBell?

[PoorManQ45]

This is very interesting as the Supreme Court has ruled that your vehicle is actually private property when it comes to possession of guns. Wouldn't that ruling defeat the "public" portion of this charge?

Did the police officers state that they saw you walk from taco bell to the vehicle? Or did they simply approach the truck and start quesitoning?

[PoorManQ45]

In Christian v. The State of Indiana and Haynes v. State the Appeals court overturned the public intoxication convictions on the grounds that the defendants were in a place that was accessible to the public, but were not on private property.

The parking lot of an establishment is private property.

*edit* You'll need a lawyer, but you can get rid of this...

*edit 2* You didn't specify where the truck was parked.

[_b.jaye_]

In Christian v. The State of Indiana and Haynes v. State the Appeals court overturned the public intoxication convictions on the grounds that the defendants were in a place that was accessible to the public, but were not on private property.

The parking lot of an establishment is private property.

*edit* You'll need a lawyer, but you can get rid of this...

*edit 2* You didn't specify where the truck was parked.

my biggest concern was having a lawyer involved end up being more expensive than any fines either of us would have against us. ive never been in any legal trouble really, so ive got no clue what to expect there.

the truck was in an ally or small side street by a car dealership, and yeah, the police pretty much just pulled in behind us, walked up & seperately questioned us. thanks much for the info.

[Jesda]

http://www.costaricapages.com/panama/bl ... panama.jpg

[_b.jaye_]

that does look way better than this s***... or the chair.

thanks for a "plan b"

[CSLAVE]

I got an underage and public into in WV.

It was $500 fine, a class where i had to watch 6 episodes of Intervention, and 10 hours community service.

After that the underage was wiped off my record. Indiana sounds like a b***h.

[Jesda]

How do you guys get caught? Its so easy to be discreet.

[AZhitman]

Brien - Being IN a vehicle, drunk, with keys accessible, means you are "in control" of the vehicle and thereby exposed to the possibility of DUI. Common knowledge. Doesn't matter if the car is parked in your driveway.

You'll have to do your own research on this, but now's not the time for you to be playing Junior Attorney.

[PoorManQ45]

Yeah, I was looking at that.

Apparently in Indiana you can not operate a vehicle even on your own property while under the influence. Their Courts ruled that ATVs are included in this even though they aren't "on the highway" vehicles which are specified in the law.

I guess he should just feel lucky that his buddy didn't get a DUI for the reasons you stated.

[fiznowler]

were you being a drunk idiot or something? I dont' see how or better yet why they would charge you for public intox. If you were just at taco bell then walked to your car then your buddy is lucky and you got screwed unless there is more to this. Are you both 21? How in the hell do you get a public intox charge as a passenger in a private vehicle??

[AZhitman]

Yeah, I was looking at that.

Apparently in Indiana you can not operate a vehicle even on your own property while under the influence. Their Courts ruled that ATVs are included in this even though they aren't "on the highway" vehicles which are specified in the law.

I guess he should just feel lucky that his buddy didn't get a DUI for the reasons you stated.

Some states include lawnmowers, bicycles and horses.

[AZhitman]

were you being a drunk idiot or something? I dont' see how or better yet why they would charge you for public intox. If you were just at taco bell then walked to your car then your buddy is lucky and you got screwed unless there is more to this. Are you both 21? How in the hell do you get a public intox charge as a passenger in a private vehicle??

Because the cop was being nice. The reality is, they should / could have gotten DUI. In fact, BOTH could have been charged.

[PoorManQ45]

Some states include lawnmowers, bicycles and horses.

I saw that too, but there is a specific exclusion for powered wheelchairs. There is no mention if the operator of said wheelchair has to be handicapped for the exclusion to apply though

[_b.jaye_]

The reality is, they should / could have gotten DUI. In fact, BOTH could have been charged.

with DUI's? definitely wasnt aware of that.

nah, we werent really doin anything. best i can figure, the people at tacobell (we wernt bein beligerant, but i doubt we were hidin it very well either) called us in or they just saw a truck where it didnt look like there should have been a truck at 330am.

I got an underage and public into in WV.

It was $500 fine, a class where i had to watch 6 episodes of Intervention, and 10 hours community service.

After that the underage was wiped off my record. Indiana sounds like a b***h.

yeah, i dunno, man. im hopin they just leave it wide open for what they can do. ive talked to a couple guys that got stuck with DUI's and it wasnt near as severe as those max charges. guess ill know before long.

[fiznowler]

were you being a drunk idiot or something? I dont' see how or better yet why they would charge you for public intox. If you were just at taco bell then walked to your car then your buddy is lucky and you got screwed unless there is more to this. Are you both 21? How in the hell do you get a public intox charge as a passenger in a private vehicle??

Because the cop was being nice. The reality is, they should / could have gotten DUI. In fact, BOTH could have been charged.

How can both be charged for a dui? I have never heard of that. I am not saying it isn't true but I have just never heard of that situation before. I guess I better make sure my cab driver isn't drunk next time i take one. I agree that the cop probably was letting them off easy by just giving them both a ticket for a lesser charge rather than giving the driver a dwi charge.

[AZhitman]

How can both be charged for a dui? I have never heard of that. I am not saying it isn't true but I have just never heard of that situation before.

Posted above:

Being IN a vehicle, drunk, with keys accessible, means you are "in control" of the vehicle and thereby exposed to the possibility of DUI. Common knowledge. Doesn't matter if the car is parked in your driveway.

[Alfador]

How can both be charged for a dui? I have never heard of that. I am not saying it isn't true but I have just never heard of that situation before. I guess I better make sure my cab driver isn't drunk next time i take one. I agree that the cop probably was letting them off easy by just giving them both a ticket for a lesser charge rather than giving the driver a dwi charge.

If you are in control of a vehicle, or it's obvious that you WERE driving, they don't have to catch you driving. The idea is if they were sitting in the truck, the passenger could have actually driven there and they switched places. The assumption being if there is no sober driver in the car, SOMEONE had to have driven drunk, and everyone is really complicit in that act.

OP: Unless his truck was driven there by a third sober party, or you got drunk in that parking lot, at least one of you was actually driving drunk anyway, regardless of whether or not the cop saw you doing it, so shame on you.

[fiznowler]

The moral of this story is nothing good can come from going to Taco Bell at 3AM.

[Alfador]

I got free cinamon twists at taco bell at 3am before.

I think the real moral of this little parable is don't go drinking and driving, ever.

[fiznowler]

Or drinking and riding.
On a side note my dog loves cinamon twists.

[Alfador]

Not sure how to categorize that, since both of my dogs would eat anything that passed within 3 feet of their mouths other than their own food.

As for drinking and "riding." It's fine as long as you actually have a sober driver. In some states, passengers can actually have open bottles of alcohol in the car.

[fiznowler]

I noticed in Indiana the penalties are alot stiffer if you have a minor in the car when you get a dwi. I like that law if you are driving with a kid in the car drunk you deserve some serious trouble. I generally cab everywhere I go if I am drinking, it is just easier, safer and no one has to worry about staying sober.

[Chaotic_Warlord]

When I was stationed at Ft. Campbell, the local Clarksville PD had a bug up their a** for anyone with a military ID, and being a town built around a major army post you can't really expect any less. Needless to say I knew a few company guys get picked up for various drunk in public offenses, one of which was a very good friend of mine who got a DUI because he was sleeping in the back seat drunk as a skunk in the parking lot of the bar he came out of.He knew he was to drunk to drive home so he figured he'd sleep it off. Had he fallen asleep on the outside of the car they would have probably just hauled him into the drunk tank for the night or if he got lucky would have brought him to main gate and let the MP's deal with him, but b/c he was inside the car with the keys in his pocket he got a DUI and a drunk in public.

Moral of the story it doesn't matter where you are inside of the car, if you are drunk you can get a DUI.

BTW I don't know how Indiana works but be grateful you didn't get a DWI as that's a greater charge in some states.

Did they do a search of the vehicle or just question you?
Did you take a field sobriety test? If not that is why you didn't get a DUI/DWI as a charge like that can't stick in court based on just the cops opinion, well it can but it's easier to get out of.

As far as the Public Intox charge goes, go to court and see what the judge says, you'll probably get lucky if your record is clean and it may get thrown out and the judge scold you. Dress professionally, be polite, and tell the judge that you're sorry and won't do it again. Courtesy and respect can go a long way when dealing with the justice system, to bad most people don't realize that and would rather run their mouths.

[PoorManQ45]

When I was stationed at Ft. Campbell, the local Clarksville PD had a bug up their a** for anyone with a military ID, and being a town built around a major army post you can't really expect any less. Needless to say I knew a few company guys get picked up for various drunk in public offenses, one of which was a very good friend of mine who got a DUI because he was sleeping in the back seat drunk as a skunk in the parking lot of the bar he came out of.He knew he was to drunk to drive home so he figured he'd sleep it off. Had he fallen asleep on the outside of the car they would have probably just hauled him into the drunk tank for the night or if he got lucky would have brought him to main gate and let the MP's deal with him, but b/c he was inside the car with the keys in his pocket he got a DUI and a drunk in public.

Yeah, it really sucks. People try to do the right thing and not drive, yet they still get the same charge.

Isn't that counter intuitive? Basically, this guy being charged is sending the message that if he is in that situation again he should just take the risk and actually drive the car as the charges are the same either way...

The only way I could see avoiding this is to unlock the car and open the windows(hope a cop doesn't see this part!), Then go give your keys to a friend or the bar owner to hold until morning...