Question by : I got ticketed for “Disorderly Conduct”, what can I do? I don’t want a criminal record, please help?
1 month ago, I was at a house party with some friends and I had a lot to drink, we were pretty loud and were at some point outside. Well it appears that somebody called the police and when they came I was pretty wasted and when the police officers started asking what was going on and asking us questions, I allegedly became loud and rowdy, and I didn’t stop drinking or smoking my cigarette after they told me to. Now I was in the property of my friend’s house at the time and had not really broken any laws, and I’m way over 21, so at the time I didn’t see why they should tell me to stop drinking or smoking so I kept doing it and allegedly insulted them. Well they were upset and cuffed me, I freaked out and begged him not to arrest me and apologized, then my friend promised the cops I wouldn’t cause any more trouble and that she would take me home. Well they uncuffed me but gave me a ticket for “Public Disorderly Conduct”. I thought I had dodged a bullet and this was just a minor citation. Well it’s not.

It turns out I might have as well been arrested, I went to the court house the next day to pay the fine which was $ 500 Dollars that was written on the ticket, I thought it was just a simple fine and I’d be done with it. Well the judge was there and when I said I wanted to pay the fine he asked me if I pled guilty to the charge. I was confused and then he told me that if I pay to the fine without a trial or anything, it’s a guilty criminal conviction. Now I’m freaking out, I said I didn’t plead guilty and I had to think about it and I left.

Here’s my problem. I really cannot have a criminal record, I have a very good job and I have a pending job opportunity with a lot of competition, and I’m guessing a record of Disorderly Conduct is going to make me look very bad.

I really do not know what to do, I went to the prosecutor’s office to ask about alternatives but there were none, because when I was 19 I had got a ticket for underage drinking on 2 different occasions, for the first one my ticket got diverted to something called a “Pre-Trial Intervention” and I did 5 hours of community service and 2 counseling sessions, for the second one I went to the “Alcohol Diversion Program” and took 8 hours of alcohol education classes. Now both these times the tickets got expunged from my record.

Well it turns out that you can only do PTI and Alcohol Education once! I went there to try to do it again and they said no. So what do I do know? I really cannot have a criminal record!

What are my options? I’ve had several ideas but I don’t know how good they are, first I thought of maybe going to the cop and apologizing and begging him to drop the ticket promising I won’t do it again, another option I thought was the same as the above except going to beg the prosecutor. My third idea was to hire a very expensive attorney and ask for a jury trial and hope that they dismiss the charge not wanting to go to a jury trial for something so minor.

Can someone please give me an opinion is there something I’m not seeing? What are my options? All I see is what I mentioned above or paying the ticket which would mean a criminal conviction, and honestly it’s not about the money, I’d pay a fine 10 times that amount if it mean not having it on my record.

Best answer:

Answer by Patrick4024
Get a lawyer or go to the legal aid society. They may be able to get it dropped or reduced.

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ATCPCC Guest Lecture Video Series | Counseling Interventions | Michele McCormick, Ph.D. – ATCPCC Guest Lecture Video Series | Counseling Interventions for Addiction Anxiety & Depression | Michele McCormick, Ph.D. ATCPCC Guest Lecture Video Series from New Directions for Women’s annual ATCPCC Conference for more information, please visit: www.newdirectionsforwomen.org This Lecture is courtesy of: Guest Lecture Video Series Michele McCormick, Ph.D. “Counseling Interventions for Addiction, Anxiety, & Depression”. Reachable at: 949-500-9569 [email protected] 1400 Bristol Street North #250 Newport Beach, CA 92660

 

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