Question by : I got ticketed for a criminal charge, what are my options? Can I beat it? I don’t want a criminal record?
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.
@justme- first off I do understand actions have consequences but I don’t think it should be consequences that potential employers can see for the rest of my life! and second I know I’d probably be found guilty at a jury trial but maybe not, and the point of that would be to get the ticket dismissed because maybe the prosecutors don’t want to waste time on a jury trial for a freaking ticket, and third, I really don’t see how I broke the law, my stupid charge is very vague

Best answer:

Answer by justme
If you went to trial, it is almost certain that you will be found guilty. Then, on top of the $ 500 fine, you will have your legal costs, court costs, and probably a bigger fine; and you will still have a criminal record. It seems you didn’t learn from the first two offences, and you are not learning from this one, either. You need to understand that you have to face the consequences of your actions, and that you cannot always buy your way out of trouble.

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