Downey Public Urination at Noon, 10 Hours Community Service
Our client, age 30, was driving home from shopping on a Sunday afternoon. It was just past noon. Our client suddenly had the urge to urinate.
His house was 3.1 miles away on Paramount Blvd. and he did not want to go into a restaurant to use the restroom, so he found the corner of a parking lot behind See’s Candies at 9839 Paramount.
After he got out of his car, he walked toward the corner of the parking lot. This behavior caught the eye of a passing Downey Police Department Officer who suspected our client was either intent on vandalizing the wall in the corner of the parking lot or going to urinate there. As the officer saw our client (from behind) walk further, he noticed our client seeming to have his hands around his waist area, which suggested he was unbuttoning his pants or unbuckling his belt.
As the officer suspected, as stated in his report, our client then urinated and the officer drove his patrol car over to the corner of the lot to talk with our client.
Our client explained that it was too far to drive to his house. The officer then asked him why he did not just stop in one of the nearby restaurants or coffee shops and our client reiterated he just had to “go” very urgently.
The officer then issued our client a ticket for violation of Downey Municipal Code § 4115 (“public urination of defecation”) and assigned him a hearing date in the Downy Superior about three months later.
The client was shocked to get such a ticket. He did not know it was illegal to urinate in public and, furthermore, thought he was doing the reasonable thing by urinating in a corner of an otherwise empty parking lot so that the smell was less and no one could see him urinating.
The client then called Greg Hill & Associates and discussed his ticket with Greg Hill. The client explained that in his early 20’s, he had been convicted of possession of methamphetamine (and not afforded diversion for this, surprisingly) and had received diversion on a hit and run case, both from the Downey Superior Court.
Greg explained how such tickets were generally handled at the Downey Courthouse and how the Downey City Prosecutor was a reasonable man who would often allow a form of DA diversion if the client attended ten Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meetings prior to the arraignment. So, Greg recommended that the client attend ten AA meetings prior to the arraignment and send him documentation that he did so. Greg sent the client an AA sign-in sheet for the client to record his meetings.
The client then retained Greg Hill & Associates and Greg appeared at the arraignment in the Downey Superior Court. The client had attended five AA meetings prior to the arraignment and sent Greg proof of this via email. Greg brought this record to court.
The Downey City Prosecutor was surprisingly tough with our client in his first offer – reduction of the misdemeanor to an infraction and a $100 fine, plus penalties and assessments (total about $550). The prosecutor explained that it takes more defiance of the law to urinate in public in broad daylight and then seek to excuse it that one who urinates in public at 1:00 a.m. in the corner of a dark parking lot. Moreover, our client had several earlier cases and was offered diversion in the past, but did not seem to learn from such leniency.
Greg allowed the prosecutor to explain himself and then Greg asked if he would consider diversion after our client performed some community service. Greg did not expect a positive response, but the prosecutor said yes: “dismissal in 90 days if he does ten hours of community service.”
Greg was astonished that the offer was made and relayed this to the client, who was very happy with this. He did not need another criminal case marring his record, particularly a conviction on his record, even to an infraction.
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