What Constitutes Disorderly Conduct in Prince George’s County

Facing the gauntlet of the criminal legal system is a daunting task. Retaining the services of an experienced attorney who could help you understand what constitutes disorderly conduct in Prince George’s County could be beneficial. An attorney familiar with crafting defenses could review the circumstances of your arrest and attempt negotiations with the state.

How Prince George’s County Regards Disorderly Conduct

Many people associate a disorderly conduct offense to “disturbing the peace”. While the latter is a misnomer and archaic term, they are relatively similar. The actions of an individual put other people in jeopardy and disrupt the greater public.

Prince George’s County regards disorderly conduct as a criminal offense. While it may not be a major felony, it is still impactful. Typically it involves an individual acting in a manner that is disruptive.

The City of Hyattsville still regards and hears these charges in court–especially because of its proximity to the University of Maryland. Often in this area, disorderly conduct charges are relatively common. College students who have had too much to drink, especially in the shadow of major sporting events, are often monitored closely by campus police for disorderly behavior.

Situations Where Disorderly Conduct Could Be Applied

Unfortunately, when people have a little too much to drink, they make decisions they later regret. Many of these decisions are with little malice in mind, and a court may be receptive to that stance.

Both men and women who have had a little too much to drink may urinate in public after a party. While defecating in public is certainly less common, it is still a possibility and could also warrant a disorderly charge. There are certain charges that could be more fitting, but it is well within an officer’s power to charge someone with this offense.

Disorderly Conduct and Placing Someone Else in Reasonable Fear of Property Loss or Harm

Situations like this often come down to horseplay. Someone is out with their friends, they have had a few drinks, they are pushing each other, and they push someone into the light pole or a sign as a joke. Sometimes, if that person is intoxicated as well, they may fall. The sign could fall. They could break or fracture something.

A disorderly charged is issued in these cases when actions go a little too far. Yes, it is fun to play around and horseplay is always out there, but there is a line that an individual steps over when they try to just push somebody into the streetlight. That is where someone could get hurt, and sometimes they do. A charge could get worse than just disorderly. In instances like these, it could lead to an assault.

One does not know, of course, how their friend may react to being hurt when they just thought they were playing around, but now the friend has a broken arm or a broken ankle. Accidents happen, and things just went a little too far, and having a Prince George’s County disorderly conduct attorney on your side could help you demonstrate just that in court.

Possible Disorderly Conduct Defenses

Often, and especially in cases that involve friends who were drunkenly roughhousing, the actions are not intentional and with malice in mind. More commonly, alcohol is involved and people who have landed these charges do not mean to act in the manner that they did.

While intoxication is not a defense in of itself, it could mean that both parties could come to a mutual understanding of intent and that neither wished to harm another. In events like these, there could be a more favorable outcome.

However, if someone was seriously injured as a result of disorderly conduct, the state may be more interested in prosecuting. Because of this, contacting an attorney who could gather all the facts and witnesses and begin to build a defense is an invaluable resource for alleged offenders.

Disorderly Conduct Through Inciting or Provoking Violence Explained

Incitement and disorderly conduct go hand-in-hand with disturbing the peace. An officer could tell a person to disperse, and when they do not listen or use some language that is more colorful in return, this could lead an officer to charge that person with disorderly conduct. Many people believe that the First Amendment gives them the right to say what they please no matter the circumstance, but that is certainly not the case. For officers, a great way to diffuse a situation that appears to be escalating is to arrest the alleged offender.

Anyone who is looking to make a comment back after an officer tells them to disperse should think carefully about what they may want to say. If that officer feels that his or her safety is threatened, he or she may arrest that person.

Unfortunately, they are quite common. Again, it is not just College Park but the other universities that are there where people go out and party a little too much who have too good of a time.

Disorderly Conduct Through Abusive or Offensive Language

Language is one of those things that people seem to struggle with. There is the First Amendment right to freedom of speech. As long as it does not involve hate speech, what is spoken could be acceptable. But if someone is going to incite a riot, officers are not going to find that to be acceptable language. The trouble with disorderly conduct and language is not so much what someone says, it is how they say it and when they say it.

If an individual is given an order and they fail to comply with that, they could be charged right there, which is very similar to a disturbing-the-peace type of situation where disorderly conduct would be applicable. A fair amount of common sense could help people in these moments. Inflammatory language does not usually get a good reception.

If a person incites anger or acts in a manner that is disrespectful in nature, the officer is probably not going to just ticket them. They are going to arrest the person, and they are going to say that the language was inflammatory, there were people around, and it got them excited.

These charges are common everywhere, people love to curse.

Disorderly Conduct and Loud Noise

Depending on when an alleged offender made a loud noise could be more impactful than what the noise was. If someone blares an air horn at a sporting event, it is acceptable. However, if someone were to do the same at three in the morning, there would almost certainly be problems. No matter what the noise is, if it is loud and it is not an acceptable place or time for that degree of volume, police could charge someone with disorderly conduct.

It is pretty certain that if attorneys were to look at each township and locality, a campus in the College Park area and other campuses would certainly have a higher incident rate. Having a defense attorney familiar with disorderly conduct in Prince George’s County could help you defend against charges of this kind.

Connect with a Prince George’s Attorney

Sobering up to the reality of a charge is something that few people need at any point in time. However, if you find that you have been charged with disorderly conduct, you may need to contact a Prince George’s County attorney. An experienced attorney could help you understand what constitutes disorderly conduct in Prince George’s County and how you could defend against these charges.