Walk It Through: The Sidewalk
Treatment rather than prosecution, resisting as a Class A misdemeanor, and up to 9 months.
After a concert, a person who has had too much to drink is sitting on the sidewalk outside a bar when an officer walks over.
Two things a person in this spot might do. Picking one shows what the law says about it.
One night and one sidewalk. Disorderly conduct, local ordinances punished by forfeiture, and the arrest itself are not worked through here.
A practice walkthrough, not a prediction of how any real one will go. Legal information, not legal advice.
Words this turns on
Terms with a legal meaning that is narrower than the everyday one. Each links to the definition and the authority behind it.
- Class A misdemeanorThe highest misdemeanor class: up to $10,000, up to 9 months, or both.
- Fleeing or eludingWillful disregard of an officer's signal to stop. With no injury or damage, a Class H felony.
- ObstructingKnowingly resisting or obstructing an officer acting in an official capacity and with lawful authority. A Class A misdemeanor.
- ForfeitureA penalty that carries money only: Class A up to $10,000, Class B up to $1,000, Class C up to $500.
- Disorderly conductViolent, abusive, indecent, profane, boisterous, unreasonably loud or otherwise disorderly conduct, under circumstances in which it tends to cause or provoke a disturbance.
- Protective custodyTaking a person who appears incapacitated by alcohol or another drug to an approved treatment facility, or an emergency medical facility.