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Got cited for open alcohol container (drinking in public)

J

jvang125

Senior member
I was down in San Diego doing some pier fishing with two of my friends. When we entered the pier we may have missed seeing the sign of "no alcohol". Not seeing any signs anywhere else, we thought it would be okay to drink a beer while we fished. Out of no where these two undercover cops show up and cited us for the alcohol. We told them that we were from out of town and have been to a few piers where they did allow alcohol. We said that we were sorry if we missed the sign at the entrance and did not see any other signs where we were fishing. I guess he had a quota to fill or something (July 31) cause he wrote us up. Given our situation, he should of just gave us a warning and make us throw out our beer. We only brought 3 cans for the 3 of us.

Does anybody know what the fine is for this? The cop said something like $25. Also would I have to go to court to settle this or can I just pay the fine and be done with it? I'm in L.A. so it would really be PITA to drive down there to settle this.
 
Isn't having an open alcohol container in public an offense no matter where you go? I'm pretty sure it is in NY.
 
Call the court to find out how much the fine is and just mail it in. You aren't going to beat the rap even if the fine is $1000 because the warning is clearly posted and the judge doesn't care.
 
Yeah, pay the fine. That's why I just drink Vodka in public. Just spike your snapple bottle with it, and noone can tell. 😀
 
That's usually a city type ordinance, so only someone from SD could answer your questions, and that's on the off chance that they actually know the answer, which isn't really likely. The most reliable source you have so far says "$25"
 
Originally posted by: jvang125
I was down in San Diego doing some pier fishing with two of my friends. When we entered the pier we may have missed seeing the sign of "no alcohol". Not seeing any signs anywhere else, we thought it would be okay to drink a beer while we fished. Out of no where these two undercover cops show up and cited us for the alcohol. We told them that we were from out of town and have been to a few piers where they did allow alcohol. We said that we were sorry if we missed the sign at the entrance and did not see any other signs where we were fishing. I guess he had a quota to fill or something (July 31) cause he wrote us up. Given our situation, he should of just gave us a warning and make us throw out our beer. We only brought 3 cans for the 3 of us.

Does anybody know what the fine is for this? The cop said something like $25. Also would I have to go to court to settle this or can I just pay the fine and be done with it? I'm in L.A. so it would really be PITA to drive down there to settle this.
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You should be able to just pay the fine. Did you see any signs on your way out? If you can show the judge that it wasn't a sign posted or atleast one visible that you could see then you might get off. When i fought my speeding ticket(and lost) there were a bunch of guys in there for open container and the judge knocked off like $100 if you plead guilty. I think it was like a $189 fine otherwise. Oh and this is in San Diego county too.
 
Thanks bigredguy!

According to the San Diego Bail Schedule the fine is only $50 under the Imperial Beach municipal code which was where we were at. It is only an infraction which the cop claimed was a misdemeanor and subject to imprisonment. Talk about intimidation and harassment there!

So yea I'll just pay the fine. Thanks everyone.
 
It's probably a civil infraction in which case you can just mail it in. And ignorance of the law is no excuse. 😀
 
Open container laws, like "obscenity laws," are absolute B.S. - it's just a way for the state to make a bit more money every year.

I'd fight it in court.
 
Originally posted by: BigJ
Isn't having an open alcohol container in public an offense no matter where you go? I'm pretty sure it is in NY.
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IIRC, the ability to enforce it is weakened by the 5 cent deposit (in NY). The town next to me regularly cites college students for it, and the judge says "guilty" regardless of the amount of evidence. It's basically a "you're guilty or the police wouldn't have ticketed you" type of place. But, in my city, they don't bother because apparently a couple of lawyers have successfully argued that their clients had just picked up the cans to return them for the 5 cent deposit. Or, at least, that's enough for reasonable doubt.
 
Originally posted by: jvang125
Thanks bigredguy!

According to the San Diego Bail Schedule the fine is only $50 under the Imperial Beach municipal code which was where we were at. It is only an infraction which the cop claimed was a misdemeanor and subject to imprisonment. Talk about intimidation and harassment there!

So yea I'll just pay the fine. Thanks everyone.
Click to expand...

you might be able to get it slightly reduced if you go to court, but yeah, if you have a job and everything it's probably not worth it. As long as it doesn't go on your record.
 
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