I have spoken to many people who are confused about why they are charged with a misdemeanor when their only offense is disorderly conduct. The simple answer is the gradation of the offense depends on how disorderly you were. A person is generally guilty of disorderly conduct if “with intent to cause public inconvenience, annoyance or alarm, or recklessly creating a risk thereof, he: (1) engages in fighting or threatening, or in violent or tumultuous behavior; (2) makes unreasonable noise; (3) uses obscene language, or makes an obscene gesture; or (4)creates a hazardous or physically offensive condition by any act which serves no legitimate purpose of the actor.”
The gradation for the above described activity is as follows “An offense under this section is a misdemeanor of the third degree if the intent of the actor is to cause substaintial harm or serious inconvenience, or if he persists in disorderly conduct after reasonble warning or request to desist. Otherwise disorderly conduct is a summary offense.“
In my experience people are almost always charged with disorderly conduct as a summary. The times where I see the commonwealth pursue the misdemeanor is when the defendant’s behavior is extraordinary or where it is done in a highly populated public area. It is difficult to cause substantial harm or serious inconvenience when you are by yourself or with only a small group of people. I hope this helps clear up some of the confusion.
Tags: disorderly conduct, summary, summary offense
Will the disorderly conduct citation note whether it’s a summary or a misdemeanor at the top?
“Will the disorderly conduct citation note whether it’s a summary or a misdemeanor at the top?” The answer depends on the age of the case and what you are reading. In addition, if the code section is present, I might be able to tell if it is a summary or a misdemeanor. If you never went to Common Pleas Court and this did NOT happen in Philly, it is almost for sure a summary and may be expungeable. Feel free to fax to me the document and I will review it.
The scenario: an individual is playing a drum in a public park, he is charged for “unreasonable noise” and given the fine of Disorderly conduct , is this fine:
1. a misdemeanor?
2. does this misdemeanor creates a criminal record?
3. does this misdemeanor functions as an alert to imprison this individual if caught playing a drum again?
thank you.
Before, I answer your question, i believe there exists a noise law in Pennsylvania regarding music. Playing the drum in the park is not disorderly conduct, but it may be a violation of the noise law is the music is too loud. Therefore, a defense to a disorderly conduct charge would be that a more specific crime has been laid out by the General Assembly in Pennsylvania, therefore, you are not guilty of disorderly conduct as a matter of law.
Back to your questions, assuming that disorderly conduct is the appropriate charge. Here is the definition of Disorderly Conduct:
(a) OFFENSE DEFINED. –A person is guilty of disorderly conduct if, with intent to cause public inconvenience, annoyance or alarm, or recklessly creating a risk thereof, he:
(1) engages in fighting or threatening, or in violent or tumultuous
behavior;
(2) makes unreasonable noise;
(3) uses obscene language, or makes an obscene gesture; or
(4) creates a hazardous or physically offensive condition by any act
which serves no legitimate purpose of the actor.
(b) GRADING. –An offense under this section is a misdemeanor of the third degree if the intent of the actor is to cause substantial harm or serious inconvenience, or if he persists in disorderly conduct after reasonable warning or request to desist. Otherwise disorderly conduct is a summary offense.
(c) DEFINITION. –As used in this section the word “public” means affecting or likely to affect persons in a place to which the public or a substantial group has access; among the places included are highways, transport facilities, schools, prisons, apartment houses, places of business or amusement, any neighborhood, or any premises which are open to the public.
Answers: 1. Disorderly Conduct is probably a summary offense unless this has happened before or keeps happening; 2. A misdemeanor does create a non-expungeable permanent criminal record. A summary does not create a criminal record and is expungeable; 3. Whether a person goes to prison is dictated by their overall criminal record and the nature of the current offense. Unless you have a great many convictions in the past, you are most likely not going to jail for your second disorderly conduct conviction.
what is the fine usually if your original offense was public lewdness and the DA has made a plea to make it a disorderly conduct??
There is usually no fine for disorderly conduct, unless the deal with the DA or the Judge includes a fine. The “fine” is usually the court costs of prosecution, which is the same for summary public lewdness and summary disorderly conduct.