Pittsburgh college student attorney

With winter break finishing soon and college kids back in class, I will start receiving a lot of emails and calls about underage drinking, public nuisance charges, and juvenile crimes. One question that seems to be coming in much more frequently now than in the past is that of indecent exposure as it relates to public urination; the two often go hand-in-hand. Sure, people do things they wish they hadn’t when they’ve had too much to drink. And for every violent crime you read about, fifty college kids have publicly urinated. But what struck me most recently was a story I read about a man arrested for indecent exposure under rather awkward circumstances. A few months ago, a young man who is a student at Pitt was arrested when police found him drunk and sleeping inside of his car. The keys were out of the ignition and in his console, so there was no threat of DUI, but he was naked and in view of the public at 4 a.m. As simple as a case like this may seem, it is actually much more difficult to understand than most think for one simple reason: indecency laws do not take into account a person’s level of sobriety. In Pennsylvania, if a person “knowingly expose[s] their genitals to the view of another person…with the intent to arouse…any person” that is considered indecent exposure. Looking at this situation for ten seconds is all you need to know that this young man in no way was attempting to “arouse” anyone. He was simply intoxicated and trying to sleeping it off in his car; but somewhere along the line, he decided it was a good idea to take of his clothes off. I have a problem with this. And it’s because of how the laws are phrased. This young man was of age to drink alcohol and technically did the responsible thing by not driving his car, even though he did end up there. Does the law mean to tell me that he “knowingly exposed his genitals to the public?” No, I don’t think so. And did he have “intent to arouse or satisfy sexual desire?” Certainly not. He simply made a stupid, but arguably harmless choice while under the influence of alcohol. Should his future possibly be ruined for this?

Pittsburgh College Student Attorney – 412-219-6875

If you’re a student or the parent of a college student and you have questions about arrests related to drinking, call Pittsburgh juvenile crimes attorney Gary Gerson for a free consultation at 412-219-6875 today.