I wonder if the law relating to public intoxication actually has a blood alcohol level mentioned in it? The blood alcohol level related to DUIs (usually .08) is there as an assumption of impairment to operate a motor vehicle. I think you'd have a pretty strong argument in court that 'public drunkeness' relates to behavior (being unruly or, the opposite, being passed out on the sidewalk). I'd want to see where in statutes it specifically says that having a blood alcohol level of .08 outside of a private residence is a violation of the law.
A field sobriety test, and a blood alcohol level, might suggest an impairment to operate machinery, but what relevance does a .08 blood alcohol level have if you're simply sitting on a barstool watching a ball game?
That would depend on what game you are watching and on what network. One needs a blood alchohol content of at least .08 just to make sense of Dennis Miller doing MNF!
It does not. From the Texas Penal Code:
§ 49.02. PUBLIC INTOXICATION. (a) A person commits an offense if the person appears in a public place while intoxicated to the degree that the person may endanger the person or another.This story was on the local news last night, including tape of the arrests. The people I saw and heard were able to walk and converse coherently, and did not appear to be a danger to anybody. The bartender, a young woman, was sobbing at being arrested for doing her job. I hate this kind of shakedown and intimidation.
Unfortunately, the law is vague enough that it appears to rely entirely on the subjective judgment of the arresting officer, so I am not sure what defense you could even offer, other than the word of other witnesses, if you could track them down.
You might be having fun.
We defeated the Taliban in Afghanistan only to install it here.