Drunk in Hallway: Court Dismisses Charges
In Magistrates Court yesterday [Feb 2], Magistrate Warner was dealing with a charge that had been laid against 58 year-old Maxine Smith of Southside Road, St Davids. She was charged with being drunk and incapable in a public place.
Ms Smith exclaimed, in her defence that she had been drunk but was at home, and had said as much to the arresting officers.
Reviewing Prosecutor Cindy Clarke’s evidence, the Magistrate pointed out that the evidence stated that she was in the hallway of the Government Housing project.
Ms Clarke held that the hallway was a public place, but the Magistrate pointed out that the hallway was a common place for use by all residents.
The Magistrate commented that a common place was not necessarily a public place and that the Crown had not established that the hallway at that location was a public place. For the Crown, Ms Clarke surrendered the legal point.
Commenting and asking: “If a person cannot get drunk at home, where can he get drunk?”, the Magistrate went on to find that Ms Smith had not been in a public place and that the charge, as laid, could not stand.
The Magistrate dismissed the charge and Ms Smith was free to go.
However, Ms Smith had other matters. There were three unpaid fines for three traffic offences stemming from the past year. The total in unpaid fines amounted to $2,000.
Questioned about her non-payment, Ms Smith told the Magistrate that she was not working, had medical certificates to attest to her inability to work, had no money, and was unable to pay. Crossing verbal swords with the Magistrate, she insisted that there was no point in offering to pay if she manifestly could not pay. She went further and said: “Well I’ll go to CoEd”.
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So did someone else pay for all that alcohol she had to get drunk? Magistrate should have questioned her. If she could buy booze, she could pay her fines.
RME makes a good point…but the booze may have been bought by someone else…even if it wasnt,I’m quite sure she could have found someone to say they bought it just to get one over on the courts/police!
This was a waste of public time n money!!
Who said she brought the booze?
If only the police would roll up on some of these thugs at home whlie they’re smoking weed and loading their guns. Leave the poor drunk woman alone and go catch some real criminals!
If ya gonna be smoking weed your not gonna be loading any guns…
Did it not occur to somebody prior to wasting the Courts time that the hallway was not a public place? What a joke.
LOL so the police just went there arrested her in the hallway? Why? And pedophiles can’t be named in the paper but people who are drunk in their own home and people who don’t pay TICKET FINES are plastered all over the news. Bermuda Is Another World is so true.
Is any one just a little disturbed at the fact that this judge let it slide? I know that this is a very minor offense but where do you stop letting things slide and start handing out punishment?
Except it’s not an offense, minor or otherwise. If it’s not in a public place as required by the offence, then it’s not a crime. You can’t be penalised for non-criminal conduct.
Your assuming that its not a crime, but from the article it was decision made by the judge, I’m assume this since it does not have the judge quoting the law as to what is a public place. Perhaps bernews can clear it up for me, but the last time I checked halls were considered public areas
IANAL but i’m guessing it goes like this, hallways are common areas because people share them. Public areas are anywhere readily accessible to the public. A hallway isn’t public becuase it is inside a building and the general public have no expectation of being able to ultilize that area.
it is just a bit but if i end up infront of a bermuda judge that isn’t this one i wanna know.
i get what your saying and that makes sense to me to a degree but this is why i wanna know what the law is cause i’ve been in three hotels, one apartment building and one university dorm where people have been in the hallways and been arrested for being drunk in public. in the case of the University dorm the hallway is locked at both ends with doors requiring swipes
So the hallway in your house is assessable to the general public? I don’t think so…
No why would we be that is a stupid thing to take to court. There is nothing worse than people being charged with minor or technical infractions of law. If you get drunk and pass out in your yard (say its a holiday and your having a bbq) should they be able to charge you because you share that yard with other people. Be glad they’re not out on the roads.
But Onion if I was passed out on my lawn then that fine cause it’s my lawn. But this lady wasn’t on a lawn and she wasn’t passed (assumed since it makes no mention of her being in such a state). It is a minor one but it now sets a president, so let’s say next time its a 20ish drunk male who is drunkly banging on doors at 5 in the morning should he be let off? What about a drunken man who kicks in the door person next door because he’s drunk?
Fair enough reading back i took incapable as passed out.I have a yard that’s shared with other apartments, it’s a common area but not public, no real difference. As for the 20ish drunk male in the first instance it’s disturbing the peace, the second is vandalism/willful destruction of property and trespassing. That is a little different from “being drunk and incapable in a public place”.
Whats there to punish? The woman was drunk in her own home! moron!!
Did I read right, 58 years old (shaking head) and we wonder why SOME of the younger generation act as they do my,my.