QUESTION:
I am a college freshman and I was waiting in a line for a soccer game, and really had to go to the bathroom. I walked pretty far out into a wooded area away from any people, and my friends said they saw two people walk after me. I found a good spot out of view of any public view and peed, and after I finished the two people turned out to be part of the university police department. They took me over and wrote me up for public nuisance, and told me to go home. I did exactly as instructed and it just seems unfair to me that something so small can end up on my permanent record. Also, It seemed to me that since they realized what I was doing, they could have stopped me before hand and told me that it was illegal, but they were probably just trying to write up as many people as possible for some sort of quota.
ANSWER:
Whether you’re over 18 or not, I think this is a case worth contesting. I’m not sure if you were cited for an infraction or a misdemeanor, but you raise an excellent point about wanting to keep a clean record with respect to a charge that can perhaps be misconstrued in the future. Courts have held that public urination a crime injurious to health, or was indecent, or offensive to the senses. (People v. McDonald (2006) 137 Cal.App.4th 521, 522.) What you described would not necessarily fit into those categories.
