The Three Reasons You Can Be Charged With Disturbing The Peace
California law breaks charges for “disturbing the peace” into three separate crimes, which can either be an infraction or a more severe misdemeanor. All three ways you can commit disturbing the peace impact other people, and two of the offenses must occur in public to be criminal. However, you can still commit a disturbing the peace crime from your own home or property by creating excessive noise.
Disturbing the Peace Through Unlawful Fighting
The first of the three California disturbing the peace offenses is for unlawful fighting. For a prosecutor to convict you of an unlawful fighting crime, they must prove that you:
- Were willfully and unlawfully fighting against another individual; OR,
- Challenged another individual to participate in an unlawful fight; AND,
- The conflict or challenge to fight occurred in a public place.
Willfully is a legal term that means you took your actions on purpose. So, accidentally elbowing someone in the face when trying to get up from the bar would not be unlawful fighting.
There is also an exception to disturbing the peace laws regarding fighting in self-defense. To invoke self-defense to avoid being charged, you have to show that you:
- Had a reasonable belief that someone was about to cause bodily harm to yourself or another individual;
- Also reasonably believed that you needed to use force to prevent the bodily harm; AND,
- Did not use any more force than was necessary to defend from the potential harm.
You must respond proportionately in any self-defense situation. For example, if the other fighter is only using fists, it is typically illegal to pull a gun.
Creating Unreasonable Noise
The second reason you can be charged with disturbing the peace in California is for creating unreasonable noise. This law goes beyond merely playing music too loud at a house party. To convict you of making unreasonable noise, a prosecutor must show that you:
- Were willfully and maliciously causing loud and unreasonable noise; AND,
- The noise was disturbing another individual.
Typically, you have to broadcast your noise to purposely disrupt another’s activities. So, playing loud music is generally not disturbing the peace. But playing loud music to deliberately annoy your neighbor would be a crime.
Using Offensive Words to Disturb the Peace
Finally, you can commit disturbing the peace in California by using offensive words. You must be in a public place to commit this violation. Additionally, your comments must be likely to provoke a violent reaction.
Words that are likely to provoke a violent reaction create a clear and present danger of causing the other person to become enraged. Publicly demeaning someone else’s loved ones usually is enough to create a likely violent reaction. Spouses, children, and dating partners are the types of relationships where offensive words could cause an eruption from the insulted individual.
In California, all three disturbing the peace offenses can be charged as either an infraction or a misdemeanor. Infractions are less severe, but a misdemeanor disturbing the peace conviction carries a maximum penalty of:
- 90 days in county jail; AND,
- A $400 fine.
Additionally, any disturbing the peace that occurs on school or college grounds has harsher penalties, including a minimum jail sentence of 3 months.
If you or a loved one are facing a disturbing the peace charge in Huntington Beach, California, call Chambers Law Firm. Our skilled legal defense team can be reached at either 714-760-4088 or dchambers@clfca.com for a free consultation.
