31 Ala.App. 334, 17 So.2d 427
The appellant was convicted in the trial court of the misdemeanor offense of being drunk on a public highway.1 Law enforcement officers arrested him at his private home.2
The officers forcibly took the appellant from his home and placed him on the public highway.3 Once there, the appellant allegedly used loud and profane language that manifested his drunken condition to one or more persons present.4 This conduct formed the basis for the conviction under Code 1940, Title 14, Section 120.5
The appellant then appealed the conviction to the Alabama Court of Appeals, seeking reversal of the trial court's judgment.6 The reported citation for the decision is 17 So. 2d 427.7 The court focused on the specific facts showing that the appellant did not voluntarily appear in the public place.8 Instead, his presence on the highway resulted entirely from the officers' actions in arresting and transporting him.9 No evidence showed that the appellant had entered the public highway of his own accord while intoxicated.10
Whether an accusation of drunkenness in a designated public place can be established by proof that the accused, while in an intoxicated condition, was involuntarily and forcibly carried to that place by the arresting officer?11
The statute punishes any person who while intoxicated appears in a public place and manifests drunkenness by loud and profane discourse.12 A voluntary appearance is presupposed by the statute.13 An accusation cannot be established by proof of involuntary and forcible carrying to the public place by the arresting officer.14
No. The statute requires a voluntary appearance in the public place for the offense to be complete.15 The officers arrested the appellant at his private home and forcibly transported him onto the public highway.16 The appellant's loud and profane language occurred only after this involuntary relocation by law enforcement.17 Therefore, the essential element of a voluntary appearance in a public place is missing, and the conviction under the statute cannot be sustained.18