Q: Should my son accept a plea deal or go to jury trial for a disorderly conduct charge for loud music?
My son must decide about a plea deal in 3 days. He was charged with disorderly conduct for allegedly playing music that was disturbing his neighbor. He leases the house and was not the person playing music. He answered the door when the police came. Playing music is how his band makes their living, it is not a hobby. They have soundproofed the room where they practice, kept decibel levels low and verified with other neighbors that they were not disturbing them. They never practice after 8pm. The prosecutor wants my son to accept a plea deal and plead no contest/guilty and pay a fine. My son has a jury trial set in 4 weeks and is considering pleading no contest if the fine is removed. He has been told that the only thing that will be considered at the trial is the time when the officer came to the house and issued the citation. You can hear the music on the body cam but it is distorted as to the actual loudness. The neighbor is threatening a civil case according to the prosecute
A:
Does your son have a lawyer?
I would tell my client to go to trial. Jury trial. A vague criminal charge is unlawful and an abuse of police power. The DA must show some kind of standard that the law has set as to the decibel level for loud music to be unlawful. That's why some cities and counties have noise statutes, which all have a written level that is criminal or illegal.
Without a measurable standard, the public has no NOTICE of what is acceptable or illegal.
A good lawyer would file a Motion to quash or dismiss the case as unconstitutional and in violation of the 4th, 5th and 6th Amendments. Make sure his efforts to dampen the sound and his status as a musician is brought out at trial. That is very important.
Get a good lawyer, or come see me or one of the lawyers on Justia ASAP. I feel like there is more to the story on this case.
I hope this helps. Good Luck!
1 user found this answer helpful
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