About Being Charged With Disorderly Conduct In Massachusetts
Greater Boston Area Misdemeanor Defense Attorneys
Massachusetts General Law Chapter 272 section 53 defines a disorderly person as anyone:
- Acting for the purpose of causing the public inconvenience, annoyance or alarm or recklessly creates of risk thereof; or
- Engaging in fighting, threatening or violent behavior; or
- Creating a hazard that present a physical danger to the public without serving a legitimate purpose; or
- Making unreasonable noise or offensively coarse utterance, gesture or display, or addresses abusive language to any person present.
Disturbing The Peace
The disorderly conduct law seeks to control intentional conduct which tends to disturb the public tranquility, or to alarm or provoke others. It prohibits four separate and distinct acts: It forbids conduct that involves the use of force or violence. It also prohibits making threats that involve the immediate use of force or violence. It forbids tumultuous and highly agitated behavior, which may not involve physical violence, but which causes riotous commotion and excessively unreasonable noise, and so constitutes a public nuisance. Finally, the law prohibits any conduct that creates a hazard to public safety or a physically offensive condition by an act that serves no legitimate purpose of the defendant’s.
Disturbing the peace is a very broad charge and many types of conduct could warrant an arrest for disturbing the peace. A police officer can exercise his or her discretion when deciding whether or not to make an arrest for disorderly conduct. Often police don’t have all the facts at the time of an arrest. Often times we are able to present the officer and prosecutor with additional facts that weren’t available to the officer at the time of the arrest which, if known to the officer would have led him not to make the arrest.
If these facts aren’t present then we will hold the prosecution to their duty to establish that the conduct for which the defendant was arrested served no legitimate purpose. Often times police can be quick to arrest someone that is giving them some lip. However, it is your constitutional right to exercise your free speech and a few disparaging remarks made to a police officer may well be within your right to make.
Punishment And Penalties For A Conviction Of Disorderly Conduct
- 1st Offense: fine of not more than $150
- 2nd Offense: imprisonment in a jail or house of correction for not more than 6 months, or by a fine of not more than $200, or by both such fine and imprisonment.
Defending Misdemeanors Charges in Massachusetts
In Massachusetts, misdemeanors are typically non-violent criminal charges but some misdemeanor offenses may become felony offenses if a weapon is used. Some examples of misdemeanor charges that Massachusetts misdemeanor lawyers defend include trespassing, disorderly conduct, domestic violence, reckless driving, hit-and-run and shoplifting. Contact our law firm in Brockton, Massachusetts for a free initial consultation. We can help to protect your legal rights immediately. We utilize our numerous years of criminal defense experience to fight for the best possible outcome in your criminal case.
Brockton MA Disorderly Conduct, Disturbing The Peace, Misdemeanor Defense Attorneys
The criminal defense lawyers of The Law Offices of Gerald J Noonan take our clients’ criminal charges very seriously. Attorney Noonan was an Assistant District Attorney for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for many years. He has criminal trial experience on both sides of a criminal case, which is invaluable when you are looking for an attorney to represent you.
No matter where you are located, we are just a phone call away. Call us to schedule a free no-obligation case review and consultation at (508) 588-0422 and you will have taken your first step to find out how best to confront this important matter. You can also click here to use our Free Case Evaluation Form.
If you have been charged with a disorderly conduct offense call our Massachusetts law offices today at (508) 588-0422 for your free legal consultation.
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Our knowledgeable and experienced Massachusetts Disorderly Conduct Attorneys at The Law Offices of Gerald J. Noonan are available to assist clients throughout all of Massachusetts, including but not limited to Plymouth County including Brockton, Plymouth, Bridgewater, Hingham, Wareham, Middleboro; Norfolk County including Quincy, Stoughton, Dedham, Weymouth, Braintree, Randolph, Canton, Sharon, Brookline, Franklin; Bristol County including New Bedford, Fall River, Taunton, Wrentham, Attleboro, Mansfield, Easton, Raynham; and Middlesex County including Cambridge, Lowell, Somerville, Newton, Woburn, Framingham, Malden, Chelsea, Everett, Arlington, Medford and Waltham; Cape Cod, Barnstable, Falmouth and Worcester; Essex County including Lynn, Lawrence and Salem; and the Greater Boston area including South Boston, Revere, Dorchester and Roxbury.
