Alan Ruiz v. State of Indiana, 10A05-1702-CR-311

On May 6, 2016, Alan Ruiz drank alcohol at picnic tables near a Rally’s adjacent to his apartment complex and later was the subject of three police dispatches within about two hours concerning his conduct.
First two calls (within 20 minutes): residents reported Ruiz yelling racial slurs and causing a disturbance; officers told him to remain in his apartment.
Ruiz left his apartment despite the warnings; a third call two hours later reported an intoxicated male creating a disturbance.
Officer Alyssa Wright found Ruiz in a grassy area, observed swaying, bloodshot/glassy eyes, slurred speech, smelled alcohol, and found a pint bottle of vodka; residents identified him and he yelled at them and was uncooperative.
Ruiz was arrested and charged with Class B misdemeanor public intoxication under I.C. § 7.1-5-1-3(a)(3) (breach of the peace or imminent danger of breaching the peace).
After a bench trial the court found Ruiz guilty and imposed a six-month suspended sentence; Ruiz appealed claiming insufficient evidence on the breach-of-peace/imminent-danger element.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether evidence was sufficient to prove Ruiz was in imminent danger of breaching the peace under the public intoxication statute	State: prior complaints, eyewitness identification, Ruiz’s yelling at residents and officer, intoxicated condition, and noncompliance supported an inference of imminent danger of breaching the peace	Ruiz: officer did not personally observe an actual breach or imminent violent/riotous conduct at the moment; mere yelling/attitude insufficient	Affirmed: court found reasonable to infer imminent danger of breaching the peace from prior complaints, present yelling, intoxication, uncooperativeness, and conduct toward residents/officer

Drane v. State, 867 N.E.2d 144 (Ind. 2007) (standard for reviewing sufficiency of evidence and reasonable inferences)
Thang v. State, 10 N.E.3d 1256 (Ind. 2014) (fact-finder may consider evidence and reasonable inferences for public intoxication elements)
Morgan v. State, 22 N.E.3d 570 (Ind. 2014) (purpose of public intoxication statute to protect public from annoyances and dangers posed by intoxicated persons)
Price v. State, 622 N.E.2d 954 (Ind. 1993) (discussion of breach of the peace and limits on treating mere expression as breach)
Lemon v. State, 868 N.E.2d 1190 (Ind. Ct. App. 2007) (breach of the peace includes violations/disturbances of public tranquility or order)
Hart v. State, 669 N.E.2d 762 (Ind. Ct. App. 1996) (examples of conduct constituting breach of the peace)