Background

• Patience Paye called police after an alleged domestic dispute at her single‑family home; she stepped onto the front stairs to speak with officers and provided breath samples showing BAC ~0.267–0.264.
• Police arrested Paye for public intoxication under Iowa Code § 123.46(2); she was charged as a serious misdemeanor due to a prior conviction.
• The district court admitted a photo showing unenclosed front steps and found the stairs were "public" because they were visible and accessible to passersby; Paye was convicted after a bench trial.
• Paye appealed, arguing the front steps of a single‑family residence are not a "public place" unless the homeowner extends a general invitation to the public.
• The Iowa Supreme Court considered statutory text, the purposes of the public intoxication statute, and precedent distinguishing apartment common areas from single‑family home entries.
• The Court reversed: absent evidence the homeowner invited the general public (or otherwise relinquished the right to exclude), the front steps of a single‑family home are not a "public place" under § 123.46(2).

Issues

Key Cases Cited

• State v. Booth, 670 N.W.2d 209 (Iowa 2003) (front stairs and common hallway of an apartment house are a public place)
• State v. Lake, 476 N.W.2d 55 (Iowa 1991) (right of public access is the touchstone; interior of a car on a public street was not a public place)
• Kaiser Aetna v. United States, 444 U.S. 164 (1979) (right to exclude is a fundamental property right)
• State v. Premsingh, 962 P.2d 732 (Or. Ct. App. 1998) (limited implied invitation to approach a residence does not convert it into a public place)