Criminal LawThe act requirement
Martin v. State
Alabama Court of Appeals · Decided January 18, 1944 · Core case
Full citation
Martin v. State, 17 So. 2d 427 (Ala. Ct. App. 1944).
Quote pages are pages of 31 Ala. App. 334, the official report, so quotes and pinpoints cite it; for 17 So. 2d 427, find the page in that reporter.
VerifiedQuotes, pinpoints and citation checked word for word against the opinion; facts checked against the opinion before publication. October 20, 2026.
Martin
person convicted of public drunkennessappellant
State
state
Brief
Facts
Martin was charged with being drunk on a public highway. Officers arrested him at his home. They then took him onto the highway. The opinion says that, once he was there, he allegedly manifested a drunken condition by using loud and profane language. Those were the acts the opinion calls proscribed. The statute covers any person who, while intoxicated or drunk, appears in any public place where one or more persons are present and manifests a drunken condition by boisterous or indecent conduct, or loud and profane discourse. The penalty on conviction is a fine. The opinion does not describe the evidence beyond this. The key fact is how Martin came to be on the highway: the arresting officers took him there from his home. He was convicted at trial and appealed.
Issue
Can a person be convicted under the Alabama statute of appearing drunk in a public place when officers arrested him at his home and carried him to that public place?
Holding
Martin's conviction could not stand, because officers took him from his home onto the highway, so his presence there was not voluntary. It appeared to the court that no legal conviction could be sustained under the evidence, so it reversed and rendered judgment discharging him.
IRAC
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