he's right there he passed out it's my my grandma's dying and that's it army infantry you're Army on December 24th, 2024 Dallas Fort Worth Airport Police responded to a welfare call for an unconscious man on the airport concourse the subject a United States Army infantry veteran was found passed out on the floor he was arrested for public intoxication three legal questions define this incident did probable cause exist under Texas Penal Code Section 49.02 was custodial interrogation conducted without Miranda advisement and was arrest the appropriate intervention that's what I was thinking he had like all this he had all this ash on him but it didn't look like he's going to sing it so OK so let me see if he's still hanging out you got solo no not really he's right there he passed out somebody's passed out what are you doing I'm putting the gloves on come on it's on the ground you guys are getting all the fun ones today huh yeah we are hey what's going on hey hey hey you're okay wake up wake up sit up sir alright you don't have a mask on yeah alright sir you got any mask no hey are you alright sir of course you okay are you breathing you okay yeah of course okay I just wanted to turn you on your side to make sure you're breathing are you experiencing any pain anything like that no sir what happened did you fall no sir not yet not yet Edward we can update he is conscious and breathing oh here yeah let's just have you sit down sit down yeah I don't want you to get hurt sit down yeah let's have you take a seat you're good oh alright walk me through kind of what happened here you didn't trip or anything like that you were taking a nap so you weren't having any kind of medical emergency anything like that just no just tired wanted to get some rest pretty much how much have you had to drink today how much alcohol none none don't lie to me and then okay you have your ID man why are there cigarette ash ashes all over the ground you've been smoking oh yeah I smoke cigarettes yeah inside here no not inside here that's not from your cigarettes what are you giving me money for did you just ask for me to f*cking oh goodness no identification do you know where you're at right now yes sir the airport OK is that your ID alright is that your ID it's not not d but hell that's what I asked you for oh g*d d*mn it uh huh you can cancel him sir sir would you like to be seen by EMS any medical services anything like that no I'm fine you OK alright so how much alcohol have you had to drink today and I'm not playing these games with you I know you're drunk two or one I know you've been drinking I had I had me a beer too and that's it alright okay Texas Penal Code Section 49.02 requires two elements first the subject appears in a public place while intoxicated second and critically intoxicated to the degree that the person may endanger the person or another element 1 is not in dispute the subject was intoxicated in a public airport concourse element 2 is where the probable cause analysis breaks down the subject was stationary non violent and immediately cooperative upon contact he posed no proximate danger to bystanders he was not near vehicle traffic not exhibiting self harm indicators and not behaving erratically in a crowd Texas courts have consistently required officers to articulate specific facts of actual or likely endangerment not merely the presence of intoxication a subject sleeping on an airport floor does not automatically satisfy that threshold the second legal issue is Miranda under Miranda versus Arizona before custodial interrogation officers must advise a subject of four rights silence use of statements in court right to counsel and appointed counsel if unable to afford one the lead officer asked directly quote how much have you had to drink today I know you're drunk before handcuffs were applied the subject then admitted to consuming alcohol that admission forms the evidentiary basis of the arrest the threshold question is whether the subject was in custody at the point of questioning under Burkimer versus Mccarty routine investigative questioning is not automatically custodial however the totality test applies here the subject was seated on the floor surrounded by multiple uniformed officers and had surrendered his identification under Florida versus Bostic the standard is whether a reasonable person would feel free to terminate the encounter and leave on these facts that standard is difficult to satisfy statements obtained in a de facto custodial environment without Miranda advisement face suppression under the exclusionary rule established in Mapp versus Ohio alright go ahead and put that stuff back in your wallet g*d d*mn it here we go and do you have your driver's license yeah right here would you mind handing that to me please thank you just put your wallet down just put your wallet down just put your wallet down alright sir you wanna stand up I'm gonna have you stand up for me please alright oh thank you thank you OK your hands behind your back alright yeah be right back thank you so you're under arrest for public intoxication at this moment so let go of your hands thank you and before we have one in custody for public and talks can we get a transport unit the third issue concerns the proportionality of the arrest itself Texas Health and Safety Code Section 4 62.041 authorizes a civil emergency detention alternative under that statute a peace officer may take an intoxicated person into protective custody and transport them to a detox facility without filing a criminal charge and without generating a misdemeanor record public intoxication under Texas Penal Code Section 49.02 is a Class C misdemeanor the lowest criminal classification in Texas punishable by fine only no jail time attaches upon conviction the civil diversion pathway produces the same public safety outcome the subject is removed from the concourse and sobered up without the downstream consequence of a criminal record for a non violent cooperative individual on use of force the handcuffing technique was controlled and proportionate under Graham versus Conner force is judged by objective reasonableness from the perspective of a reasonable officer at the moment of the decision the subject offered no physical resistance the level of force applied soft empty hand control and standard handcuffing was consistent with a compliant non threatening subject no gram violation is present here where are you yes sir those today did I thought it was going to be I did too oh yeah alright you guys good alright we're gonna go outside OK I'm gonna go outside for a bit uh you call that coffee yeah I did well thanks a lot 20 days you're alright well you're not I'm fine so once you fall down excuse us what branch were you in pardon what branch were you in uh you don't know no I do know oh OK OK there's a army infantry you're Army Army infantry I was just you know I was told not to talk to y'all but who's y'all police no no okay somebody higher up than y'all but anyway anyhow no I mean I already told y'all oh okay I mean I'm a really nice person I don't you know nobody's denying that huh nobody's denying that you're not a nice person no I don't say you weren't no I know but I've been real nice OK f*ck I'm not I'm not trying to be a d*ckhead alright that's all I'm saying OK you just had a little too much to drink but that that's the only reason that I'm it's my my grandma's dying and that's it I'm not trying to I'm not trying to yeah I mean I don't I mean don't sit here and think that I'm trying to be a butthole but I just I mean I wanna know what's going on I really don't know so you're gonna go to our jail at the airport OK you're gonna sober up yes ma'am you'll see a judge and then you'll be able to be released okay alright you should be able to get your flight tomorrow okay okay that's it yeah you just gotta sober up don't worry about it have I ever talked to anybody on the phone yeah over there yeah you have you can make as many phone calls as you want no charge OK OK am I able am I can y'all give me the phone so I can call no we can look up numbers whenever we get over there though OK you can look up numbers in your phone alright OK you gotta keep going are you able to tell me what I did yeah you're drunk okay you're in you're arrested for public intoxication okay that's that's what you did okay okay so everything that you already had said it's just you know give me proof that I'm free to go alright so alright that's fine alright stand up OK oh hold on give me one second let me oh my god my f*cking alright I'm ready I'm just gonna walk right in front of the car right alright it's late no we're good and I have to wait for the report but so um if you want to log in and start up the report and start your body camera I can get it started for you he's trying to finish another one OK yeah he was passed out and I sit down on my neck I'm supposed to be out early spike in my blood pressure well you're all right alright it's a backpack already put it in the back in the trunk already camouflage backpack what do I do about that no I mean I don't I'm trying to be an *sshole I understand I'll take care of it um would you be able to that's good that's good let's examine the constitutional framework the lead officer receives a B her welfare first approach immediate radio communication and professional demeanor throughout reflects solid fundamentals however conducting incriminating alcohol questioning without Miranda advisement and failing to articulate the danger element required by section 49.02 represent procedural deficiencies that would undermine prosecution the subject receives a B+ he complied immediately upon arrest offered no physical resistance and remained composed under significant personal and emotional stress his primary legal error was answering incriminating questions without invoking his Fifth Amendment right to silence the right to refuse self incriminating responses applies at any stage before and after formal arrest Dallas Fort Worth Airport Police Department receives a B minus officer conduct in this incident reflects good character and adequate basic training no excessive force no misconduct no civil rights exposure the department's gap is institutional in Miranda protocols for escalating welfare contacts in probable cause articulation standards for the danger element and in the absence of civil diversion as a documented field alternative 3 takeaways from this incident apply broadly first public intoxication statutes require more than proof of intoxication officers must document specific facts establishing that the subject was a danger not merely impaired second when a welfare check transitions to investigative questioning about criminal conduct Miranda exposure begins the custody determination is objective it does not require a formal arrest announcement third civil diversion statutes exist precisely for situations like this one a non violent cooperative individual whose primary need is sobering up not a criminal record knowing when not to arrest is as important as knowing when to let us know if there is an interaction or legal topic that you would like us to discuss in the comments below thank you for watching and don't forget to subscribe to our channel for more content on police court interactions