Loitering to Solicit the Purchase of Alcohol PC 303

California Penal Code Section 303 (PC 303)

California Penal Code Section 303 prohibits the following conduct: “It shall be unlawful, in any place of business where alcoholic beverages are sold. No person shall loiter there to beg solicit any patron, customer or visitor to purchase any alcoholic beverage for them.”

What Constitutes the Criminal Act of Loitering to Solicit the Purchase of Alcohol?

A violation of Penal Code section 303 requires 2 parts:

1. The defendant loitered in a place that sells alcohol for the purposes of consuming it on the premises.
2. The defendant was loitering with the purpose of soliciting patrons or other bystanders to buy alcohol for them.

“Loitering” The law defines loitering as staying in a place without a legal reason to be there. This can take place in both public and private property.

It’s important to note that the first element requires the defendant to loiter in a place where alcohol can be consumed. This means the premises must allow alcohol consumption on site. Liquor stores are a good example of somewhere that would not qualify. People may loiter on the premises of a liquor store and ask others to buy them alcohol, and this is allowed. Since liquor do not permit drinking on the premises, this would not be sufficient to violate PC 303. 

The second element requires that the defendant ask others to buy them or give them alcohol. This is fairly straightforward. Important to note that law does not necessarily require the defendant to solicit alcohol from the place that they loiter. It only require that they ask in some form to buy them alcohol.

What Are Some Examples of Violating PC 303?

As mentioned before, the defendant must loiter in a place where people consume alcohol on the premises. One may think that the main example of a PC 303 violation is an individual under the age of 21 asking people outside of a liquor store/grocery store to buy them alcohol, however, this is not the case, given that these stores almost always do not permit drinking on the premises. Here are some examples that would constitute a crime under PC 303:

• A bar kicks a man out for being too intoxicated. Before leaving, he asks patrons waiting in line outside to buy him one last drink and bring it to him before he returns home.
• A group of minors loiters outside of a club an offer to buy unfinished drinks from patrons.

What can affect the court’s decision in a PC 303 violation case?

In some cases, the court may take into account mitigating circumstances. Such as:

1. no prior offenses
2. clear evidence that the defendant did not intend to violate the law.

Also important is exactly how the request to purchase alcohol was made. If someone did it in a non-intrusive manner or in a different context, it might affect the decision. In addition, the defense may cite the lack of alcohol consumption at the scene. Also the fact that the defendant did not show any intention to break the law.

How Can I Defend Myself If Accused of Loitering to Solicit the Purchase of Alcohol?

Many defenses exist against allegations of violating PC 303 because people often misunderstand the crime to include more offenses than it does. Here are common defenses against loitering to solicit the purchase of alcohol:

• Your actions did not meet the definition of loitering
• You did not solicit the purchase of alcohol
• Your actions took place in an area that does not sell alcohol for the purpose of consumption on its premises

To violate PC 303, you must loiter with the intent to engage in lewd conduct. This means that even if you blatantly solicited alcohol in a place that sells it and allows drinking on the premises, if you had a legal reason to be on the premises (meaning you weren’t loitering), you would not be violating the statute in question. Here is an example:

• A group of minors eat at a restaurant that serves alcohol and want to purchase despite being too young. They ask people at other tables to purchase alcoholic beverages for them. While they did solicit alcohol in an area that sells it for consumption on its premises, they were eating there. This means they had a legal reason to be there and therefore were not loitering. While the authorities could charge them with other crimes, their actions do not violate PC 303.

Other defenses include that you did not solicit the purchase of alcohol or you did so in an area that does not permit alcohol consumption on its premises. Say someone bought you a drink without you asking, and you accepted it. Even if you were loitering, you did not actually solicit the purchase of alcohol, you merely accepted the offer from someone else.

Also, as previously stated, soliciting alcohol on the premises of a liquor store or supermarket would not qualify as a violation of PC 303, because these locations do not permit the consumption of alcohol on their premises. If someone accuses you of soliciting alcohol, but you did not ask for it, KAASS LAW will investigate all the circumstances. Call (844)-522-7752