In re Steinke

In In re Steinke (1969) 2 Cal.App.3d 569, the court stated that 'the gist of the offense proscribed in Penal Code section 647 subdivision (a) . . . is the presence or possibility of the presence of some one to be offended by the conduct.'; even if conduct occurs in a location that is technically a public place, a place open to the public, or one exposed to public view, the state has little interest in prohibiting that conduct if there are no persons present who may be offended." (Id. at p. 256.) The court further explained that places in which there is no likelihood that such conduct will be exposed to public view must be excluded from the reach of the statute even though such places may technically be "open to the public." A "fully enclosed toilet booth" was one such place. (Id. at p. 256, fn. 12.)