Legal Question in Criminal Law in California

I have been an attorney for over 30 years and never heard of this.Please call me ,attorney Barney Gibbs at (714)838-9019 to discuss your case.

Using a racial slur is not illegal. But provoking violence is. There is no special exception for those who provoke it with racial slurs, nor should there be.

The First Amendment protects offensive speech, but that protection has limits. Speech that is likely to provoke violence is outside those limits. So although the government can't outlaw particular words or phrases, it can outlaw verbally picking a fight regardless of which words are involved. California has done that via Penal Code section 415(3), which is the statute you are charged with violating.

Section 415(3) makes it a misdemeanor to "use[] offensive words in a public place which are inherently likely to provoke an immediate violent reaction." It's not solely about what you say, but also about to whom you say it and in what context. The statute isn't aimed at racial slurs in particular, since there are plenty of other ways to pick a fight. And it doesn't outlaw racial slurs, since in many settings they aren't inherently likely to incite violence.

You haven't given us enough information to say whether you appear guilty -- which is fine, since that isn't what you asked. Your question was whether it was legal to charge someone for this type of conduct. The answer is yes, depending on the context.

This will be a difficult if not impossible criminal charge to prosecute, unless you were clearly trying to start a fight. That will be an issue for witnesses to prove, one way or another. It is the 'fight' that is illegal, and so is trying to start one. Your attorney should be able to get this 'disposed of' in a way satisfactory to you if handled right. Feel free to contact me if you want that help.