As you may remember from this thread , I found myself in a bit of trouble.
The news came back today: underage consumption, which means $318 and 90 days of license suspension.
I had already talked to my parents, so they weren’t furious. The youngest one of us didn’t get anything in the mail, apparently his was so low the officer didn’t bother to file a charge on him. Tomorrow I’m going before the magistrate to plead not guilty. He was my sister’s pole vault coach and apparently is a friend of the family. This is good. However, according to an officer at the station (my mom called today), he cannot reduce the charge to disorderly conduct. This is bad.
I don’t even care about losing my license as long as I’m away at school where I won’t need to drive. I just need to have my license for the summer so I don’t lose my job at Lowe’s (a whole thread unto itself). The father of one of the girls I graduated with is a lawyer, so tomorrow we’re going to talk to him to see if there is something we can get the charges dismissed for. I’m thinking so far that not calling our parents will be a big thing. The officer my mom talked to on the phone (a real hardass who once gave her a ticket that was thrown out as meritless) told her that the officer who cited us shouldn’t have even used the PBT since we weren’t driving. Hopefully the lawyer will be able to shed some light on the situation.
Goddamn. I didn’t drink in high school OR college. I was the president of SADD! The one day I have a few drinks (aka less than 3) and it bites me in the ass. I know its my fault and all–I feel horrible.
Bad luck Poogas, I have to say I dont understand how it can be even remotely possible for them to take your licence away when you werent driving. Thats really strange!
I think the cop can get away with the not calling the parents on the two that were charged because the two of you are of legal age (18). But using a Breathalyzer when you aren’t driving is ridiculous. I truly felt you were going to be fine. My sister (the cop) also said you would be fine. I’m very sorry. I hope everything goes well - please update us!!
Wow. I’d tell you how f*cking dumb it is that you got ticketed for WALKING to a convenience store at 0.05 bac, but you already know that.
IANAL, but the prosecutor for the case definitely has the authority to reduce charges, and it’s possible the judge does too. Do not take the word of the police. Although I see from your post that you have a lawyer, so hopefully you can get something worked out. If you can get a deal which will result in no permanent charges on your criminal record, I’d consider taking it. Hope the prosecutor’s not as big a hard-on as the cop.
I have to throw my tale into this thread. Late last year I was downtown with a bunch of friends at a club watching a kick-ass band. We’d had a cookout earlier in the day and had a few drinks. A friend of mine who doesn’t drink suggested we go see the band and we took off safely with a designated driver. With enough cash to get me through the night and safely home I was feeling pretty good about the whole deal. Well, a few beers and a couple of shots later I’m ready to leave. I don’t want to take the whole crew out of the fun so I have the bartender call me a taxi. As I leave walking to the taxi (sitting approximately 50 feet from the door), I run into two bicycle cops. They ask me if I’m having a good night and I respond “Yes sir I am”. I’m then arrested for PI and taken to the city jail for the next 15 hours.
I pointed out my cab to these guys. I was coherent enough to call a cab. They arrested me 10 feet from the door I walked out of. I spent $500 for a lawyer and STILL had to pay the fine. (It was $100 maximum, but that wasn’t the point to me). Damn! I’m just going to drive next time! :mad: I won’t really drive, but at times it seems to be turning into a police state
-K