Well, I'm screwed

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
21

OK poogas…Here’s the (general) scoop.

He’s trying to spook you. He did a fine job.

Here’s some 411…

  1. If he didn’t charge you right then and there, he cannot charge you later for something that needs immediate physical evidence (that PBT, or portable breath tester, you blew into is NOT admissible in court, since it’s likely not calibrated by a certified technician on an auditable basis).

  2. To properly administer a breath test, you must be observed for approximately 20 minutes, in a controlled environment. Not by a squad car on the street.

  3. If he didn’t call the parents of the minor amongst you, he’s not charging anyone with anything.

  4. It’s a good thing you complied with his request to to an FST, or field sobriety test, because had you refused, his only other recourse would have been to take you in and test you, and since you were already there, it’s nothing to charge you.
    Keep up the clear headed thought there pal, you done good by walking, and fessing up to the old man.

22

I’m intrigued that you hadn’t had a drink until 19, and after your first experience of it you’re in trouble.

This chimes in with my thinking that it is precisely this kind of prohibition until 18 or even 21 that makes it such a problem. It becomes a mark of adulthood and a rite of passage, and also you have no idea how to handle yourself and your limits.

Had you been raised in a household and a state where a glass of wine was normal with dinner, and you’d been given the occasional taste as you grew up (ie alcohol was no big deal for you), I wonder if this would have happened? Do you think being more accustomed would have changed the situation you found yourself in? Just wondering.

23

Not to pee on everybody’s parade, but sometimes cops will pass these petty cases onto bored detectives who will follow up on them.

I once got a ticket for possession of marijuana in the mail (in Illinois).

I was riding shotgun in a car on a holiday weekend, when we came upon a holiday roadblock. Neither of us were drunk, and we had an unopened twelve-pack of beer in the car. Even though I was 25 years old (7 years ago), respectful, sober, and totally within my rights, the cop (pig) pulled me out of the car to search me “for his own protection”. He found a small pipe and approximately one gram of marijuana in my pocket (Lesson to all: crotch your weed).

“For his own protection” in in quotes, because there were at least 30 cops there, and we were being videotaped the entire time.

Anyway, he confiscated the weed and pipe, made my driver/friend walk a straight line, and sent us on our way, telling us to “be careful”.

Two weeks later, I received the charge in the mail, along with an order to surrender myself to the county detention center.

I did, was handcuffed way too tight for a respectful person who turned himself in, and was released after 3 or 4 hours of communal jail time.

I was given a court date 6 weeks later, and due to a lawyer who was willing to fight, (they had no probable cause to pull me out of the car, and we had the video to prove it) ended up getting “supervision” and a fine. “Supervision” is a great thing where you negotiate a higher fine and if you don’t get another infraction within X amount of time (usually a year or so), it doesn’t appear on your record.

poobas21, I hope everybody’s right, and you don’t get charged. That’s actually the most likely prognosis to your dilemma. But if you do get the dreaded letter, don’t freak out, just think like an upstanding citizen. You aren’t a crimninal.

Even cheap lawyers can get you off of something this minor, if you’re willing to negotiate. Don’t take .the public defender, and research your lawyer.

24

I’m sorry for the name typo. I meant poogas21.

25

AndrewT : I actually have had alcohol before. My dad would let me have a little wine on holidays and similar events. When we travel abroad, he and I would share stuff. Last summer in Spain almost every night we split a pitcher of sangria together. All of us knew our limits. Nobody came up over .08 or was falling over drunk.

Eleusis and buttonjockey308 : Now I’m actually starting to question the actual evidence against us. In Eleusis 's case there was actual evidence, correct? They confiscated your marijuana, so that was evidence sitting around. However, I don’t think Pennsylvania allows PBTs to be used as evidence; according to something I found on the net, they can only be used to establish probable cause for an arrest. We weren’t arrested or hauled to the station for an official breathalyzer, blood test, or urine test. Does anyone know for sure, or is underage drinking such a small thing that a summary citation can be issued based on a PBT alone. As one of the officers pulled the PBT out, the one talking to us said “That thing is perfectly calibrated and there is 0% chance that the readings will not be accurate.” Now I’m starting to doubt the veracity of that (especially the second part). If he DID decide to follow-up on it, wouldn’t they be evidenceless? We didn’t admit to anything on the scene, not even after blowing a nonzero on the PBT.
Oh, and thank you, WorldEater

26

Trust me on this one, you have nothing to worry about. I know cops, I’ve got a few of them in my family and what they did was just scared you. I’m betting that’s the first time you’ve had a run-in with the law, as well as the first time for the others with you. Cops don’t mess with kids the first time they catch them doing something like this, unless they’ve just had a really bad night.

27

A BAC Calculator

1/2 a drink will get you a .05 BAC if you weigh 50 lbs!

28

I’m probably wrong then. I remember all the complaints about lowering the DUI limit to .08 were that a single drink could cause that reading. My memory is probably bad. Its more like a drink and a half for me.

29

So, it’s only been like, 2 days, but so far so good?

30

You’re correct to doubt it. That’s total BS. As buttonjockey pointed out, the results of the portable test are not admissable; they’re only used to show they had justification for bringing you to the station and giving you the real test. They were trying to scare you (but they probably had your own best interests at heart).

Don’t ignore it – you obviously haven’t, based on your posts here – but don’t worry about its ruining your life. And NEVER EVER DRINK AND DRIVE. Seriously. From the sound of the OP you’ve already figured that out (making you smarter than I was at your age), but it bears repeating.

31

Well I just came mostly clean with my mom. She wasn’t angry and mostly relieved that I mentioned it to her and gave her a warning. She knows almost all of the police officers (it IS a small town), and said if something comes in the mail, she’ll go down and talk to the officers to see if they’d lessen the charge or whatnot. Likely nothing will come, but at least she still isn’t all too upset. I’m just relieved that I don’t have to worry about my parents finding something in the mail while I’m still at work. I think by this time next week if nothing happens then I’m almost 100% in the clear. Regardless, I plan on keeping a very low profile for a while.