When my son got off work last month at 9pm he met some friends for dinner next door as they needed a ride home from our local downtown area. On the way home one of the boys asked my son to stop at the Minimart so he could buy beer for a friend. They are 17 and he was using a fake ID. Both boys got fake IDs when they went to visit a brother in college in October. Apparently it was the first thing the older boys did so they could take the two young'uns to the bars with them. (My son is a really good kid. 4.0, Honor Society, and going to college on scholarship)
Anyway my son calls me at about 10pm that night and asks me what he should do as his buddy was inside the store getting arrested by an under cover cop for trying to buy beer. I tell him he can do nothing except come home and I'll call his friends dad (who is a lawyer).
The cop comes outside and questions the three boys in the car (my son's car) and asks if they have been drinking or doing drugs. My son (who is very polite) responds that he just got off work and that nobody was drinking. He then mentions that he goes to XXX high school and that he would be kicked out if he did drugs (it's a mandatory drug testing private high school where you get expelled for drug violoations). The cop gives them the once over and tells them they can leave.
My son asks if his buddy is getting arrested or if he wait and drive him home and the cop tells him he can't answer that yet. A few minutes pass and the cop comes back out, tells the boys to step out of the car (after telling them they could leave) and does a very very thorough search of the boys and then the vehicle. My son didn't stop him as he didn't even know he had the right to stop him and he hadn't done anything wrong so didn't care.
Cop doesn't find so much as a beer tab, empty bottle, nothing...except when he opens the glove compartment there is the fake ID (bad one at that) from my son's college trip. He writes my son a ticket and tells the boys to move on and that their friend is going to jail. I didn't even know you could be ticketed unless you were trying to use the ID.
I didn't think much of it until I found out that it is a Class A Misdemeanor in our state (MO). We can get someone to get it reduced (I think) but the point is I don't think my son should have ever been searched. He didn't do anything. He was stupid not to leave when I told him to but he didn't want to abandon his friend until he knew his status.
Did the cop have a right to search his car or their persons at all? Does sitting in the car constitute involvement when a friend is buying alcohol?
Shouldn't the ID be thrown out (for my son) as there was no probable cause to search the car and the cop had already told them they could leave? These boys were stone cold sober and it was obvious (they came back to our house right afterwards and told us the whole story).
I probably should just pay some fines and hope it gets reduced to community service but somehow I feel as if my son had his rights violated and it is really buggin me.
Any LEGAL advice from attorneys would be greatly appreciated.
Anyway my son calls me at about 10pm that night and asks me what he should do as his buddy was inside the store getting arrested by an under cover cop for trying to buy beer. I tell him he can do nothing except come home and I'll call his friends dad (who is a lawyer).
The cop comes outside and questions the three boys in the car (my son's car) and asks if they have been drinking or doing drugs. My son (who is very polite) responds that he just got off work and that nobody was drinking. He then mentions that he goes to XXX high school and that he would be kicked out if he did drugs (it's a mandatory drug testing private high school where you get expelled for drug violoations). The cop gives them the once over and tells them they can leave.
My son asks if his buddy is getting arrested or if he wait and drive him home and the cop tells him he can't answer that yet. A few minutes pass and the cop comes back out, tells the boys to step out of the car (after telling them they could leave) and does a very very thorough search of the boys and then the vehicle. My son didn't stop him as he didn't even know he had the right to stop him and he hadn't done anything wrong so didn't care.
Cop doesn't find so much as a beer tab, empty bottle, nothing...except when he opens the glove compartment there is the fake ID (bad one at that) from my son's college trip. He writes my son a ticket and tells the boys to move on and that their friend is going to jail. I didn't even know you could be ticketed unless you were trying to use the ID.
I didn't think much of it until I found out that it is a Class A Misdemeanor in our state (MO). We can get someone to get it reduced (I think) but the point is I don't think my son should have ever been searched. He didn't do anything. He was stupid not to leave when I told him to but he didn't want to abandon his friend until he knew his status.
Did the cop have a right to search his car or their persons at all? Does sitting in the car constitute involvement when a friend is buying alcohol?
Shouldn't the ID be thrown out (for my son) as there was no probable cause to search the car and the cop had already told them they could leave? These boys were stone cold sober and it was obvious (they came back to our house right afterwards and told us the whole story).
I probably should just pay some fines and hope it gets reduced to community service but somehow I feel as if my son had his rights violated and it is really buggin me.
Any LEGAL advice from attorneys would be greatly appreciated.
