Alcohol & Drugs: MIP, MIC, Intoxication A confusing mess!!! Please help!!!

[Angelizeinfla]

13 days after my son turned 18, he was hanging out with some friends (they pitched a tent in the woods) and one of his longtime friends who was 16 showed up, said his father had thrown him out. My son told him he could use the tent if he wanted to. The next day the mother of the other boy reported her son as a run away. The police went to the tent and found her boy with mine and another young man.

The officer took the boy that was reported as a run away home and my son to jail for harboring an unmarried minor runaway.
He couldn't contact his father or myself at home (they can't call cell phones) and he was brought before a judge the next morning. He was told that no matter what he said the sentence would be 6 months probation and 25 hrs. community service.

He made all his visits to the probation officer but had not completed the community service for because he had no car to get there and he was working to pay the fines (he works for a fast food rest., the hours are all over the place)

The day before the warrant for violation of probation (not doing the com. svc)
he was picked up, hanging out at the tent with another friend.
They charged him with Possession of 20grms or less cannabis (stems & seeds was all there was), use, or possess with intent to use drug paraphernalia (lighters and a hooka), possession of alcoholic beverage by person under 21( 5 unopened beers.) and contributing to a minor.

he went to court today, the state offered 30 days for the violation of probation (they never mentioned the other charges) but said he owed 50 hrs...but we have the original docs that say 25hrs.

First off....I think the first charge was bogus and shouldn't be on his record. He was told by the boy that he'd been kicked out...we teach our kids to help those in need...then throw them in jail? As for the drugs....there was no usable quanity. The beers were unopened and not in their hands but they were in the tent that my son owns.

Any advise....the public defender could really care less...and I really wanna help my son and get him back on the right track.

 

[jacksgal]

Take the best plea deal you can get you are not going to win if you fight it

 

[CdwJava]

One should never just take the word of a child that something like that happened. Kids lie quite often, and no parent should just take the child's word for it ... especially since there is a HUGE liability one adopts having a minor under your care - especially one for which you have no legal standing to care for. I can relate a hundred tales along a similar vein where a kid spun a tale of being kicked out when they really were not.

The proper response would have been to either attempt to contact the parents and get their permission to have him stay with you, or, make sure he is safe and then contact the police advising them of the situation. Bringing the minor into a tent with a buddy to hang out (and possibly smoke some weed or drink) is not properly addressing the situation. Have you read the police report? Does it indicate what the boys said when contacted? What they were doing? It could well be that an admission was made of knowledge that he ran away from home. I suspect they had more than just his presence to justify your son's arrest.

Your adult son made a bad choice, and hopefully he will learn from it. But, first, he needs to address the probation violation and it might be time for him to obtain legal counsel.

On a side note ... why is he living in a tent in the woods?!? He was popped there with the kid and then again later where he was found in VOP and with drugs! Sounds like a cool party pad away from the folks if you ask me.

- Carl

 

[Angelizeinfla]

The first time the boys were at the tent it was because my ex. kicked my son out because they got into an fight. (his father later asked him to move back home), I lived in south Fl and was not told about any of this until after the fact.

The second time, yes it had become the party place @ the tent.

There was nothing in the police report regarding the minor or any statements...just that the mother had reported him as a runaway.

(and the mother took he son home, the next day her husband again kicked out her son, the following day, she reported him as a runaway again....they found him at work....how many runaways go to work?)

The second time he was picked up, the VOP warrant had not been issued at that time....the cop was there looking for another run away because they knew thats where the kids all hung out.

My point with the drugs and alcohol...is .....there was no usable quantity of drugs, and while there was beer there...it was unopened. Like I said the cops knew this was a place the kids all hung out. My son just happend to be be one of only 2 left when the cop came by. There had been about 15 kids there...most over 18...some 17.

I'm not saying what they did was right by any means. The first charges bother me for several reasons. the second charges, come down to the law...drug dealers get away with so much and a kid being a kid shouldn't be treated the same as a dealer or career criminal.