Alcohol & Drugs: MIP, MIC, Intoxication MIC AND MIP in Texas

[Rage]

Last night I got a ticket when I was on my way to a party. I was walking up to the party and I had 3 beers on me (2 in my pockets and one in my hand). Because I was about 20 feet from this person's house I cracked open one of my beers. I didn't even have time to take a sip when out of nowhere a cop that wasn't even in uniform said, "hey can you come over here for a sec?" Not knowing this was an officer, I walked up to him and then he proceeded to issue me a ticket. He gave me a MIP and a MIC!!! He didn't even give me a breathalyzer test or anything so he has no way of knowing whether or not I even drank anything.

So I have two questions... (1) Is it legal for an undercover cop to wait outside of a party and give out MIPs to anyone walking by? He didn't even show me his police badge. This seems totally wrong to me...isn't there something sort of like entrapment that would prevent cops from doing this??? (2) Can a cop give out a MIC when he has no way of knowing if I even drank any? Granted I had an open beer in my hand. But, "innocent until proven guilty"...right?

 

[SadoJoe]

I've dealt with things like this before. Go to your court date and contest the MIC. There are judges who may laugh at you and call you a liar, but dress up, be respectful and explain the situation without looking like you are not admitting wrongdoing.

If you have a clean record, it may go better for you, and you may be offered a diversion program. These programs vary, but can include: up to 6 month suspension of Driver's license (hardships may be heard), mandatory class, where you sit in a room with similar offendors and talk about the incident and then watch a rendition of "Red Pavement." It takes away a saturday, but the offense only goes on your criminal history rather than criminal record.MIC and MIP