My 18 year old son was arrested on Friday for alcohol consumption by a minor and disorderly conduct in Dixon, Illinois. He and a friend had some beer at the friend's home before riding in a car (neither of them drove) to a high school basketball game in Dixon, about an hour-and-a-half from our home. The principal of the school where the game was being played smelled alcohol on the boys breath and took them to the athletic director's office. There were two Dixon PD officers with the principal. A third boy who had not been drinking was taken with them. The principal left the boys with the police officers to retrieve a breath testing device. During the time the principal was gone, the police questioned the boy who had not been drinking. When he told the officers he had not consumed any alcohol, one of them took the boy's water bottle and threw it against the wall and told him that he would find out about that when the principal returned with the breath tester. He cuffed that boy and told him he would be charged with disorderly conduct.
When the principal returned, he banged on the breath testing device a couple of times to get it to work. He then tested the three boys. It was not a device which registered a particular blood alcohol level, but merely indicated whether alcohol was present or not. It showed that the two boys who had admitted consuming the beer did indeed have alcohol in their systems. The boy who had been cuffed tested negative -- no alcohol was detected.
At that point the boys were read their rights, cuffed, and transported to the Dixon Police Department where reports were filled out. Since they did not have money with them, they were released on an Individual bond (no security). The other two boys received copies of their citations. My son did not.
I am unclear on a few issues.
Should the police have given my son a copy of the citation that was issued?
Is a breath test administered by a school principal legal?
Does the fact that the principal disclosed, prior to testing the boys, that the device had not been working properly have any bearing? (Again, he had to hit the thing a couple of times to get it to turn on.)
Was the principal's initial sniff of alcohol on the breath just cause to interrogate the boys? (When asked, they admitted to the consumption.)
Is the confession to the principal and submission to his breath test admissible as evidence in court?
How does the disorderly conduct charge fit into this arrest? (According to the boys, they were cooperative, and were not engaged in any conduct that they felt was disorderly.)
Is there someplace where I can find the actual state law pertaining to minor consumption? (One of the officers told the boys that the consumption law was a city ordinance. If that's true, why would this law apply, since the alcohol was consumed in our home town, not in Dixon?)
I appreciate any assistance.
When the principal returned, he banged on the breath testing device a couple of times to get it to work. He then tested the three boys. It was not a device which registered a particular blood alcohol level, but merely indicated whether alcohol was present or not. It showed that the two boys who had admitted consuming the beer did indeed have alcohol in their systems. The boy who had been cuffed tested negative -- no alcohol was detected.
At that point the boys were read their rights, cuffed, and transported to the Dixon Police Department where reports were filled out. Since they did not have money with them, they were released on an Individual bond (no security). The other two boys received copies of their citations. My son did not.
I am unclear on a few issues.
Should the police have given my son a copy of the citation that was issued?
Is a breath test administered by a school principal legal?
Does the fact that the principal disclosed, prior to testing the boys, that the device had not been working properly have any bearing? (Again, he had to hit the thing a couple of times to get it to turn on.)
Was the principal's initial sniff of alcohol on the breath just cause to interrogate the boys? (When asked, they admitted to the consumption.)
Is the confession to the principal and submission to his breath test admissible as evidence in court?
How does the disorderly conduct charge fit into this arrest? (According to the boys, they were cooperative, and were not engaged in any conduct that they felt was disorderly.)
Is there someplace where I can find the actual state law pertaining to minor consumption? (One of the officers told the boys that the consumption law was a city ordinance. If that's true, why would this law apply, since the alcohol was consumed in our home town, not in Dixon?)
I appreciate any assistance.
