Alcohol & Drugs: MIP, MIC, Intoxication Minor in possesion of alcohol, 18 years old

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Denys

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Hello, I've recently got a minor in possession ticket in Santa Clara county:mad:. Cop gave me a ticket for drinking beer on the street at approximately 10-11 p.m. He took my photo and my fingerprints. I had a car at that time, but I wasn't driving it was parked o the street. Cop took all the information about the car and asked my friend to drive me that night so I don't get a DUI as well. But as I mentioned, he marked my ticket as traffic of on the top, and he circled misdemeanor versus infraction down below. My court date is scheduled on June 14 in Palo Alto, CA, which is my birthday as well, I'm turning 19. I've read that I possibly might loose my driver license for a year. That would be a really bad for me, since I'm a full time student, also I work part time as a delivery driver. Would that be enough evidences for a judge, so I don't get my license suspended because of the need to drive? Also I was thinking to propose by myself to take alcohol classes such as AA just not to loose my license? Is that possible to take some sort of AA classes and have a clean record? If so, how and what should I say? Should I play guilty, non guilty, no contest? I had a speeding ticket earlier and my license was suspended for a month, no serious citations, will that somehow affect my position? Should I hire a lawyer, I'm pretty broke right now, and I'm not sure I can afford that, but if this will be urgent and I will have some sort of guarantee I would agree. Thank you for your cooperation
 
There are no guarantees, even if you hire a lawyer.

Taking an alcohol awareness class will be helpful.

You'll possibly lose your license again, as this was a traffic offense, according to your post.

You'll be ordered to do community service, fines/costs, and probation.

You might even be ordered to have an alcohol monitor installed on your car.

You can probably get a special license for work & school use.

But, you could lose your delivery job for insurance reasons.

Hiring a lawyer or at least speaking to a couple, couldn't hurt.

In fact, a lawyer may be of great value to you, if he/she were to get the charge reduced to an infraction.
 
Should I propose to the judge that I am willing to take any alcohol classes in order not to loose my license, may that help in my situation?

That wasn't a traffic offense, my car wasn't involved, it was just parked on the street, and I have no idea what might be the reason for officer to mark it a traffic violation.

I'm ready to pay my fines or to do whatever just not to loose a license. What is probation?

Alcohol monitor, whats that and whats for?

I have scheduled a meeting with the attorney for tomorrow, I'll post more info later.

Thank you for your help
 
Denys said:
Should I propose to the judge that I am willing to take any alcohol classes in order not to loose my license, may that help in my situation?

That wasn't a traffic offense, my car wasn't involved, it was just parked on the street, and I have no idea what might be the reason for officer to mark it a traffic violation.

I'm ready to pay my fines or to do whatever just not to loose a license. What is probation?

Alcohol monitor, whats that and whats for?

I have scheduled a meeting with the attorney for tomorrow, I'll post more info later.

Thank you for your help
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Great, you have a lawyer.
Please, follow his/her advice, if you trust them.
If you don't trust them, seek another lawyer.
This process takes time.
yes, you want it done.
But, it is often better to wait.
Things can be done to make it better for you, if you wait.
Remember, until and unless, you are convicted (or plead guilty); you remain cloaked in the presumption of innocence!
You must be patient.


I don't know why the officer chose one over the other.
I'm sure he/she, had good reasons to do so.
Probably because you were in (or around) the care when he/she first spotted you.
The law can consider certain actions as you operating a vehicle, even though it wasn't moving.
Your lawyer will advise you about this.
Be sure to ask her/him.



An alcohol monitor is something they place in your car.
You blow into it, before the car will start.
If you've been drinking (alcohol), your car won't start.
Yeah, I know, you're thinking, but what if?
Just don't even consider that.
They can order you to wear an ankle bracelet monitor.
It measures your perspiration for alcohol in your system.




Probation means reporting to a probation officer regularly.
They can search your home.
They visit you at school and on the job.
They provide you with rules to obey (no alcohol, curfew, obey all laws, etc...)
Usually in cases like this, you do everything you are told, and this thing can just be wiped away.
Those are called diversionary programs.
Ask your lawyer about how that could happen for you.
One last thing.
They will assess you fines and costs.
You have to pay those.
They will make payment arrangements.
Again, your lawyer will guide you.
 
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Thank you for your help. As I understood so far, I need a lawyer, I just spoke to a private attorney on the phone and he told me that if he would help me with this case, he would charge me about 2500-3000$, that's too much for me =(
 
What you did isn't severe enough to warrant a SCRAM (alcohol monitor). You don't want one, trust me. They're expensive. They're loud. They're obtrusive. Etc.

Just realize you are teetering on the brink. One more mistake and your life will be ruled by the courts, as far as random drug testing, etc. goes.

Good Luck.
 
I've talked to a couple of attorneys, and most of them said that the most possible way for me to keep my license is to win a trial. I would like to know more about trials, whats that, how can I win the trial, and do I need a lawyer for that or public defendant will be fine as well?
 
If money is an obstacle for you, you might just need to do your best with a public defender. A PD should be sufficient here... you aren't dealing with serious charges.
The PD should be able to get your misdemeanor handled as an infraction if you don't have some lengthy criminal history. You will probably not need to go to trial either... but if the prosecutor insists on tying in your driver's license even though it wasn't a traffic offense... ya, you might want to let it go that far.
What is the code on the citation?
I assume BP 25662?
If not, it should be.
 
Yes, the code is correct. So, when I come to the court, should I ask for the PD right away when they call my name or what? What should I tell to PD? Should I plaid not guilty? Please, explain in details, I'm so nervous and confused about this. I'm originally from Ukraine, in my country we never had such a problems with a bottle of beer, never...

Thank you for your cooperation
 
Denys said:
Yes, the code is correct. So, when I come to the court, should I ask for the PD right away when they call my name or what? What should I tell to PD? Should I plaid not guilty? Please, explain in details, I'm so nervous and confused about this. I'm originally from Ukraine, in my country we never had such a problems with a bottle of beer, never...

Thank you for your cooperation
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Yes, plead not guilty.

Then request a public defender or a court appointed attorney.

Do not admit to anything or agree to anything, unless you have spoken with an attorney, YOUR attorney.

Well, this isn't the Ukraine.

This is the USA, and things are different.
 
I talked to a couple of attorneys, and all of them said the same thing. The attorney will go to the court, sign me up for AA meetings and Alcoholic classes, and after finishing them he will go to the court and make my case dismissed, which happens in 80% of cases according to the attorneys words. So, what I thought about, why can't I do the same thing without paying 3k$ to the attorney and just with he help of Public Defender. Is it possible? If so, how?
Another thing, after going into the court, pleading non guilty and asking for a PD, will I going to have some scheduled time with PD to discuss my problems, or how this happens? I still didn't get it.

Thank You
 
Denys said:
I talked to a couple of attorneys, and all of them said the same thing. The attorney will go to the court, sign me up for AA meetings and Alcoholic classes, and after finishing them he will go to the court and make my case dismissed, which happens in 80% of cases according to the attorneys words. So, what I thought about, why can't I do the same thing without paying 3k$ to the attorney and just with he help of Public Defender. Is it possible? If so, how?
Another thing, after going into the court, pleading non guilty and asking for a PD, will I going to have some scheduled time with PD to discuss my problems, or how this happens? I still didn't get it.

Thank You
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You can accomplish what you want with the help of a public defender.

A public defender is a lawyer.

If you get one, it will cost you nothing.

The court appoints him/her to represent you for free.

The taxpayers of California (you too) pay for this service with their taxes.

You seem to have a language and culture barrier.

I don't think you should try this alone on your own.

You need someone wiser in our ways, language, and laws to help you.

You might want to speak with a Ukrainian person that understands our legal system and our ways better than you do.

That way a Ukrainian person that has been in the US longer than you can explain how this works so that you FULLY understand.

Good luck.

You'll be okay.
 
If convicted of 25662 you will suffer a license suspension. You may petition the court for a restricted license if you can show a critical need to drive. Some courts might require at least a short period of a full suspension before they will heed a petition.

The court might file this as an infraction and hear the matter in traffic court. If they do, a public defender will NOT be an option for you.
 
i have 4 mip what you should do i ask for pretrial diversion which basically means the judge postpones the case for 30 days and if you stay good which shouldnt be hard it will be dropped and exsponged from your record i have done that in ga after 2 offenses and didnt know i could plea that way and you only getto use it one time
 
you also dont needa listen to these guys bout a public defender i have had numerous problems and the public defender will help but if he caught you and you havent had priors or anything just plead pretrial diversion or ask to do that if you dont believe me look it up on google and itll tell you exactly what its about
 
jptar6 said:
you also dont needa listen to these guys bout a public defender i have had numerous problems and the public defender will help but if he caught you and you havent had priors or anything just plead pretrial diversion or ask to do that if you dont believe me look it up on google and itll tell you exactly what its about
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You indicate you are from another state, Georgia (GA), in your other post. Ergo, you have little idea what this offense entails in CA.

If filed as an infraction he will NOT have access to a publicly paid public defender. If he wants an attorney for an infraction, he will have to pay for it.

Diversion is not always available out here for adults, and even when it IS available, there are different programs available in different places. Thirty days will NOT be sufficient to make this go away in any of them.
 
Million dollar words with ten cent meanings ...
 
I just came back from the court. I was worrying too much about this offense, as the judge explained to me, usually if you have MIP for the first time, they will propose you to take advantage of MIP Classes, which costs 140$ and you have to spent 6 hours there. I have my curt date scheduled on August, I'm supposed to bring the certificate of successful passing the class and my case will be dismissed. Thank you all who was helping me with this case
 
Denys said:
I just came back from the court. I was worrying too much about this offense, as the judge explained to me, usually if you have MIP for the first time, they will propose you to take advantage of MIP Classes, which costs 140$ and you have to spent 6 hours there. I have my curt date scheduled on August, I'm supposed to bring the certificate of successful passing the class and my case will be dismissed. Thank you all who was helping me with this case
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We tried to tell you to relax.
I'm glad things are working out for you.
Complete the class and avoid alcohol, until you are legally able to consume it.
Then do not allow alcohol to consume you!!!
 
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