Alcohol & Drugs: MIP, MIC, Intoxication Minor in Possesion

[robin5521]

Alright heres the deal I went to court in August 6th and plead not guilty for minor in possession of alcohol by consumption and I have a court date on September 17th I will now type up the police report.

On 5-27-01, at approx. 2345 hrs. I was dispatched to Safeway regarding a theft that had just occured. dispatch reported that a young male ran from the store carrying a half case of coors beer. (my friend). Dispatch also stated that a young male with blond hair, dressed in blue jeans, and a white shirt came running out of safeway with a half case of coors beer. the witnesses then saw him run towards the Tillamook RV Repair across Hadley St. from safeway. (whats really funny about this is that the witnesses they had were already in the store and were behind us when my friend grabbed the alcohol and started running and very shortly after that I followed him in his run.)

While I was talking with the witnesses I could see a young man hidden behind one of the posts on the sidewalk in front of Safeway he identified himself. At first he denied knowing anything about the theft of beer and then changed his mind admitting he stole a half case of beer from Safeway(Yes another misconstrued statement as I admited it was my friends after they said that the witnesses saw us.) I asked the witnesses to verify that he was the one they saw running out of the store carrying the beer and they all identified him. (But when I was there I heard the witnesses say "I didn't really see but it looks like him" so they did not actually identifiy me)

I told him that he smelled like alcohol and he admitted that earlier he had a beer with some hard alcohol added to it. (True statement but I told the cop that I did drink earlier but I had no alcohol in my blood and to give me a test and he wouldn't he said all he had was to be able to smell it and I was guilty.)

Now I am wondering whats my best way to go about taking care of this at my court date, I'm not so worried about the fines or doing community service as much as I am worried about my liscense being suspended so I am interested in asking for a plea bargain and how I'd go about this...

Thank you very much for any input in this matter,

Justin

 

[Michael Wechsler]

Is this the statute you were charged with?

471.430 Purchase or possession of liquor by person under 21; entry of licensed premises by person under 21; community service and suspension of driving privileges; assessment and treatment. (1) No person under the age of 21 years shall attempt to purchase, purchase or acquire alcoholic liquor. Except when such minor is in a private residence accompanied by the parent or guardian of the minor and with such parent's or guardian's consent, no person under the age of 21 years shall have personal possession of alcoholic liquor.

(2) For the purposes of this section, personal possession of alcoholic liquor includes the acceptance or consumption of a bottle of such liquor, or any portion thereof or a drink of such liquor. However, this section does not prohibit the acceptance or consumption by any person of sacramental wine as part of a religious rite or service.

(3) Except as authorized by rule or as necessitated in an emergency, no person under the age of 21 years shall enter or attempt to enter any portion of a licensed premises that is posted or otherwise identified as being prohibited to the use of minors.

(4) Any person who violates subsection (1) or (3) of this section commits a Class B violation.

(5) In addition to and not in lieu of any other penalty established by law, a person under 21 years of age who violates subsection (1) of this section through misrepresentation of age may be required to perform community service and the court shall order that the person's driving privileges and right to apply for driving privileges be suspended for a period not to exceed one year. If a court has issued an order denying driving privileges under this section, the court, upon petition of the person, may withdraw the order at any time the court deems appropriate. The court notification to the Department of Transportation under this subsection may include a recommendation that the person be granted a hardship permit under ORS 807.240 if the person is otherwise eligible for the permit.

(6) In addition to and not in lieu of any penalty established by law, the court:

(a) Shall order a person who is at least 18 years of age and not more than 21 years of age, who is convicted of violation of this section and who has been convicted of violation of this section at least once before when the person was at least 18 years of age, to undergo assessment and treatment as provided in ORS 471.432.

(b) May order a person who is at least 18 years of age and not more than 21 years of age and who is convicted of violation of this section to undergo assessment and treatment as provided in ORS 471.432. [Amended by 1963 c.243 s.2; 1965 c.166 s.1; 1971 c.159 s.6; 1975 c.493 s.1; 1979 c.313 s.8; 1991 c.860 s.2; 1999 c.646 s.1; 1999 c.1051 s.186]

I'm not sure what "dispatch" is. If you left the store earlier, why you were dispatched back there and by whom? I'm also not sure I followed your story either and why, if you weren't involved in any theft at all, there are charges being brought against you. Could be some pettiness but wonder if there is more going on here.

If the officer said that he could smell the alcohol on your breath and you admitted drinking.... that's a tough one. One possible argument I think might be made from reading this statute might be that, at the time of the meeting with the officer, you were not in "possession" of alcohol under the statute. Possession seems to mean that it is still in your system, e.g. a blood alcohol test would prove this even if the result was .04 percent, below the legal limit but still the presence required for possession. For example, if you had drank the alcohol 5 minutes earlier you would still "possess it" but a day later you were no longer in possession of the alcohol as it was no longer possessed by your body. If you had not had a drink for several hours you were not in "possession" of the alcohol and could not be charged, regardless of what you drank 12 hours ago or 2 weeks ago, which is not relevant to the case. Testing would have proven your innocence and a lack of possession of alcohol, which was offered but denied by the officer.

A local attorney might know more about what specifically may go on in that court and jurisdiction and how best to handle this situation. This is quite specific to your local area.