Is this even a legal Citation?

TrippyDK

Ok so heres the deal. My friend was at a party with other underage people, where alcohol was being served. The parents of said house were out of town, but somehow found out. The party still continued. My friend left the party, but was not drunk in the least. She did however leave her purse there. The cops arrive, and the purse is hidden. However, the purse is found by a mom who was the parent of a child who received a citation. She hands it to the officer. The officer takes it down to the station, and she goes to pick it up. She is then handed a possession of alcohol citation.

Heres where the question comes in. Is this even legal? I mean she may have been there, but there was no proof besides her purse being there. It may have been there for days for all the officer knew. Something about this really smells fishy to me...what should her course of action be? Take this like the (wo)man she is, or fight it with everything shes got?

Wylder

Yes its legal. Its a reasonable basis for assuming that she was at the party.

Would it stand up if challenged in court? Well that depends. If the cops have witnesses or statements that she was there (which they well might by now) then yes, it will stand up in court. If she can assert that the bag had been there for days, and the cops have no way to challenge that assertion? well then she might get off.

Either way, what are the consequences of the citation? Is it really worth fighting? In reality, the citation is valid (she was there) and so it could be a risk to fight it.

monkeypoo

Wylder wrote:

Either way, what are the consequences of the citation? Is it really worth fighting? In reality, the citation is valid (she was there) and so it could be a risk to fight it.

ViolentChemistry

Also, perjury is illegal.

Glaeal

I don't think a citation for possession is valid unless they actually find someone with that item on their person.

They could, however, have written a citation for contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

Nucsh

Smells fishy to me.

The officer had no proof that she was consuming - they didn't run a breath test nor did they find her with beverage in hand. For all they know, the purse could've been left there from earlier in the day. I'd fight it.

MengerSponge

Perjury is illegal, but I'd think that as long as she doesn't say "no I was not there", and just makes the case that the purse being in the house doesn't prove that she was there, she could have a case (just plead the 5th if directly asked). But obviously if they have witnesses, those plus finding that there is probably more than enough evidence.

Edit: oops

Gear Girl

I don't understand how they can charge her for possession of alcohol if they have no proof at all, they didn't even see her near any of it so how can they charge her with it.

Blake T

Gear Girl wrote:

I don't understand how they can charge her for possession of alcohol if they have no proof at all, they didn't even see her near any of it so how can they charge her with it.

I would say this is bang on.

In my city last year a fairly prominent footballer (ie the captain of the team) was driving home from a boozy evening out. He saw a booze bus (bassically a bunch of cops that stop everyone and breathlize them) he stopped the car before he got the booze bus got out and ran. The cops didn't catch him. The next day the police charged him, but because they couldn't breathlize him at the time the only thing they could charge him with was abandoning a car on a main road.

Bassically they have no proof, get her admit to being at the party, get her to deny drinking alcohol. They need to proove that she was drinking alcohol.

Doc

I'd fight it in court.

monkeypoo

Blaket wrote:

get her to deny drinking alcohol.

Was she drinking or not?

If she was drinking alcohol, do not get her to deny it in court. She doesn't have to answer any questions regarding this matter, and the burden of proof is on the prosecution.

Let's say she says "I wasn't drinking", and then the prosecution brings in three kids from the party who all say that she was in fact drinking. Add perjury to the list of charges.

But given that they won't have any real evidence against her, she should be able to get off by challenging it.

deadonthestreet

I mean, could go to court and basically say "prove I was drinking. My purse was there. That kind of circumstantial evidence is not sufficient to prove that I was drinking."

And then plead the 5th when she gets asked if she actually was drinking.

Blake T

monkeypoo wrote:

Blaket wrote:

get her to deny drinking alcohol.

Was she drinking or not?

If she was drinking alcohol, do not get her to deny it in court. She doesn't have to answer any questions regarding this matter, and the burden of proof is on the prosecution.

Sorry you're right reading it again, it appears she may have been. Just ask them politely what evidence they have and don't be too rude about it.

Keep in mind they may get bitter and angry mum who gave you up to force her little darling into providing evidence against you.

Thanatos

Find out what, exactly, are the consequences of the charge.

If we're talking, like, 4 hours of community service, wiped from her record when she turns 18, just plead nolo contendre, and move on. If it's more serious than that, she may want to get a lawyer.

In either case, she should at least talk to the public defender.

SatanIsMyMotor

Absolutely fight it. It is definitely not a legal citation under any circumstance. Whether she was drinking or not is besides the point. She wasn't at the party at the time of the citation.

Police sometimes get overzealous in their job activities and decide that they can do whatever they want to do, depending on the fact that most people don't know their rights.

As I said above I would definitely fight this. Just reading this pisses me off.

Zsetrek

Definitely fight it.

Fellhand

I'd fight it. There's too much reasonable doubt to have a solid convition against her.

Also, what happened to the owners of said home? Aren't they like partially responsible for the people there since it's their home?