QUESTION
What is my best course of action if they take me to jail?
Asked on Jul 01st, 2013 on Litigation - Georgia
More details to this question:
I was at a music festival in Kansas in the parking lot drinking a beer. Four undercover officers of some sort approached the vehicle that I was outside and asked for I.D. I showed my fake which passed at first by one of the officers standards, but then later they questioned it harder and said if they ran it and found out that it was a fake then they would take me to jail. I told the truth and they wrote me up for an MIP and Unlawful use of a driver's license. They also took all of the 21 year old's alcohol (who I was with) for evidence, and wrote my name in all of it even though I told them it wasn't mine and that I had only drank the beer. I never took a breathalyzer and they never announced themselves the entire time. Only one of them even had a visible badge on a necklace. This happened on June 28, 2013 and I turn 21 on December 6, 2013.
3 ANSWERS
Michael J. Breczinski
You should fight the matter. How will they prove that it was alcohol that you were drinking? They did not test any of it.
Answered on Jul 03rd, 2013 at 8:59 PM
Since you were given a citation for MIP and unlawful use of a driver's license, then obviously you have a court date at which you must appear or else the court will issue a warrant for your arrest. You either need to appear in court to represent yourself or hire an attorney to represent you. Your attorney can probably negotiate a plea bargain to get the charges reduced to a lesser offense or dismissed with probation. Police don't have to administer a breathalyzer to under-age drinkers. It's sufficient evidence against you if the police officer thinks you have been drinking and you seem impaired. Undercover police officers don't have to announce themselves or give you their names.
Answered on Jul 03rd, 2013 at 8:59 PM
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He will be aware of possible alternatives that may save your record. I doubt that you need to worry about jail, unless you don't show up for court. You're probably looking at fines and what-not. I'm not in Kansas, so I can't offer specifics. So they took your beer for evidence. That's interesting.
Answered on Jul 03rd, 2013 at 8:58 PM