Failure to Comply with Fingerprinting/Photos & Underage Consumption

[mfrye]

State: Delaware
Age: 19 Years Old

Charges:
1. Consumption/Possession of Alcohol
2. Failure to Comply w/ Photos & Fingerprints

The story:

It was 2:00 AM, I was walking back to my beach house with my Pizza I had just bought, and I ran into my roommate on my street with three females that he met. They had just left a party and my roommate introduced me to the girls and I invited them all to come back to my place to hang out. I go inside, my roommate turns on our TV with music, I went to the bathroom.

A police officer who was patrolling my street saw us group together in the middle of the street and walk back to my beach house. He parked his paddy wagon outside, called for backup and they stormed the front door, knocking, assumed that me, my roommate and the girls were going to a party or something. I come out of the bathroom and the Police start firing a bunch of questions at me, shining flashlights in my property. I step outside and shut the door and start to comply and see what the police wanted. All three cops were yelling questions, telling me I'm having an out of control party, they can hear the music from 50ft away, etc. (remember: I just got back to my house, 3 minutes later, the cops came).

I was trying to explain to the police that I had just got back from getting Pizza, and I am about to head to bed (It's 2:00AM!) My roommates and two females came out and starting talking to the cops. The girls and my roommate did drink that night, and were getting into conversations with the cops telling them nothing is going on here. The cops only gave attention to just me and they said no, we need you to get a breathalysers and get your fingerprints, and to step outside to the van now. They told me things like I know the landlord, I can get you all evicted, and all this stuff.

I asked for him to explain to me what is going on. He wouldn't tell me and his response was to "Come out to the van." I asked for him again to explain, because I clearly wasn't doing anything wrong. I didn't want to just give myself over to the police like this. I asked him why again and then he just said, "I'm going to have to ask you to put your hands behind your back."

I get escorted in handcuffs to the van, and thrown in jail, handcuffed my hands and leg to the chair. My roomates bailed me out @ 7:00am

The police wrote on the report, that they had responded to a large party with a large amount of people with loud music, and I was belligerent and had a very strong odor of alcohol and that I wouldn't do what they said.

Court is coming up soon.

• I didn't host a party.
• There was no alcohol to be found on my property.
• They did not read me my rights or tell me I was being arrested.
• They told me I didn't have to take the breathalyser, so i told them no.
• Before jail, they took me to a Correctional Institute to get my fingerprints and photos.
• The location under both charges is the wrong address. The house # is wrong. (False charges?)

What should I do in court? I never have been in trouble.

[racer72]

I didn't host a party

Irrelevent, you were not charge with a noise violation or other charges that could result from a party.

There was no alcohol to be found on my property.

Irrelevent, consumption does not have to take place at the location of arrest.

They did not read me my rights or tell me I was being arrested.

You watch too much TV. Miranda is only required prior to questioning after one is arrested, the handcuffs should have been a clue about being arrested.

Before jail, they took me to a Correctional Institute to get my fingerprints and photos.

Must be where they do thier booking.

The location under both charges is the wrong address. The house # is wrong. (False charges?)

Very minor error. It will likely be corrected prior to your court appearance.

What should I do in court? I never have been in trouble.

Showing up with an attorney will give you 100% better chance of beating or getting reduced charges. See one soon.

[mfrye]

Thank you for your response,

I wasn't drinking though. Only my of age roommates, and the females were. There's no evidence of me consuming any alcohol.

[tranquility]

Advice cannot be given without more. Entry into the residence, absent exigent circumstances like hot pursuit, would be illegal. However, if the police said "stop" before you entered and you continued on in or if one of the roomates or a person the police could reasonably believe had the power to consent to entry, everything would change. There are many more issues as well.

Get a good attorney fast. You don't need this on your record and it seems like there are a lot of issues to fight. If the DA knows you are going to fight this up front, he may not even charge.

[lizjimbo]

Several years ago I found myself in a similar situation. Maybe its just me, but I believe there are some over zealous cops around that really have nothing better to do than just harass people at 2 in the morning. Maybe its just me, but I believe there are bad cops out there. I have a great deal of respect for law enforcement, however I have no respective for *******s, and some cops are *******s. If you are truly innocent and events transpired exactly the way you said they did, go to court on your own and tell the Judge the truth. A Judge is usually a good bs detector so do not try to color the truth. I will bet that these same cops will have several other young people they rousted that night as well. This is a pattern with a bad cop and it usually shows up in court. In my case, the cop had 3 others there in court the same day for the same bs. All charges were dropped in all 4 cases because he was a bad cop. Good luck.

[tranquility]

It always amazes me how many people arrested on summary charges manage to talk themselves into handcuffs when they should just shut their pie hole and go with the program.

It always amazes me how many cops believe any program they make up is the law. Darn that constitution. Things would be much better if armed high-school graduates who attend an academy for a few months made all the rules.

[outonbail]

It was 2:00 AM, I was walking back to my beach house with my Pizza I had just bought, and I ran into my roommate on my street with three females that he met. They had just left a party and my roommate introduced me to the girls and I invited them all to come back to my place to hang out. I go inside, my roommate turns on our TV with music, I went to the bathroom.

A police officer who was patrolling my street saw us group together in the middle of the street and walk back to my beach house. He parked his paddy wagon outside, called for backup and they stormed the front door, knocking, assumed that me, my roommate and the girls were going to a party or something. I come out of the bathroom and the Police start firing a bunch of questions at me, shining flashlights in my property. I step outside and shut the door and start to comply and see what the police wanted.

That's where you made your mistake! You can speak to the police and answer their questions through your security or locked screen door just as well as you can going outside of your home to talk to them on the porch. Next time, when you in your home, stay there!

[Towtheline]

Originally Posted by mfrye

[*]The location under both charges is the wrong address. The house # is wrong. (False charges?)


What should I do in court? I never have been in trouble.

EXPLOIT EXPLOIT EXPLOIT.

Racer72, who's opinions I do respect, said that this wrong address is a minor thing....BS. If you play your cards right this is your get out of jail free card. The last ticket the police gave me I had it thrown out because of a technicality like yours. Now you are asking, How do I play this hand? Well... are you representing yourself (this is called Pro Se)? What type of personality do you have (i.e. honest to fault, aggressive, smart, timid, etc...) What is your educational level?

[outonbail]

Originally Posted by Towtheline

EXPLOIT EXPLOIT EXPLOIT.

Racer72, who's opinions I do respect, said that this wrong address is a minor thing....BS. If you play your cards right this is your get out of jail free card. The last ticket the police gave me I had it thrown out because of a technicality like yours. Now you are asking, How do I play this hand? Well... are you representing yourself (this is called Pro Se)? What type of personality do you have (i.e. honest to fault, aggressive, smart, timid, etc...) What is your educational level?

Is it just me, or does anyone else fail to see this connection?
While there are many errors on citations in various forms, which may or may not be a legitimate issue which will persuade a judge to dismiss the citation, I don't see how asking an OP if their honest to a fault, or timid, or yada yada yada, is going to provide them with the proverbial loophole to see their case get dismissed. Where do you come up with this stuff?

[JustAPal00]

Originally Posted by lizjimbo

Several years ago I found myself in a similar situation. Maybe its just me, but I believe there are some over zealous cops around that really have nothing better to do than just harass people at 2 in the morning. Maybe its just me, but I believe there are bad cops out there. I have a great deal of respect for law enforcement, however I have no respective for *******s, and some cops are *******s. If you are truly innocent and events transpired exactly the way you said they did, go to court on your own and tell the Judge the truth. A Judge is usually a good bs detector so do not try to color the truth. I will bet that these same cops will have several other young people they rousted that night as well. This is a pattern with a bad cop and it usually shows up in court. In my case, the cop had 3 others there in court the same day for the same bs. All charges were dropped in all 4 cases because he was a bad cop. Good luck.

I agree! 90% or so of police officers are probably good guys doing their job, but there is a bad 10%. Unfortunatly the 10% are the stories we hear about.

[Towtheline]

[quote=outonbail;1697663]

This is free advice, and I have no idea about the local statutes that you may face. So take that into consideration when you read this...

My advice to you, IF you want to beat this charge. Is...
1. Call the clerk of the court for the county or city were u got the ticket and try to change the court date. Do this because there is a better chance the arresting officer will not show up on the rescheduled date (also, try to make sure the rescheduled date is not on the same day of the week as the original). I don't know about your town, but in a lot of places the charges will be dropped if the officer is a no show.
2. Get the police report before the court date and read it throughly. Check for any other inconsistancies or mistakes in it and note them.
3. When you go to court make SURE you address the judge as your honor. Any time you start a sentence to her/him start it with Your Honor. Also, and of course, dress as nice as you can.
4. As for the address thing.... Bring a copy (you need a COPY to give to the court, so make sure you make one ahead of time) of something that has your correct address on it, i.e. phone bill, ID, electric bill, any piece of mail. Having the wrong address is good for you because 1. Police are trained how to write reports and if they messed up on this simple fact their credibilty is in doubt for this case. 2. In courts of law many cases have been dismissed because of wording. 3. If the officer is not at court (not required) his report would be his testimony and how can his testimony be good if it is factually wrong?
5. I wanted to know your personality traits to help you with a metaphor that you could use as a talking point in court if you had to....

I gotta run to work...

[outonbail]

To the original poster:
This is free advice, and I have no idea about the local statutes that you may face. So take that into consideration when you read this...

My advice to you, IF you want to beat this charge. Is...
1. Call the clerk of the court for the county or city were u got the ticket and try to change the court date. Do this because there is a better chance the arresting officer will not show up on the rescheduled date (also, try to make sure the rescheduled date is not on the same day of the week as the original). I don't know about your town, but in a lot of places the charges will be dropped if the officer is a no show.
2. Get the police report before the court date and read it throughly. Check for any other inconsistancies or mistakes in it and note them.
3. When you go to court make SURE you address the judge as your honor. Any time you start a sentence to her/him start it with Your Honor. Also, and of course, dress as nice as you can.
4. As for the address thing.... Bring a copy (you need a COPY to give to the court, so make sure you make one ahead of time) of something that has your correct address on it, i.e. phone bill, ID, electric bill, any piece of mail. Having the wrong address is good for you because 1. Police are trained how to write reports and if they messed up on this simple fact their credibilty is in doubt for this case. 2. In courts of law many cases have been dismissed because of wording. 3. If the officer is not at court (not required) his report would be his testimony and how can his testimony be good if it is factually wrong?
5. I wanted to know your personality traits to help you with a metaphor that you could use as a talking point in court if you had to....

I gotta run to work...

So, hiring an attorney, testifying in court by telling the truth, having witnesses do the same and submitting evidence to support the testimony has suddenly gone out of style? Maybe the OP or his attorney can subpoena the officers vacation schedule so he has something to assist him in picking the date he wishes to appear?
But even if he can in fact accomplish this, I'm not sure how proof of his address will convince the judge that he's not guilty of the crime he's been charged with?