I was recently arrested and charged with 'possesion of alchohol by a minor' in the state of Georgia.
I was visiting friends at Kennesaw State University, and drank 3 beers in the room on campus. My friends wanted to go onto the roof to have a cigarette (something they do often at Kennesaw). I went with them. The roof of the apartment dorms goes right up to the top level of the parking garage, so climbing onto the roof is extremely easy, and not all that dangerous, but is of course against the rules.
The police saw us on the roof, and drove up to the top of the parking garage to get us. My friends, and everyone that was on the roof that was a student at Kennesaw, ran. Myself, and four friends of mine from school (georgia tech), decided that running from the police is a better way to get in trouble than staying and letting them tell us to get off the roof and leave, after all, we had no alchoholic beverages with us. None.
Five police officers arrived, two of which did all the police work. The first officer on the roof immediately pulled his gun and pointed it at the five of us, while we sat indian style on the roof waiting for them. He screamed at us to put our hands in the air, this request was full of f***'s and other obsenities. We were stunned.
We did exactly as the police officers told us to do. As the officer who pulled his gun on us searched the roof for others, and probably for drug paraphenalia and beer bottles (of which none could be found), the second officer asked us if there were others on the roof. We said yes, and confirmed that they ran. We saw two of the Kennesaw students, who we did not know, sitting on a bench at ground level, smoking cigarettes. The officer asked if they were with us and we said yes. We ratted them out. The officer told us we did the right thing by not running, and that those who ran would be in trouble. She then told us to get lost.
The first officer had a different plan. Returning empty handed from his search of the roof, he stopped us from leaving, before we could even get started, and immediately started threatening us with "obstruction of arrest" for hiding from him, when in actuality, we were the ones who sat still and waited, rather than running! We did not hide at all!
He then asked us if we had been drinking, which two of my friends denied, and I was silent. He pulled out a breathalizer, and instructed us to blow in it. Just before I blew in the breathalizer, I confessed to him that I had consumed 3 beers earlier, in the room. I asked him what I blew on the breathalizer, and he said he could not tell me. He did say that if my friends and I had stayed in the room, we would have been fine, but coming to the roof was going to get us arrested.
One friend did not blow on the breathalizer. He refused. I did not know I could refuse! The police pressured me to do it, because they knew that I did not know I did not have to!
He took us all to jail. Never read us any rights or anything of the sort. I had to ask him to secure my seatbelt before he started driving.
At the jail, they told me to sign a form. I beleive the wording said "had a beer on the roof," which I signed, not knowing that i didn't have to sign the form. My friend who did not take the breathalizer also did not sign the form.
Oh and by the way, the police (even though there were three more cops sitting around not arresting us) did not even go down and get the two kids we ratted out. The ones who RAN from the police. The police did not even care a little bit about arresting all the 'criminals,' because the four of us were easy.
We were all charged not with trespassing, or anything related to the roof at all, not with obstruction of arrest, which is what the officer was threatening, but we were officially charged with possesion of alcohol by a minor.
I would like to know if I can fight this because we did not possess any alcohol at all. We did blow positive on the breathalizer though, even though he pretty much forced us to do the breathalizer, since we did not know any better.
I would also like to know what penalties I face in the state of Georgia, or what an average penalty is for this crime.
I would also like to know if I need a lawyer to fight the case, which I cannot really afford. My friends are getting lawyers, and their lawyers are extremely confident that they can get the charges dropped, but they said is almost impossible to get the charges dropped without a lawyer, but I dont know if he is saying that because he wants my money, or if it really is that hard to fight it without a lawyer.
Thanks.
I was visiting friends at Kennesaw State University, and drank 3 beers in the room on campus. My friends wanted to go onto the roof to have a cigarette (something they do often at Kennesaw). I went with them. The roof of the apartment dorms goes right up to the top level of the parking garage, so climbing onto the roof is extremely easy, and not all that dangerous, but is of course against the rules.
The police saw us on the roof, and drove up to the top of the parking garage to get us. My friends, and everyone that was on the roof that was a student at Kennesaw, ran. Myself, and four friends of mine from school (georgia tech), decided that running from the police is a better way to get in trouble than staying and letting them tell us to get off the roof and leave, after all, we had no alchoholic beverages with us. None.
Five police officers arrived, two of which did all the police work. The first officer on the roof immediately pulled his gun and pointed it at the five of us, while we sat indian style on the roof waiting for them. He screamed at us to put our hands in the air, this request was full of f***'s and other obsenities. We were stunned.
We did exactly as the police officers told us to do. As the officer who pulled his gun on us searched the roof for others, and probably for drug paraphenalia and beer bottles (of which none could be found), the second officer asked us if there were others on the roof. We said yes, and confirmed that they ran. We saw two of the Kennesaw students, who we did not know, sitting on a bench at ground level, smoking cigarettes. The officer asked if they were with us and we said yes. We ratted them out. The officer told us we did the right thing by not running, and that those who ran would be in trouble. She then told us to get lost.
The first officer had a different plan. Returning empty handed from his search of the roof, he stopped us from leaving, before we could even get started, and immediately started threatening us with "obstruction of arrest" for hiding from him, when in actuality, we were the ones who sat still and waited, rather than running! We did not hide at all!
He then asked us if we had been drinking, which two of my friends denied, and I was silent. He pulled out a breathalizer, and instructed us to blow in it. Just before I blew in the breathalizer, I confessed to him that I had consumed 3 beers earlier, in the room. I asked him what I blew on the breathalizer, and he said he could not tell me. He did say that if my friends and I had stayed in the room, we would have been fine, but coming to the roof was going to get us arrested.
One friend did not blow on the breathalizer. He refused. I did not know I could refuse! The police pressured me to do it, because they knew that I did not know I did not have to!
He took us all to jail. Never read us any rights or anything of the sort. I had to ask him to secure my seatbelt before he started driving.
At the jail, they told me to sign a form. I beleive the wording said "had a beer on the roof," which I signed, not knowing that i didn't have to sign the form. My friend who did not take the breathalizer also did not sign the form.
Oh and by the way, the police (even though there were three more cops sitting around not arresting us) did not even go down and get the two kids we ratted out. The ones who RAN from the police. The police did not even care a little bit about arresting all the 'criminals,' because the four of us were easy.
We were all charged not with trespassing, or anything related to the roof at all, not with obstruction of arrest, which is what the officer was threatening, but we were officially charged with possesion of alcohol by a minor.
I would like to know if I can fight this because we did not possess any alcohol at all. We did blow positive on the breathalizer though, even though he pretty much forced us to do the breathalizer, since we did not know any better.
I would also like to know what penalties I face in the state of Georgia, or what an average penalty is for this crime.
I would also like to know if I need a lawyer to fight the case, which I cannot really afford. My friends are getting lawyers, and their lawyers are extremely confident that they can get the charges dropped, but they said is almost impossible to get the charges dropped without a lawyer, but I dont know if he is saying that because he wants my money, or if it really is that hard to fight it without a lawyer.
Thanks.
