Minor in Possession of ID of person over 21

[Paulius Barysas]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? California

Recently i was a arrested for possession of marijuana on the CSUN campus. I have a prescription, for medical marijuana, and had it on me at the time of the arrest. After they arrested me they found my co-workers expired ID card in my wallet. I told the officer that i had found it at work about 2 months ago and put it in my wallet, forgetting to give it back. He said he did not believe me and cited me; 25661 (a) B+P. How likely are the chances of my license getting suspended? Do i need a lawyer or is the case simple enough to represent myself? Any advice on the issue would be greatly appreciated.What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

[cyjeff]

You are going to want to tell the court the truth.

That whole "I found it and forgot to return it" thing is stupid.

[ProSePA]

First, the relevant statute:

Cal Bus & Prof Code § 25661 (2007) - Presenting or possessing false evidence of age; Penalties

(a) Any person under the age of 21 years who presents or offers to any licensee, his or her agent or employee, any written, printed, or photostatic evidence of age and identity which is false, fraudulent or not actually his or her own for the purpose of ordering, purchasing, attempting to purchase or otherwise procuring or attempting to procure, the serving of any alcoholic beverage, or who has in his or her possession any false or fraudulent written, printed, or photostatic evidence of age and identity, is guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be punished by a fine of at least two hundred fifty dollars ($250), no part of which shall be suspended; or the person shall be required to perform not less than 24 hours nor more than 32 hours of community service during hours when the person is not employed and is not attending school, or a combination of fine and community service as determined by the court. A second or subsequent violation of this section shall be punished by a fine of not more than five hundred dollars ($500), or the person shall be required to perform not less than 36 hours or more than 48 hours of community service during hours when the person is not employed or is not attending school, or a combination of fine and community service, as the court deems just. It is the intent of the Legislature that the community service requirements prescribed in this section require service at an alcohol or drug treatment program or facility or at a county coroner's office, if available, in the area where the violation occurred or where the person resides.

(b) The penalties imposed by this section do not preclude prosecution or the imposition of penalties under any other provision of law, including, but not limited to, Section 13202.5 of the Vehicle Code.


I added the bold in the part that seemed relevant to your situation, and italicized that part that I think would be key to your defense. With regards to the possible license suspension the relevant statute would be 13202.5 of the Cal. V.C.


Cal Veh Code § 13202.5 (2008) - Conviction of person under 21 for offense involving alcohol or controlled substances; "Conviction"; "Critical need to drive"

(a) For each conviction of a person for an offense specified in subdivision (d), committed while the person was under the age of 21 years, but 13 years of age or older, the court shall suspend the person's driving privilege for one year. If the person convicted does not yet have the privilege to drive, the court shall order the department to delay issuing the privilege to drive for one year subsequent to the time the person becomes legally eligible to drive. However, if there is no further conviction for an offense specified in subdivision (d) in a 12-month period after the conviction, the court, upon petition of the person affected, may modify the order imposing the delay of the privilege. For each successive offense, the court shall suspend the person's driving privilege for those possessing a license or delay the eligibility for those not in possession of a license at the time of their conviction for one additional year.

As used in this section, the term "conviction" includes the findings in juvenile proceedings specified in Section 13105.

(b) Whenever the court suspends driving privileges pursuant to subdivision (a), the court in which the conviction is had shall require all driver's licenses held by the person to be surrendered to the court. The court shall within 10 days following the conviction transmit a certified abstract of the conviction, together with any driver's licenses surrendered, to the department.

(c)
(1) After a court has issued an order suspending or delaying driving privileges pursuant to subdivision (a), the court, upon petition of the person affected, may review the order and may impose restrictions on the person's privilege to drive based upon a showing of a critical need to drive.

(2) As used in this section, "critical need to drive" means the circumstances that are required to be shown for the issuance of a junior permit pursuant to Section 12513.

(3) The restriction shall remain in effect for the balance of the period of suspension or restriction in this section. The court shall notify the department of any modification within 10 days of the order of modification.

(d) This section applies to violations involving controlled substances or alcohol contained in the following provisions:

(1) Article 7 (commencing with Section 4110) of Chapter 9 of Division 2 of, and Sections 25658, 25658.5, 25661, and 25662 of, the Business and Professions Code.

(2) Division 10 (commencing with Section 11000) of the Health and Safety Code.

(3) Section 191.5, subdivision (a) or (b) of Section 192.5, and subdivision (f) of Section 647 of the Penal Code.

(4) Section 23103 when subject to Section 23103.5, Section 23140, and Article 2 (commencing with Section 23152) of Chapter 12 of Division 11 of this code.

(e) Suspension, restriction, or delay of driving privileges pursuant to this section shall be in addition to any penalty imposed upon conviction of a violation specified in subdivision (d).



So, If you plan on representing yourself, those two statutes are what you should analyze and break down for your case. It would appear that it is within the legal authority of the state of California to suspend your driving license if you are convicted of the the initial offense. A very important question is what information is on the ID card that the police found. It would appear that to be guilty of 25661 you must be in possession of any false or fraudulent written, printed, or photostatic evidence of age and identity. So the first thing I would look at is if there is anything on the ID card that has your co-workers age, because the law would seem to state that the ID must have evidence of BOTH age AND identity. Now, that is my interpretation of the law, and a prosecutor or judge may interpret the law differently.

Hiring an attorney is always your best choice as they have the education, knowledge, experience and resources to help you. The fact that you were holding onto the ID to give back to its owner is a matter of fact that needs to be argued in court. It is the job of the state of California to prove before a judge that you violated the law they charged you with. You are not legally obligated to assist them in this prosecution by giving them information that will help their case. If it was your co-workers ID and you forgot to give it back to him, then let the judge know that. Have your co-worker come to court with you and verify that he did indeed lose his ID 2 months ago. "To be guilty of most crimes, a defendant must have committed the criminal act (the actus reus) in a certain mental state (the mens rea). The mens rea of robbery, for example, is the intent to permanently deprive the owner of his property." If you were not in possession of the ID with the intent to misrepresent your age or identity, then the law states you are not guilty.

If you defend yourself, then take this opportunity to do as much research as possible. One of your best resources is your local courthouse library. You can research the statute and typically any relevant case law that goes with it. Most of all, learn what your rights are when approached by an officer. Any good criminal defense attorney would tell you that if an officer comes up to and asks a question, exercise your 5th Amendment right and do not say anything. The only thing worth saying is: "am I free to go?"

Hope this helps.

[CdwJava]

Originally Posted by Paulius Barysas

Recently i was a arrested for possession of marijuana on the CSUN campus. I have a prescription, for medical marijuana, and had it on me at the time of the arrest.

It should be noted that even having a doctor's recommendation (as it is not a "prescription") does not necessarily confer on the recipient a right to have and/or use it everywhere and that includes on a college campus.

And, I have to agree ... the "I found it and forgot to return it thing" is right up there with "I found the drugs on the ground and was going to throw them away ..." (yes, we hear that ... a lot).

- Carl

[ReformedMan]

Does the person pictured on the ID look anything like you? Your story might hold more water if the person pictured is a different race/gender/size... blah blah blah. Given the fact that the officer cited you, I don't imagine this is the case... but just throwing it out there.

[fakeworest]

question? could you be found guilty for holding ANY identification card that was either not yours/not factual? I was under the general impression that you could have an "ID" with anything written on it, for any purpose, novelty, your a magician, who knows, as long as it wasn't an actual government ID (or trying to be one)?

I don't really know, but the law didn't seem to specify.

(many stores sell/create novelty ID's that aren't very good for anything but 15 year olds buy them thinking that they might get lucky purchasing alcohol with them )

[CdwJava]

As long as it does not purport to be a government issued ID or was not passed in an attempt to be used as one, then there is not generally a crime.

I can look up the exact statutes later ... got to go to work now.

- Carl