17 year old daughter underage drinking citation

[mickimarca]

What is the name of your state? Pennsylvania

My daughter was with a friend in a town about 40 minutes from where we live. She doesn't know anyone there except her friend. The friend said they were going to go over to someone's house and hang out. Since my daughter was staying the night with her friend, she had to go along. When they got there, there were only a few girls hanging out. After awhile other people started showing up and it turned into a party. My daughter and her friend had to drive the next day to a soccer game out of state, so they decided to go upstairs and crash. Yes, I know, I know, stupid of her. She has never been in any trouble before so this is all very new to us.

They both went to sleep and while my daughter was sleeping, the friend got up to go get something to eat down at the local convience store. My daughter was woken up by a police officer shining a light in her face, telling her to get up. He told her to go downstairs and outside where they were giving all the kids breathalyzer tests. My daughter didn't know anyone and didn't know where her friend was, so she just did as she was told.

According to the citation she received she blew at .03 on the breathalyzer. She says that she wasn't drinking. Whether she was or not, she was taken to the police station and she was asked for her name, address and phone number. She complied. They told her they were going to call us, but they did not. My daughters friend showed up at the police station to see what she could do and then went home and got her mom, who went to the station to pick up my daughter. She explained that she wasn't her parent but they released her to her anyway.

We received a citation in the mail a few days later. The citation says that they contacted us (they did not) and lists the other girls mother as her parent/guardian (she is not). My daughter says that the police officers never asked her if she had been drinking, never asked her anything or talked to her other than to tell her to take the breathalyzer, get into the police car and give her contact information. They never asked for her ID.

My question is this...if they were giving everyone breathalyzers, one right after the other, how accurate can the reading be? The reason I am asking is because one of the girls at the party told my daughters friend that she had 3 beers and she blew a 0.0 on the breathalyzer! Thanks for your input. We go to court next week.

 

[mickimarca]

From what I understand

Curt581 said:
A portable PBT (Preliminary Breath Tester) is a very accurate device. If your daughter blew an .03, she had been drinking, no matter what she claims.

Curt581 - What you said is inaccurate. Many states do not allow portable breathalyzers because they have been found to be in an inaccurate method of proper measurement. Since breathalyzers only measure molecules of ethyl alcohol which is part of the methyl chemical group, there are many other things that someone could have consumed to produce a positive result, especially one that low. I had to take a breathalyzer test as part of my work physical and they specifically told us not to take certain medications (like cough medicine, syrup or lonzenges) because it can produce the same result. Also, they ask you not to smoke before you take the test because it can also register a positive result. In addition, when I took the test I had to breath through the tube three times before it registered because you have to have a strong breath for a certain length of time before you get an accurate reading (the lab technician administering the test told me that). The lab technician also told me that they didn't use the portable devices because they are not as accurate as the one that was in the lab. So I find it a little hard to believe that giving 10-20 kids a breathalyzer test one right after the other could be completely accurate.

PBT's were designed to be used at traffic stops to give cause after a reasonable suspicion was established, to arrest someone. The only completely accurate way of testing blood alcohol level is with a blood test.

Also, my daughter was upstairs sleeping in a bedroom. So unless the police officer went upstairs and crawled into bed with her I'm not sure how he could have "detected" that she was intoxicated. Clearly if she had drank anything, .03 isn't even close to being intoxicated. She only weighs 120 lbs., for her to register .03 she would have had less than 1/2 a beer. On the BAC charts that is not even considered to be a BAC that effects cognitive ability! It was 2:00 am and they had a bunch of teenagers drinking...I hardly think they cared about probable cause at that point.

They just rounded everyone up and gave them all breathalyzers...if she was alert, knitting upstairs in the bedroom I'm sure they would have given her a breathalyzer as well.

Regardless, the fact that she was somewhere she shouldn't have been is what got her in this position. I'm not debating whether she did something wrong, she did. But it's a pretty steep punishment in PA if you are underage and involved with alcohol in any way, so I just want to be sure the test is accurate. Paying a fine and losing your license seems a stiff penalty for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

 

[stealth2]

And when it comes to teens, "never been in trouble" more often means "never been caught".