What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? I live in Texas but I was cited in Oklahoma.
Some friends and I went camping this weekend at a park in Oklahoma. I told them that I didn't care if they drink but that I would not purchase the alcohol for them if that was the case. One of my friends doesn't drink and the other one had gotten a bottle of whiskey from another place that I don't know.
The state trooper had a complaint about some critter attacking a tent in our area so he was checking to make sure everything was alright, he said Hi, walked past our campsite and that was it. My friend with the whiskey was at another campsite drinking with some friends he had made on our trip. We start seeing flashlights coming from over by the other campsite and we see our friend being searched. Turns out that the other campsite had some guys smoking weed so they decide to come search our area. The only thing I have to myself is beer, which there were empty bottles laying around so of course the cop starts asking questions. My straight-edge friend was obviously sober but the cops were still giving him a hard time. They started searching us left and right for weed which we had none of.
At this point, my friend starts to get an attitude with the officers. One of the officers pulls me aside and tells me to get the rest of my beer out of the cooler and that he was going to let me pour it out. Right as this is happening, my friend is refusing to open his backpack (with his empty whiskey bottle in it) so the officers can search it. They basically tell him that he can comply and let them search it now or they can take him to jail and search it there. He chooses the lesser of the two, gets cuffed and put in the squad car as the friendly officer I'm with decides to change his mind and write me a citation for "Providing Alcohol to Minor". Even though I was the only one drinking beer, but since they hadn't found the whiskey bottle yet they assumed my friend was drunk off of beer too.
Facts: -There are 4 errors on my citation:
Birth Date is wrong
Name is spelled wrong
Date of Offense is wrong
Violation is wrong - They knew that my beer was from TX (high point beer), and they wrote "Low Point Beer" on the ticket.
While one of the officers was searching my eyes (which were red from dry contacts) he claimed that only dope makes your eyes red. I told him that I had worked all day today and my eyes get red after prolonged periods of wearing contacts, he claims "I've been on duty since Friday at 3am, my eyes aren't red" but he wears glasses.
That's another thing, isn't there some sort of rule on how long of a shift an officer can work? I feel like their judgement would be impaired on a 22-hour shift.
What can I do in this situation? I don't want to get screwed for something I didn't do!
Also, they officers did not read my friend his Right's when they arrested him.
Thanks!
Dillon
Some friends and I went camping this weekend at a park in Oklahoma. I told them that I didn't care if they drink but that I would not purchase the alcohol for them if that was the case. One of my friends doesn't drink and the other one had gotten a bottle of whiskey from another place that I don't know.
The state trooper had a complaint about some critter attacking a tent in our area so he was checking to make sure everything was alright, he said Hi, walked past our campsite and that was it. My friend with the whiskey was at another campsite drinking with some friends he had made on our trip. We start seeing flashlights coming from over by the other campsite and we see our friend being searched. Turns out that the other campsite had some guys smoking weed so they decide to come search our area. The only thing I have to myself is beer, which there were empty bottles laying around so of course the cop starts asking questions. My straight-edge friend was obviously sober but the cops were still giving him a hard time. They started searching us left and right for weed which we had none of.
At this point, my friend starts to get an attitude with the officers. One of the officers pulls me aside and tells me to get the rest of my beer out of the cooler and that he was going to let me pour it out. Right as this is happening, my friend is refusing to open his backpack (with his empty whiskey bottle in it) so the officers can search it. They basically tell him that he can comply and let them search it now or they can take him to jail and search it there. He chooses the lesser of the two, gets cuffed and put in the squad car as the friendly officer I'm with decides to change his mind and write me a citation for "Providing Alcohol to Minor". Even though I was the only one drinking beer, but since they hadn't found the whiskey bottle yet they assumed my friend was drunk off of beer too.
Facts: -There are 4 errors on my citation:
Birth Date is wrong
Name is spelled wrong
Date of Offense is wrong
Violation is wrong - They knew that my beer was from TX (high point beer), and they wrote "Low Point Beer" on the ticket.
While one of the officers was searching my eyes (which were red from dry contacts) he claimed that only dope makes your eyes red. I told him that I had worked all day today and my eyes get red after prolonged periods of wearing contacts, he claims "I've been on duty since Friday at 3am, my eyes aren't red" but he wears glasses.
That's another thing, isn't there some sort of rule on how long of a shift an officer can work? I feel like their judgement would be impaired on a 22-hour shift.
What can I do in this situation? I don't want to get screwed for something I didn't do!
Also, they officers did not read my friend his Right's when they arrested him.
Thanks!
Dillon