multiple charges on college campus

[toomuchbooz]

What is the name of your state?
Virginia

I recently was charged with possession of alcohol, drunk in public, and littering at a local college campus. The case will be tried in the county where the college is located. This is after being convicted of DUI around 4 months ago. In that case, my license was restricted to work and ASAP (alcohol safety action program) for a year, along with 30 days suspended jail sentence providing I be on good behavior. I guess this is considered unsupervised probation, not sure?? The DUI occurred in another county.

On the night I got those 3 charges, I had been drinking alot and a campus police officer saw me and stopped me. When I realized he was coming to talk to me, in my drunken stupidity, I threw my beer bottle down. It busted on the ground. He immediately put me in handcuffs. I did not take a breathalizer, realizing that I wasnt required to because I had not been driving. I was placed in jail anyway and released the next morning. I'm not making alot of money right now so I had to get a court appointed attorney. I will meet with her tomorrow and she doesnt seem too excited about defending my case. She probably will not put alot of effort into this case, judging from the way she wanted to talk to me about my case over the telephone instead of meeting in person.

My questions are:

1) What are the consequences of these crimes in VA?
2) Will my previous DUI conviction affect this case?
3) Can the officer prove I was drunk in public though I didnt take a breathalizer?
4) Since I threw the bottle down, how is this possession of alcohol, considering I had no other alcoholic beverages in my possession?
5) What should I say if asked if I'm on probation?
6) Since my court appointed attorney doesnt seem like a good bet, will I still be able to ask for another attorney when I go to court?

 

[nowpastdue]

I am NOT an attorney.

#1 You really didn't provide enough details to allow an estimation of the consequences. All of the 3 named offenses are minor as opposed to major.
I would guess possible probation and fines on the 3.
#2 Yes if nothing other than affect the opinion of the presiding judge against you. I think you have the cart before the horse here though. These 3 charges violate the terms of your probation. You are subject to having the terms of your probation revoked. IMO your sentence on that was exceedingly lenient.
#3 The police officer will testify as to your demeanor, appearanceand what he saw, which coupled with his experience will be enough on all 3 charges. If you wanted to prove that you were not intoxicated you should have requested taking the breathylizer.
#4 The officer saw you in possession of the bottle. The fact that you were not still holding it in your hand means nothing, except by throwing it down you added a charge.
#5 If you are asked as to whether or not you are on probation, tell the truth. I would expect the court and DA to already have a copy of your record anyway, and if they have it , you can bet they will have notified the probation dept.
#6 Yes, you can ask for a new attorney but you stand little chance of having a new one appointed. Her apparent lack of interest may be brought on by the fact that she sees little case of winning your cases.