posession of alcohol

What is the name of your state? New Hampshire

I was pulled over for speeding in early March, but it turned into an arrest for transportation & posession of alcohol (I am only 20 years old). The alcohol belonged to my friend, who owned the car, and he was having me drive since all my other friends weren't sober enough to drive (and they were 21+ too). But the officer still wanted to arrest me because there were alcoholic beverages in the back (unopened though). Dumb, eh?

Anyway I was given a court summons but due to a mix-up which will take a while to explain, I missed the court date and they issued default judgments on the charges. I received notices in the mail about 2 weeks later saying that I had been defaulted and that if I did not pay the administrative fees and clear the default by a certain date, my driving privileges in the state of NH would be suspended.

This is my first time being in trouble with the law, I have had no prior arrests or convictions. Only a minor traffic infraction (window tint on my car was too dark), so I am a bit unfamiliar with the legal process.

I had plans to move back to CA and they were interrupted by this whole ordeal. Now that I have been defaulted, is it safe for me to leave the state and just leave the whole matter alone, or are they going to levy more fines or even arrest me if I don't respond to the default?
I just want to get out of NH and back to CA as soon as possible. I don't really care if I have a default judgment on my records.

Please advise. Thanks!

freelancegfx said:

I was pulled over for speeding in early March, but it turned into an arrest for transportation & posession of alcohol (I am only 20 years old). The alcohol belonged to my friend, who owned the car, and he was having me drive since all my other friends weren't sober enough to drive (and they were 21+ too). But the officer still wanted to arrest me because there were alcoholic beverages in the back (unopened though). Dumb, eh?

Anyway I was given a court summons but due to a mix-up which will take a while to explain, I missed the court date and they issued default judgments on the charges. I received notices in the mail about 2 weeks later saying that I had been defaulted and that if I did not pay the administrative fees and clear the default by a certain date, my driving privileges in the state of NH would be suspended.

I had plans to move back to CA and they were interrupted by this whole ordeal. Now that I have been defaulted, is it safe for me to leave the state and just leave the whole matter alone, or are they going to levy more fines or even arrest me if I don't respond to the default?

I don't really care if I have a default judgment on my records.

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You should. Having a default judgement suspension on your record could prevent you from obtaining, or renewing, a California DL. If you ever go back to NH, and get pulled over, you'll go to Jail, even if it happens years from now.

It's never a good idea to simply ignore something like this. Eventually, it WILL come back to bite you on the butt, and usually at the most inconvenient time possible.

Take care of it before you go.

so, let me get this right.. i go to the court, pay the fees for the default, and i'm free to go? no further legal consequences such as more fines or an arrest?

freelancegfx said:

so, let me get this right.. i go to the court, pay the fees for the default, and i'm free to go? no further legal consequences such as more fines or an arrest?

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Call the Clerk of Courts office where the citation was issued. They'll give you specifics.

If the offense is in "default" that means it's a civil forfeiture... criminal offenses don't default, they turn into warrants until the case is disposed.

that's the problem.. i've called the clerk twice, she hasn't been very helpful and is already irritated that i have called twice.

is posession of alcohol and transportation a criminal offense?

freelancegfx said:

that's the problem.. i've called the clerk twice, she hasn't been very helpful and is already irritated that i have called twice.

is posession of alcohol and transportation a criminal offense?

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That is State by State, and local ordinance specific. Since I'm not in NH, I don't have a quick answer. If I had to guess, I'd say no... simply basing it off the "default" comment.

Did you check to see if the court has records, or the municipality has an ordinance list, available on the Internet?

I went to the court house yesterday afternoon and got the default cleared. the administrative fee was $50 on each charge, so it was a total of $150 and they said they would reschedule a new hearing for me.

any advice? I don't know if I'm going to bring a lawyer or not.