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Delaware: Underage Possession of Alcohol

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kram113

Junior Member
I am looking for some advice on a strange case. I am a 19 year old New Jersey resident and I visted some friends in Delaware recently. I, along with friend, met up with one of my friends from high school. We ate dinner then he asked if I could drive him somewhere. He directed me to a strip mall with 50+ stores and told me where to park. He called me and asked me to pop my trunk so he could put some stuff in there (the back seat of my car was full of bags and clothes), so I popped the trunk from inside the car. I pulled up to where he lives to drop him off. He made a call and another man came to my car and my friend carried something out of my trunk back to his home and then came back. A cop pulled up and asked me to pop my trunk, so I did. There was a closed case of beer in there. Without targetting the friend who purchased the alcohol without my knowledge, I simply asked "Can whoever is responsible for this, please come forward." After several times of asking this and then speaking with my friend directly, he would not admit to buying the alcohol. He is a 18 years old and the DMV accidentally said that he was 21 on his license. The police confiscated his license, but he would not admit to the alcohol being his. All three of us were arrested. Me and my one friend were simply given a possession charge, but the other man was given several charges. The other man who walked up to my car, which I assume was to pick up alcohol, was not charged with anything.

In private, the man who purchased the alcohol appologized and even offered to pay our fines, but assured me that he could not admit to purchasing the alcohol because the charges would be too severe. After that, he was instructed to not speak to me anymore. Both me and my one friend plan to plead not guilty, for obvious reasons. The next day, I drove back to the strip mall to get some snacks at the Supermarket, and I took note of where he had me park. He instructed me to park several hundred feet from where the liquor store was, and he also had me park in a spot where I was facing away from the store so I would not be able to see it. The man who purchased the alcohol is facing many serious charges and is getting a lawyer. I have been threatened by people representing that man that if I don't get a lawyer, I will be going to prison. I know the threat holds no weight, but I fear that they will try to spin this case to make it my fault.

Does anybody have any advice? If there isn't enough information provided, I will be willing to answer your questions. Thanks.
 


... you shouldn't have popped your trunk. Anyhow, now's the time to hire an attorney - he who represents himself has a fool for a client.

--Dave.
 

kram113

Junior Member
Thanks for the advice. I actually asked the officer if I have to pop my trunk and he said yes. I believe he saw my friend carrying a bag out to his room. Whether or not that was reasonable suspicion I don't know, but he did tell me I have to pop my trunk. While I may be able to fight this based on the fact that he told me I had to pop it, the police officers at the scene knew that it was the other man who bought the alcohol and they knew that I did not know it was there. They said they want to be there if I plead not guilty. Maybe they'll be testifying on my behalf.
 
if they have to ask you to pop it, that means they can't do it themselves. All you have to do is advise them you don't concent to searches. They'll make threats, but you don't have to concent at all. If they do go on prop. cause, they've got more paperwork to fill out, including what cause they saw in the vehicle to prompt them to want to search the vehicle.

Now you know. but since you still popped it, you'll need an attorney.

--Dave.
 

kram113

Junior Member
Thanks for the advice. I'm trying to look for advice more on what I should do about the whole situation. There's no changing the past, and I don't expect something like this to happen ever again as I'm not a big drinker, cannot buy alcohol, and will have to be much more careful about letting friends put things into my car. Now that it's all over, I'm looking for some legal advice. Does it not matter at all that I didn't know what was in the trunk? I'm unsure if the man told the cops that, but he may have. What the cops do know is who bought the alcohol (I believe his ID is proof enough), and who he was going to supply it to (not me or my friend).
 

CdwJava

Senior Member
If the officer saw the alcohol being put in or removed from the trunk, he had sufficient cause to look in the trunk (provided the law was being broken). A refusal would only have resulted in the officer doing it himself and possibly arresting the driver for obstructing or delaying the officer.

You can certainly argue that you didn't know what was in the trunk, but no one is likely to buy it. I seriously doubt that no one told you they were hauling alcohol of some kind. All the people involved will have been under 21 at one time and we KNOW how that sort of thing works.

- Carl
 

kram113

Junior Member
That's my issue and the reason I don't think I'll be able to get off. The unfortunate truth is, I really didn't know what was being put in my trunk. I was visting a girl I went to high school with and while she was getting ready for the night I decided to get a burrito with another kid I went to high school with. He asked me if I could do him a favor and stop by a strip mall so he could pick something up. He had me park near a Pathmark (which turned out to be several hundred feet from where the liquor store was) and asked me to pop my trunk because the back seat was full of bags and stuff I had for the weekend. I spoke with the cops and told them upfront what happened, and they did have a talk with the purchaser of the alochol, but he would not speak. I am going to tell the judge what happened, and whether he chooses to believe it or not is not up to me.
 

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