Underage possession in Ohio

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Ohio

My question involves criminal law for the state of: Ohio

A couple friends and I (all 20 years old )were in a college bar (Oxford, OH) last night and were cited for underage possession. We had wristbands on, even though we were not 21, and we given a beer each. The beers were bought by someone who is 21.
We had just received the beers and were walking to the upper bar via stairwell and there were 3 cops standing in the stairwell, basically just bull****ting around. They basically picked us out of the large crowd of people at random as we were walking by, asking us to show our id's, even though we all clearly had wristbands (in other words, where was there probable cause?).
Upon showing our Id's we were cuffed and taken to the police station, where we all received citations for underage possession.
Okay, we were clearly in the wrong, I am just looking for a little advice on how best to go at this, preferably w/o having to hire a lawyer. Just gonna lay out a couple questions:

1. How should we plead? I have heard that since it is underage possession, and they have the physical evidence of the beer in our possession, it is basically useless to attempt to plead not guilty.

2. If we choose to suggest a diversion program to possibly get these charges expunged from our records, does anyone know where I could find a list of programs that exist in Ohio?

3. In the case that one of us has a minor misdemeanor that was expunged from their record less than one year ago, what type of trouble is this person in?What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

slevin711 said:

They basically picked us out of the large crowd of people at random as we were walking by, asking us to show our id's, even though we all clearly had wristbands (in other words, where was there probable cause?).

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Random searches, as long as they are truly random (and from your story, it was) are perfectly valid.

1. How should we plead? I have heard that since it is underage possession, and they have the physical evidence of the beer in our possession, it is basically useless to attempt to plead not guilty.

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Well, you are guilty. If you want to plead not guilty and win your case, you will have to somehow prove that you were not in possession of the alcoholic beverages that the unbiased expert witness (the officer) alleges you were in possession of.

2. If we choose to suggest a diversion program to possibly get these charges expunged from our records, does anyone know where I could find a list of programs that exist in Ohio?

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The court, should they offer you deferred prosecution, will be more than happy to refer you to the appropriate services.

3. In the case that one of us has a minor misdemeanor that was expunged from their record less than one year ago, what type of trouble is this person in?

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It is possible that this lucky contestant will not see the same leniency that may or may not be granted to the rest of the party. But, this is something we cannot know as we are unable to predict the future.