I live in Florida and go to the University of South Florida.
The other night I was too tired to go out with my friends to the clubs so I decided to stay on campus and smoke hookah with a couple of other friends.
I set up the hookah outside of one of the dorms and began smoking it while I waited for the other people to show up. As is custom with hookah smoking, if someone would like to sit down and have a smoke for a few minutes, they are always welcome. A guy came and sat down with a cup. We briefly and he took a few hits of the hookah and then left with out taking his cup with him. I knew it was alcohol but I didnt think anything of it.
After my friends got there and we had been smoking for a while a policeman was driving around the sidewalks on campus. Me, knowing that there was alcohol in the cup and two of the three had prior alcohol charges and the other is an RA on campus, I poured the contents out and threw the cup away.
The cup was wet with condensation, when I dumped it out if dropped out of my hand. So I had to stand up and pick it up then walk back over and throw it away.
The cop saw this so he stopped, got out, and immediately dug through the trash can and picked out the cup (it was a red solo cup). He smelt it and asked me if I had ID. I told him no official ID, only student. He then asked if anyone at the table was 21. No one was. He took my information and with out further questioning he wrote my a 2nd Degree misdemeanor for under aged possession of alcohol. Before I signed the affidavit I told him it wasn't mine, then he gave me the speech about how I was tampering with evidence and he could have given me a real arrest and could have booked me under a felony.
My court date is on Dec 1st, I know multiple people who have been caught with alcohol underaged and they got a small amount of community service. Since a lawyer is most definitely going to cost more than what I could make in 16 hrs of working my job by pleading no contest, I need to know if it would be possible for me to present this case well enough for me to get off. Or, should I simply plea no contest and go the way of the victim of bad circumstances?
According to the arresting officer, a first offense will likely get me 16hrs community service, or so, and a plea of no contest will make this 2nd degree misdemeanor "go away" after I do my service.
I need to go down to the station and see if I can get a copy of what the officer wrote because I cant read my copy well at all (carbon copy). From what I can read he tried to make it out like I was hiding something. Using terms like slinging the cup and rushing to throw it away. Again
The officer also made a bad clerical error on the affidavit. He wrote the location of the offense where most people get written arrests for alcohol possession: Raymon James Stadium. This happened on campus, a good 20-30min drive from the stadium.
[rant]
This is complete bull in my opinion. They know that college students can not afford lawyers and are just going to take the wrist slap, regardless of whether they are truly guilty or not. This is extremely unfair. Much like an unfair parking ticket I got. It was only $15, but it was free to fight and the overall outcome would not have changed if I lost. [/rant]
The other night I was too tired to go out with my friends to the clubs so I decided to stay on campus and smoke hookah with a couple of other friends.
I set up the hookah outside of one of the dorms and began smoking it while I waited for the other people to show up. As is custom with hookah smoking, if someone would like to sit down and have a smoke for a few minutes, they are always welcome. A guy came and sat down with a cup. We briefly and he took a few hits of the hookah and then left with out taking his cup with him. I knew it was alcohol but I didnt think anything of it.
After my friends got there and we had been smoking for a while a policeman was driving around the sidewalks on campus. Me, knowing that there was alcohol in the cup and two of the three had prior alcohol charges and the other is an RA on campus, I poured the contents out and threw the cup away.
The cup was wet with condensation, when I dumped it out if dropped out of my hand. So I had to stand up and pick it up then walk back over and throw it away.
The cop saw this so he stopped, got out, and immediately dug through the trash can and picked out the cup (it was a red solo cup). He smelt it and asked me if I had ID. I told him no official ID, only student. He then asked if anyone at the table was 21. No one was. He took my information and with out further questioning he wrote my a 2nd Degree misdemeanor for under aged possession of alcohol. Before I signed the affidavit I told him it wasn't mine, then he gave me the speech about how I was tampering with evidence and he could have given me a real arrest and could have booked me under a felony.
My court date is on Dec 1st, I know multiple people who have been caught with alcohol underaged and they got a small amount of community service. Since a lawyer is most definitely going to cost more than what I could make in 16 hrs of working my job by pleading no contest, I need to know if it would be possible for me to present this case well enough for me to get off. Or, should I simply plea no contest and go the way of the victim of bad circumstances?
According to the arresting officer, a first offense will likely get me 16hrs community service, or so, and a plea of no contest will make this 2nd degree misdemeanor "go away" after I do my service.
I need to go down to the station and see if I can get a copy of what the officer wrote because I cant read my copy well at all (carbon copy). From what I can read he tried to make it out like I was hiding something. Using terms like slinging the cup and rushing to throw it away. Again
The officer also made a bad clerical error on the affidavit. He wrote the location of the offense where most people get written arrests for alcohol possession: Raymon James Stadium. This happened on campus, a good 20-30min drive from the stadium.
[rant]
This is complete bull in my opinion. They know that college students can not afford lawyers and are just going to take the wrist slap, regardless of whether they are truly guilty or not. This is extremely unfair. Much like an unfair parking ticket I got. It was only $15, but it was free to fight and the overall outcome would not have changed if I lost. [/rant]
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