18 yr old underage drinking

[collegeboy27]

What is the name of your state? PA I am 18 years old. I had went to visit my friend from the University of Pittsburgh. We had gone down to a bar in pittburgh and drank a little bit but the my friends girlfriend was drunk and it was obvious. We go back up to his school and get of a bus and a university of pittsburgh policeman had told us to stop and see what was going on because the girl looked really drunk. So we stop and say she was feeling really sick and needed to throw up so we were looking for a trashcan. At this point the police man said that our friend(the girl) needed to come with police man and the rest should go back to the room and stay inside for the night. Then my friend hit the wall with his fist in an upset mood because it was his girlfriend and then the policeman said ok well the boyfriend needs to come with me and you other two should leave now and go inside. So me and my friend leave the scene and walk over towards his room and another policeman comes running after us and tells us we need to come with him because we are being given underage drinking charges. We were never read our rights, given soberity test, given blood alcohol tests. We were given nothing is there any way of getting out of this since we werent given anything nor anything we said to them could be held against us and the officer who told us to come was not at the scene when the other officer told us to just leave?

 

[collegeboy27]

I understand i did wrong and will never let that happen again it was the scariest and worst feeling i have ever felt but i dont understand how we can be told to leave then another policeman pull us back with our other two friends. The policeman who told us to leave said to leave because we were not her concern. I was just wondering because we were told to leave and we were never given any tests to prove we had been drinking and anything we said to them could not be held against us because we were not read our rights. Both policeman were standing together when we were getting wrote up but me and my friend had one police report and the other two had another from the first officer. We were not stubbling or anything like that we were perfectly fine by this point in the night so it wasnt like they had seen us doing anything wrong we walked accross a street to go to his room which the officer told us to do.

 

[seniorjudge]

Were you or were you not arrested?

Or given a ticket?

Are you supposed to go to court?

 

[collegeboy27]

I was given a citation from the university of pittsburgh police. I have 7-10 days to turn it in as guilty or not guilty(taking in to court).

 

[collegeboy27]

I think i have a case for pleading not guilty though so that is why i am asking on here first to see what i should do.

 

[seniorjudge]

What is the name of your state? PA I am 18 years old. I had went to visit my friend from the University of Pittsburgh. We had gone down to a bar in pittburgh and drank a little bit but the my friends girlfriend was drunk and it was obvious. We go back up to his school and get of a bus and a university of pittsburgh policeman had told us to stop and see what was going on because the girl looked really drunk. So we stop and say she was feeling really sick and needed to throw up so we were looking for a trashcan. At this point the police man said that our friend(the girl) needed to come with police man and the rest should go back to the room and stay inside for the night. Then my friend hit the wall with his fist in an upset mood because it was his girlfriend and then the policeman said ok well the boyfriend needs to come with me and you other two should leave now and go inside. So me and my friend leave the scene and walk over towards his room and another policeman comes running after us and tells us we need to come with him because we are being given underage drinking charges. We were never read our rights, given soberity test, given blood alcohol tests. We were given nothing is there any way of getting out of this since we werent given anything nor anything we said to them could be held against us and the officer who told us to come was not at the scene when the other officer told us to just leave?

What will be your defense?

The cops will testify as expert witnesses that you had been drinking.

What will be your evidence to rebut this?

 

[collegeboy27]

My evidence would be that the police officer told us that we should leave and that we left like told. As well as that we were never given any type of test to prove that we were intoxicated nor did we have any alcohol on us or that we had proof of drinking. In my eyes they have no way of proving that we were guilty of drinking if we were never tested and were told to leave to begin with which would have led to us not being intoxicated because if we were that they noticed why would the officer have told us to walk away.

 

[stealth2]

My evidence would be that the police officer told us that we should leave and that we left like told. As well as that we were never given any type of test to prove that we were intoxicated nor did we have any alcohol on us or that we had proof of drinking. In my eyes they have no way of proving that we were guilty of drinking if we were never tested and were told to leave to begin with which would have led to us not being intoxicated because if we were that they noticed why would the officer have told us to walk away.

Nope. If a different officer smelled the booze on ya - busted.

 

[seniorjudge]

My evidence would be that the police officer told us that we should leave and that we left like told. As well as that we were never given any type of test to prove that we were intoxicated nor did we have any alcohol on us or that we had proof of drinking. In my eyes they have no way of proving that we were guilty of drinking if we were never tested and were told to leave to begin with which would have led to us not being intoxicated because if we were that they noticed why would the officer have told us to walk away.

None of this is evidence but they are mitigating circumstances that your lawyer needs to bring up in your trial.

 

[collegeboy27]

the officer never smelled us he only came after us after the other policeman told us to walk away and we did. The officer then came after us there is no way he could have smelled us he wasnt even near us to smell it. He came after us before there was any chance that it could have been noticed. He told us to stop walking and come with him long before he was near us to even smell us he only said something because the other officer told us to leave and we were walking away. Does that help at all or still nothing? I am not trying to fight with you guys at all dont take it the wrong way i just know there was no way he smelled it on us he wasnt near us he just saw us walk away.

 

[Bravo8]

The officer needs only to be able to articulate their observations that lead them to believe you had been drinking. Whatever that may be. The police, particularly a University police officer, routinely deal with people under the influence of alcohol.

You state yourself that you had been drinking, so it's a reasonable assumption that the police could have detected the alcohol.

While I'm curious as to why one officer told you to leave and you were then detained by another, I don't think it's material to your defense. I have released people for minor offenses when I am outnumbered and need to deal with the more serious problem. Had another officer arrived to assist me shortly thereafter, I may have changed my mind as well and instructed the other officer to detain the other people whom I had previously told to leave. It's not a bar to prosecution.

There exists no requirement for the officer(s) to perform any test on you, as you are underage and the mere possession or consumption of ANY alcohol is a violation of law.

You were not under custodial interrogation, so there is no requirement for the police to inform you of your rights. Anything you said to the police can in fact be used against you in court.