PA underage drinking citation - guidance needed

[bjl1105]

What is the name of your state? PA ..Our daughter (age 18) was issued a citation at a busted drinking party for underage drinking that stated "Cosumed 1 12oz can of (cant remember the name of the beer listed) - underage drinking". She was not drinking at the party. She is always the DD as she does not drink. We have a strong history of alcoholism in our family and she has had early education on a very personal level. When asked if she was drinking she thought she would get in more trouble by saying *no*, so she told the officer she had 1 beer and offered to take a breath test. The officer refused to allow her to take a breath test, and instead wrote the citation as above. Also, the citation is marked as "On View Arrest" instead of "Citation/Summons" , is this correct? What to do? Pleade guilty or not? Get an attorney? By the way, this was in PA at an off campus party, and we live in NJ....Thanks!

 

[Bravo8]

Please do not take offense at this, but it's a bit hard to believe that your daughter thought she would get in trouble for telling the truth about her innocence, so instead she lied and said she was guilty. It's a bit illogical. I'd suspect that she was drinking, and is lying to you.

However, the officer has no obligation to provide a breats test. His observations are sufficient to establish underage drinking (as no measurable amount of alcohol is necessary to substantiate the offense).

By Pennsylvania law, underage drinking is one of the few offenses known as a "Summary Offense" (that being the lowest grading of crime in PA) that allows for a physical arrest without a warrant. It's common for such offenders to be technically arrested and then released. So checking "On View Arrest" would be correct, but if he checked the summons block, that would be correct also. Either way, it's immaterial to the validty of the violation, so it isn't really an issue.