Possession of Alcohol as a Minor

[Carone]

Hi I’m from Illinois in the Cook County District. So I just had court today and my story goes like this. I live in the West Suburbs and went to the town of Cicero with my brother for a halloweeen party my coworker was having. When we went there it wasn’t any parking around her house so we found two parking spaces on the street a couple blocks down. We doubled parked because our friend was coming and we were just gonna move up so they could park behind us and we could just walk in together. So as me and my brother is sitting in the car on our phones a lady whose house we are in front of keeps coming out on her porch and looking at us. And we didn’t think anything of it until she came out again with her phone and called the police on us! We heard the whole conversation and she wanted to make sure we heard it. She was saying “there’s two guys in front of my house and I don’t know what there doing and they been sitting here for 15 minutes now” and me and brother can’t belive what’s happening and I said just stay here we didn’t do anything wrong we’re just on our phones in our car and we’ll just tell the officer the truth. So when the police did come we told him that but he was kinda suspicious of us like we were thugs or up to something and told us to get out of the car and he asked to search the car so I’m pretty sure he was trying too look for a weapon or a gun or something so we was like that’s fine because we weren’t doing anything wrong or illegal, we were just sitting there. So as he’s searching he goes into the glove box and finds a smaller size open bottle of vodka in there that I had know idea was there and my brother forgot was in the car, keep in mind we are both 19, so we got arrested under the charge of possession of alcohol as a minor for a local charge. So we payed bail that night of $75 each and had to get our car back which was towed to the pound for $800. So we had court today and I got really nervous because I don’t do a lot of public speaking and never got a charger before or been presented in front of a judge before. So he asked me if If I plead guilty or not guilty and I said not guilty and told him because I was unaware I was breaking the law because I didn’t know there was any alcohol in there and I was in the passenger seat so he told me it doesn’t matter and told me then proceeded to tell me about the law and I said ok so he entered my plea as “not guilty and there was a finding of guilty” and had me pay a fine of $25 to make it a total of $100 minimum fine including that $75 from bail. So we paid, got our paperwork, and left. I just think it’s really unfair of me to get charged for crime i didn’t know I was committing and to pay all these fees when I don’t even drink alcohol or was under any type of influence when arrested all because this lady saw two African Americans boys with hoodies on in there car on there phone. And now because I got charged I may not be able to receive financial aid for school. And never fully understood why people thought the system was broke for people like me till now. So after all this do you know of anything I could do? Can I appeal a conviction after a plea has already been done? Thanks in advance.

 

[Zigner]

You weren't just sitting there, you were actually breaking the law (double-parking). THAT is why this matter started, not because you are black.

If you would like to appeal this (and I don't know that your chances are all that good at being successful), then you will need an attorney. I do hope that you can come to a positive resolution, because I agree that, based only on your story, you kind of got the short end of the stick on this.

 

[quincy]

Hi I’m from Illinois in the Cook County District. So I just had court today and my story goes like this. I live in the West Suburbs and went to the town of Cicero with my brother for a halloweeen party my coworker was having. When we went there it wasn’t any parking around her house so we found two parking spaces on the street a couple blocks down. We doubled parked because our friend was coming and we were just gonna move up so they could park behind us and we could just walk in together. So as me and my brother is sitting in the car on our phones a lady whose house we are in front of keeps coming out on her porch and looking at us. And we didn’t think anything of it until she came out again with her phone and called the police on us! We heard the whole conversation and she wanted to make sure we heard it. She was saying “there’s two guys in front of my house and I don’t know what there doing and they been sitting here for 15 minutes now” and me and brother can’t belive what’s happening and I said just stay here we didn’t do anything wrong we’re just on our phones in our car and we’ll just tell the officer the truth. So when the police did come we told him that but he was kinda suspicious of us like we were thugs or up to something and told us to get out of the car and he asked to search the car so I’m pretty sure he was trying too look for a weapon or a gun or something so we was like that’s fine because we weren’t doing anything wrong or illegal, we were just sitting there. So as he’s searching he goes into the glove box and finds a smaller size open bottle of vodka in there that I had know idea was there and my brother forgot was in the car, keep in mind we are both 19, so we got arrested under the charge of possession of alcohol as a minor for a local charge. So we payed bail that night of $75 each and had to get our car back which was towed to the pound for $800. So we had court today and I got really nervous because I don’t do a lot of public speaking and never got a charger before or been presented in front of a judge before. So he asked me if If I plead guilty or not guilty and I said not guilty and told him because I was unaware I was breaking the law because I didn’t know there was any alcohol in there and I was in the passenger seat so he told me it doesn’t matter and told me then proceeded to tell me about the law and I said ok so he entered my plea as “not guilty and there was a finding of guilty” and had me pay a fine of $25 to make it a total of $100 minimum fine including that $75 from bail. So we paid, got our paperwork, and left. I just think it’s really unfair of me to get charged for crime i didn’t know I was committing and to pay all these fees when I don’t even drink alcohol or was under any type of influence when arrested all because this lady saw two African Americans boys with hoodies on in there car on there phone. And now because I got charged I may not be able to receive financial aid for school. And never fully understood why people thought the system was broke for people like me till now. So after all this do you know of anything I could do? Can I appeal a conviction after a plea has already been done? Thanks in advance.

What do you mean by "he entered my plea as 'not guilty and there was a finding of guilty'?" I have some question about the time between your not guilty plea and the finding of guilt.

Was there "court supervision" ordered (with no conviction)?

Because a minor in possession charge can affect your financial aid, you should have an attorney in your area review the circumstances surrounding the search of the vehicle and review your subsequent appearance before the judge and the finding of guilt.

Good luck.

 

[LdiJ]

I would suggest, that for the future, that you try to avoid having your hoods up on your hoodies. For some reason, that seems to be a major point with some people. I see signs on stores all the time saying "no hoods". You shouldn't have to protect yourself like that but its probably safer to do so.

 

[Carone]

You can “double park” on the street because there are no lines so it wasn’t illegal. I was just in the middle of a space where two cars can fit so I can wait for my friend. It was a jerk move but not an illegal one. And it’s hard to belive that it wasn’t because of my skin color when the officer told me in his car “You have to understand, it was an old lady who saw two guys with hoodies sitting in front of her house in a gang relate area” I’m in no way a thug or part of anything gang related and because of how I look should not constitute getting called the police on. A hoodie is not a crime. But I really do appreciate your response in trying to help me figure this out. Thank you

 

[Carone]

I would suggest, that for the future, that you try to avoid having your hoods up on your hoodies. For some reason, that seems to be a major point with some people. I see signs on stores all the time saying "no hoods". You shouldn't have to protect yourself like that but its probably safer to do so.

The thing is our hoods wasn’t even up and i don’t think it’s right that I can’t have my hood up in my car to make other people feel safer. I get what you are saying and coming from but I was dressed to go to a party not a wedding. Thank you for your response though.

 

[Zigner]

You're not allowed to just stop in the middle of the street and sit there for 15 minutes.

 

[Zigner]

The thing is our hoods wasn’t even up and i don’t think it’s right that I can’t have my hood up in my car to make other people feel safer. I get what you are saying and coming from but I was dressed to go to a party not a wedding. Thank you for your response though.

Here's the thing: You got cited because you (and the driver) are 19 and were in possession (admittedly) of alcohol, not because of how you were parked and not because you're black and not because you were wearing a hoodie.

 

[Carone]

You weren't just sitting there, you were actually breaking the law (double-parking). THAT is why this matter started, not because you are black.

If you would like to appeal this (and I don't know that your chances are all that good at being successful), then you will need an attorney. I do hope that you can come to a positive resolution, because I agree that, based only on your story, you kind of got the short end of the stick on this.

You can “double park” on the street because there are no lines so it wasn’t illegal. I was just in the middle of a space where two cars can fit so I can wait for my friend. It was a jerk move but not an illegal one. And it’s hard to belive that it wasn’t because of my skin color when the officer told me in his car “You have to understand, it was an old lady who saw two guys with hoodies sitting in front of her house in a gang relate area” I’m in no way a thug or part of anything gang related and because of how I look should not constitute getting called the police on. A hoodie is not a crime. But I really do appreciate your response in trying to help me figure this out. Thank you

You're not allowed to just stop in the middle of the street and sit there for 15 minutes.

i was not in the middle of the street, we were legally parked on the curb.

 

[Zigner]

i was not in the middle of the street, we were legally parked on the curb.

Then why did you say you were "double parked"?
In any case, the driver apparently consented to a search of the car. That was another mistake.

 

[not2cleverRed]

You can “double park” on the street because there are no lines so it wasn’t illegal. I was just in the middle of a space where two cars can fit so I can wait for my friend. It was a jerk move but not an illegal one. And it’s hard to belive that it wasn’t because of my skin color when the officer told me in his car “You have to understand, it was an old lady who saw two guys with hoodies sitting in front of her house in a gang relate area” I’m in no way a thug or part of anything gang related and because of how I look should not constitute getting called the police on. A hoodie is not a crime. But I really do appreciate your response in trying to help me figure this out. Thank you

By "double park" do you mean overlapping two parking spaces?!

To most people, "double park" means that you are parking in the street next to (not in front of or back of) cars that are parked on the side of the street. Because "double parking" can block the flow of traffic, it is almost universally illegal to double park in the US.

 

[Carone]

Here's the thing: You got cited because you (and the driver) are 19 and were in possession (admittedly) of alcohol, not because of how you were parked and not because you're black and not because you were wearing a hoodie.

I don’t think I got arrested for the color of my skin nor do I think the arrest was a race issue, I don’t want to play the race victim . The part where I belive race played a role was the unneeded call of the police by the women for sitting in my car. I don’t think that’s a crime. The police officer (who was white) was very respectable as I was back at him. In no way do I think he was racist or the reasoning for my arrest.

 

[quincy]

Were you convicted on a charge of possession, or are you under court supervision where no conviction is being entered?

 

[Carone]

Then why did you say you were "double parked"?
In any case, the driver apparently consented to a search of the car. That was another mistake.

I’m sorry, I can see why saying “doubled parked” cause some confusion. I was just trying to say I was in a space on the curb where two cars could fit into but only our car was there. And I do agree contesting to the search of the car was a mistake but we felt like we were not hiding anything and wanted to be completely obedient to the officers request. I also didn’t know you could tell the officer no without getting in trouble. Thanks

 

[Zigner]

I’m sorry, I can see why saying “doubled parked” cause some confusion. I was just trying to say I was in a space on the curb where two cars could fit into but only our car was there. And I do agree contesting to the search of the car was a mistake but we felt like we were not hiding anything and wanted to be completely obedient to the officers request. I also didn’t know you could tell the officer no without getting in trouble. Thanks

That's fair enough - I get where you're coming from and probably would do the same thing in a similar situation. A big difference is that I know what's in my car. Unfortunately for you, the driver had alcohol in the glovebox.