OT: Teenage party with police, any lawyers out there?
- Thread starter newell138
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Do you know if the 17 year old and younger kids are being charged as juveniles or as adults?
OK- am I reading something wrong...why are so many going on and on about her either just doing the community service or shouldn't have been there in the first place or talking as if she had done something wrong. I mean, I understand that her intent may have been to have a couple of drinks too but if the facts are as you stated, she went to a party where "parents" were home to supervise it and it ends up that some underage kids were drinking, cops called, yada yada yada but you state that she had not drank or was not drinking...
If they did not catch her with a drink in hand or have her take a breathalyzer and just had you pick her up...what the hell did she do wrong in any legal sense and even as a 18 y/o, it was a party where parents where there.
As a parent who had 4 kids go through this age...if they said they were going to someone's house, we had only a couple of rules. A parent had to be home and we had to talk to that parent before they went to the party. It sounds like this house party would have passed these two rules and I would have allowed any of my kids to go to it.
This situation is 100% on the parents that were there.
If the police want to talk to you or her, they will be by your house. But the best advice is to have a "consultation" with a lawyer...most will give you a quick consultation before a retainer would be required.
If they did not catch her with a drink in hand or have her take a breathalyzer and just had you pick her up...what the hell did she do wrong in any legal sense and even as a 18 y/o, it was a party where parents where there.
As a parent who had 4 kids go through this age...if they said they were going to someone's house, we had only a couple of rules. A parent had to be home and we had to talk to that parent before they went to the party. It sounds like this house party would have passed these two rules and I would have allowed any of my kids to go to it.
This situation is 100% on the parents that were there.
If the police want to talk to you or her, they will be by your house. But the best advice is to have a "consultation" with a lawyer...most will give you a quick consultation before a retainer would be required.
Constructive possession is the legal term. I don't have time to post more but you can google it.
thats exactly the term he used. Not worth hiring a lawyer or wasting my time over 4 hours of community service.
Let's say this was a college graduation party with extended family (no friends). A bunch of middle aged adults are drinking and the college graduate and his/her over 21 year old siblings and cousins are drinking. Two cousins, aged 18, are sitting along with the 21+ crowd but are only drinking soda and water, respectively. Unbeknownst to the rest of the family, two other cousins, aged 16, steal a few beers and head down to the basement.
A cop randomly drives by and notices a lot of cars and hears some noise and thinks it's a typical HS kid/illegal party so he checks it out. As the door is opened, one of the 16 year olds comes up the steps from the basement and starts puking. The cop enters.
You mean to tell me that the two 18 year old cousins drinking non-alcoholic beverages broke a law?
A cop randomly drives by and notices a lot of cars and hears some noise and thinks it's a typical HS kid/illegal party so he checks it out. As the door is opened, one of the 16 year olds comes up the steps from the basement and starts puking. The cop enters.
You mean to tell me that the two 18 year old cousins drinking non-alcoholic beverages broke a law?
POSSESSION (N.J.S.A. 2C:2-1) Constructive possession means possession in which the possessor does not physically have the item on his or her person but is aware that the item is present and is able to exercise intentional control or dominion over it. So, someone who has knowledge of the character of an item and knowingly has both the power and the intention at a given time to exercise control over it, either directly or through another person or persons, is then in constructive possession of that item.
I call "bullshit" on the cops in this particular case, assuming the kid in question is telling the truth. There's no way they can prove constructive possession absent direct testimony.
I call "bullshit" on the cops in this particular case, assuming the kid in question is telling the truth. There's no way they can prove constructive possession absent direct testimony.
They probably could fight it but is it worth the expense and time? Also you never know when you are going to have a judge/jury who sympathetic to the police and you lose. A cop could say he witnessed her with a beer cup. They could also cut a deal with another person to testify they saw he pick up a beer. Then it her word against their word. Are you willing to go after that to save 4 hours volunteering at a soup kitchen?
If the cop was going to be able to testify that he saw her with an alcoholic beverage, then it would have to be in his report. Similarly, if another witness were going to testify that she was seen with an alcoholic beverage, then it would have to be in the report.
In muni court, the incident report is the bible. It's how the wheels of muni justice are greased. If it's not in the report, then it can't be testified to, after the fact.
The bottom line is that if the OP gets hold of the incident report and his kid isn't mentioned in it, then there's no reason why she should have to endure getting screwed by the cops.
Under the definition of constructive possession above, it would seem that all that would have to be mentioned was that she was there. She is 18 so an adult. Had knowledge there was drinking going on. Could have done something but chose not to. It seems that fits the definition exactly as written above. She would not have to be caught with a drink, a cup or anything.
Like I said above, my business partner has a friend who's son is sitting in jail right now for this very thing. Drug deal happened in front of him and he did nothing to stop it, even though it was not him doing the dealing but his roommate. Unfortunately his roommate was trying to sell to a cop.
You could fight it. And maybe it's worth consulting an attorney that could advise of you how to approach doing the community service without any admission of guilt. Which may or may not matter.
But the thing is, it's a good life lesson and would appear that there will be no harm to your daughter if she does the community service (i.e. no permanent record of any sort). The reality is that people are often unfairly deemed to be guilty by association and that sometimes that has unfair consequences. Knowing this, and experiencing it in a harmless way now, is part of learning to make informed decisions about such things in the future.
It also shows support for her friends that do the community service because they know they were drinking. And supporting one's friends, even when they make mistakes, is a good thing to do. And you insinuated that she probably would've had a drink at some point herself but just hadn't gotten around to it. So not entirely sure any of this is actually "unfair" anyway.
People are too hung up on the legalities here, IMO. Going through life hoping to get away with stuff because of technicalities is not a great idea, to my way of thinking.
She claims to have not committed a crime. No one know for certain that is the case.
I call BS on constructive possession. She was a guest, the the home owner. She is 18 and the actual adults who owned the home where there and aware of what was going on. She had no authority to make them stop it.
I'm sorry but a back up my children if they did nothing wrong. i would certainly have a talk with them about stupidity but NEVER allow the law to trump up something on them- NEVER
I'm sorry but a back up my children if they did nothing wrong. i would certainly have a talk with them about stupidity but NEVER allow the law to trump up something on them- NEVER
Perhaps not. But I'm pretty sure the OP stated that she may have intended to have a drink and just didn't get around to it by the time the cops showed up.
I'm not judging her at all, by the way. Judging by her dad, I think she's probably an awesome kid.
I think the crime here is that we have laws telling dictating to sixteen year olds what they can drink, where they can go, who they can sleep with or share images of themselves with, what they can wear, etc. These are things that should fall in the domain of the parents or guardians; not the government. I hear people wonder aloud what ever happened to personal responsibility in one breath and then discuss writing their kid's college essays in the next. Go figure.
It's a great lesson for her. All kids need to understand the ramifications of their actions/inactions. There isn't a person on the planet that would question her morality based upon what she did. Morally she did nothing wrong. However it is a great lesson that sometimes the law is above societal norms.
It's like the lesbian girl in Florida that was dating a younger girl for over a year. Everything was cool until her 18th birthday when she was arrested for having sex with a minor.
It's like the lesbian girl in Florida that was dating a younger girl for over a year. Everything was cool until her 18th birthday when she was arrested for having sex with a minor.
Yeah but this isn't Minority Report.
Personally, if this was me (not my kid, but me) I would call the police and would request a copy of the officer's report to see what crime I committed. If I committed a crime, I'll do the four hours of cleaning cop cars. If not, I'll do my own charity work on my own time.
Ha ha - I like the movie reference. So yeah, that's not a horrible way to handle it either.
When I think about it, being 18, she's old enough that I'd probably ask her how she wants to handle it, talk it out, present the options and let her make the final decision.
Am I the only one thinking this is a waste of tax payer dollars?...the police have nothing better to do? The parents are the only true offenders in this situation. they should be charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor. going after every underage person at the party?
Sorry if I may have missed it earlier, but will this end up on her permanent record? May hurt her when trying to land a job?
I hope it all works out for your daughter. I have three of them, and a son. Oldest is 15. My turn soon.
Call a politician who showed up at your door for a vote (if they won) if you think this is wrong.. But you admitted the only reason she had not imbibed was that she had just arrived. The drinking age is BS.. That's the real issue here. Vote Libertarian.
The cops in this town and most other NJ towns should be told if they want to keep their salary and pension they can transfer to Newark, Camden, Paterson, etc. If not they can take a deduction to what other public servants without college educations make for the backbreaking job of taking Mike's Hard from 18 year olds and tattling on them to to their parents.
They can start with these officers...
http://www.nj.com/monmouth/index.ssf/2016/02/8_long_branch_officers_suspended_for_not_adequatel.html
Yeah, they drowned one of their trucks in the storm 2 weeks ago. I posted a pic of it, remember? They have a full compliment of about 60 and run EMS as well as fire.
If I was younger, I would consider hanging up what I am doing and applying down there. 24 hour shifts. A family could live like a squire down there (outside of OC) on that salary and the benefits.
I was actually thinking the same thing when we were running through this thread yesterday. Seems like a nice little gig.
And in their defense, they were actually on a wsf when the truck drowned.
There ya go. Good news. See if she can do the 4 hours at the library reshelving books.
Old enough to get blown up in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria = right ...come home and get busted by some fat ass cop camping at Dunkin Donuts for drinking a beer?
Bullshit - imo
We are either at War or we or not - your daughter is just a joke - whatever she gets she deserves unless she is protecting the country and if she is not - just guessing...lmao
You wanna see the videos of guys getting their heads, arms. legs blown the f off?
Bullshit - imo
We are either at War or we or not - your daughter is just a joke - whatever she gets she deserves unless she is protecting the country and if she is not - just guessing...lmao
You wanna see the videos of guys getting their heads, arms. legs blown the f off?
Long Branch definitely has its dangerous areas which makes that story even more upsetting.
It isn't on the Wrong Way Pedro or the Edison lingerie show level but when families don't want to send their kids outside and these cops are literally just paid to sit there...bad for all of us as taxpayers but worse for them.
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