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Underage drinking citation
First off i am 18 in the state of georgia. the other night i received a citation for drinking underage. i blew a .043 on the breathalyzer. I have a court date at the end of Feb. My question is, what is going to happen in court, will i be asked questions and stuff or will i just have to plead guilty/non guilty? please don't lecture me on how dumb it is to drink underage, believe me i'm paying a price and a major guilt trip. just any advice about court would be great.
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Hmm.
Well, a drinking citation is usually a misdemeanor.
The first thing you should probably do is speak to an attorney. Google "Georgia Lawyers" or "Georgia Attorney Listing"
Call around and ask about the retainer. A retainer is a fee you pay a lawyer to engage the confidentiality clause. Basically, you pay the lawyer a retainer and he becomes bound by law and anything you say to him is completely confidential. From there, you can talk about your case and at least get some legal advice. Just call law offices, tell them that you have Minor In Possession of Alcohol charge and are looking for a small retainer to get some legal advice.
If the law office can't help you, usually they can refer you to someone who can. Ask if they can help, and ask for any referrals. A retainer might be anywhere from 50 to 150, if you have a family friend they might be willing to help. I had a lawyer friend help with some advice, he had me pay him a buck to make the "retainer" part legal and follow the law exactly.
From there, you go to the court date. If you don't want to hire an attorney (I wouldn't recommend it for a misdemeanor) then you tell them when you show up at the court date that you do not have an attorney and would like to speak to a public defender. The usual procedure from here is to give you information to contact a public defender and grant a continuance on the case, meaning they reset the court date for later so that you can confer with your new attourney. If you can't afford a retainer for anyone in your area, the public defender can give you similar legal advice.
Now, the reason you might want to do this, is that you might be able to get a deferred adjudication. This is when you plead no contest without a conviction and go on probation for a period of time (usually 6 months to a year) where you report to a probation officer once a month, pay some fees, and when you finish the offense is dismissed. Later you can pay lots of money to seal your record entirely if you want, completely erasing even the arrest record (which will still exist)
The reason this is good, is that when dealing with jobs or housing you get to say "Never convicted of any crime". A conviction even of a misdemeanor can show up on background checks. I have a deferred misdemeanor, and to my knowledge its never shown up on a background check in a way thats affected me.
At that first court date, you will be granted a continuance, or an adjournment, which basically resets your court date for later so that you can prepare. They can give you information to contact the public defenders office for more legal advice.
The advantage of a public defender, is that you don't have to pay them a dime. This gives you someone who at least can represent you in court and speak to the prosecuting attorney. The public defender can see what the prosecutor is willing to offer in the way of plea bargains.
A plea bargain is when you take a reduced sentence for pleading guilty or no contest.
Now, what you want, is conditions for deferred adjudication. Since this is your first time in court, it shouldn't be a hard sell. Any attorney can tell you the actual court procedures.
Also, show up well dressed. A suit if you can, a tie with button up and slacks or kakhis with belt and nice shoes if you can't.
Basically, you're going to plead no contest. If you plead no contest without a defer, you will likely get probation or a fine or both, and it will show up on background checks as a conviction. If you get a defer, it will cost you more but you won't likely have to worry about background checks.
Though, I imagine that varies from state to state, so thats another one to ask a lawyer in your area.
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hey, well I went through the same thing you did.. my advice is to go with a parent/guardian.. and plead guilty because if you plead not guilty your going to stay there for a really long time and you don't want that.. so just plead guilty and you have to pay a fine. Well that's what happen to me in New York.. I'm 19 by the way. So don't sweat it, there not going to put you in jail or anything lol. You'll be fine. Oh and probably the only thing they are going to ask you why are you underage drinking? just act casual and say I'm really sorry, I won't do it again and blah blah.. So nothing big.. you'll be fine.
hope I helped =]
& good luck =]
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