Umm..yeah...need advice

[rezarxt]

Anyone have an attorney they would suggest in Harrisonburg for alcohol related cases?

Got picked up about 100 meters from my apartment on port republic saturday night. Im not sure of my charges exactly because they gave me conflicting papers. The first one says I was being charged with underage consumption and public intox. The second one when I left only had public intox listed and he said this was the only charge. Either way Im going to get an attorney because I want to try my hardest to get it off my record due to being in the military and it fucking with my clearance...

So far I only found this guy.

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I declined the breathalyzer when they confronted me and they never performed a field sobriety test. So it sounds like I have a chance at beating it. I figured there are a lot of upperclassmen/people who graduated on here who probably have experience with this. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[xvxax]

I had a friend in a similar situation and the cop gave him two charges and the person in charge of intake at the station (don't know the title) added another charge. He had a lawyer and the lawyer didn't say anything about that being an issue, so I wouldn't count on that getting you out of trouble.

Also, the charges were completely on the appearance of being intoxicated. No test, no breathalyzer. You can look and act and smell drunk and that's drunk.

However, this was in Fairfax County, not Harrisonburg. Good luck

[SethM]

My stepdad is an attorney in the area, shoot me an email with all the details that you would care to share to:

seth dot moyers at gmail dot com

I will give him a call then get back to you with his advice.

[Evan]

I got underage possession which I believe is worse than those.

They dismiss charges if you take the county alchohol class ($$$$ for the county)

and it certainly didnt hurt my clearance

btw, I did a lot of research in the law library and in Rottenham country, an officers observation (ie- opinion) is considered evidence in court.

[rezarxt]

My stepdad is an attorney in the area, shoot me an email with all the details that you would care to share to:

seth dot moyers at gmail dot com

I will give him a call then get back to you with his advice.

Dropped you an email. Thanks

[Ryan T]

skip the country, go to canada, it's the only option you have.

[WRXtranceformed]

Public intox is just a misdemeanor, I wouldn't worry about it. Hburg courts like to rape students, there is apparently a no tolerance policy for underage drinking and public intox in Hburg. My brother ran into a similar problem and several lawyers there told him he was SOL.

[Goodspeed]

I wouldn't worry about it.

Hburg courts like to rape students

there is apparently a no tolerance policy for underage drinking and public intox in Hburg

.

he was SOL.

wat.

GL Curtis, honestly if I were you I'd try to use your enlistment a little bit. Maybe the cop is former military, and I'm sure the judge would look more kindly upon you. Hell, if you're under 21 but allowed to join the Army you should be able to have a beer anyways.

[DavidM]

I wouldn't worry about it.

Hburg courts like to rape students

there is apparently a no tolerance policy for underage drinking and public intox in Hburg

.

he was SOL.

wat.

GL Curtis, honestly if I were you I'd try to use your enlistment a little bit. Maybe the cop is former military, and I'm sure the judge would look more kindly upon you. Hell, if you're under 21 but allowed to join the Army you should be able to have a beer anyways.

However, I don't think i'd use those exact words in front of the judge lol.

[Mike]

go to court, be honest, do whatever class they tell you to.

don't sweat this affecting your future at all.

[rezarxt]

I wouldn't worry about it.

Hburg courts like to rape students

there is apparently a no tolerance policy for underage drinking and public intox in Hburg

.

he was SOL.

wat.

GL Curtis, honestly if I were you I'd try to use your enlistment a little bit. Maybe the cop is former military, and I'm sure the judge would look more kindly upon you. Hell, if you're under 21 but allowed to join the Army you should be able to have a beer anyways.

The police officer was former army that arrested me...lol

[Jeff]

skip the country, go to canada, it's the only option you have.

+1

[Mike]

oh and lesson learned? driving drunk is harrisonburg is safer [from a legal standpoint] than walking.

what a backward city.

[CaptainHenreh]

go to court, be honest, do whatever class they tell you to.

don't sweat this affecting your future at all.

I'm with stupid. Misdemeanor alcohol charge is peanuts. Even if you got a DUI, just means you can't drive a tank in the Army because it turns out you have to have a driver's license to drive a tank. Dont' sweat this too hard. Dress nice for court, "Yes, your Honor, I was wrong, what can I do to make this right?" and you'll be fine.

[flintster55]

I'm with stupid. Misdemeanor alcohol charge is peanuts. Even if you got a DUI, just means you can't drive a tank in the Army because it turns out you have to have a driver's license to drive a tank. Dont' sweat this too hard. Dress nice for court, "Yes, your Honor, I was wrong, what can I do to make this right?" and you'll be fine.

^^^^^ +1

I went to court dressed up here and was very polite and got a speeding ticket dismissed completely. The judge was very nice and straight up told me he was going to cut me a break because of my appearance and manners. I had nothing to lose but time, and in college we have more than enough time to kill, so it payed off.

There was a guy in front of me though that had thrown some eggs at a bunch of cars and gotten caught. The judge gave him 100 hours of community service and no lie the kid said "I can deal with that" to the judge. Apparently that hit a nerve with the judge, because he ended up giving him 1000 hours, 10 days in jail, and told him to learn some manners before he ever came back in his court room.

C/N: really mind your manners, but being military, I don't see that being a problem for you

[ScottyB]

There was a guy in front of me though that had thrown some eggs at a bunch of cars and gotten caught. The judge gave him 100 hours of community service and no lie the kid said "I can deal with that" to the judge. Apparently that hit a nerve with the judge, because he ended up giving him 1000 hours, 10 days in jail, and told him to learn some manners before he ever came back in his court room.

i like this judge already

[WRXtranceformed]

I wouldn't worry about it.

Hburg courts like to rape students

there is apparently a no tolerance policy for underage drinking and public intox in Hburg

.

he was SOL.

wat.

GL Curtis, honestly if I were you I'd try to use your enlistment a little bit. Maybe the cop is former military, and I'm sure the judge would look more kindly upon you. Hell, if you're under 21 but allowed to join the Army you should be able to have a beer anyways.

My point was it's a misdemeanor and isn't going to affect you. There is no point in fighting something like that. If it was a DUI, then absolutely you need to get a lawyer.

I was actually thrown in jail at Emory & Henry when I was 18 for public intoxication. I was out the next day, paid a small fine and that was it. That's actually one of the most awesome stories of my life... haha

[rezarxt]

Good advice here guys thanks. I just really want to be on top of this. So far every officer Ive talked to has told me to get an attorney. Im willing to cough up the 500 or so $ to get an attorney and hopefully beat this thing. Im just waiting till after my meeting with my LTC tomorrow. Should be fun getting my ass chewed out. Im hoping he will actually have some good advice to offer me that is why im waiting till after the meeting before I call the attorney.

Most likely it will be something along the lines of "youre supposed to be the example for your men blah blah" or some useless bullshit like that. Ill let you guys know how it goes lol.

[Jess]

Err...I'm a lawyer (everyone always forgets that, and a thread will go on for pages and pages about what someone should do....).

Underage Poss. of alcohol- under 4.1-305(F) the judge can defer disposition, place you on 12 mos. probation, order you to complete education and/or treatment (most likely a referral to VASAP, which costs $$), and suspension of your driver's license for 6 mos (restricted license if you're otherwise eligible). If you successfully complete probation, have no other problems, he'll dismiss the underage possession charge.

DIP- meh, a fine. It's the lowest class of misdemeanor. Officer's observations are enough, no PBT needed. Usually they'll say someone "had the odor of alcoholic beverage about their person, slurred speech, glassy eyes, unsteady on his feet."

I'm guessing they didn't give you a court-appointed lawyer since there's no risk of jail time on these.

[rezarxt]

Just a little to add. This morning one of the MS4s (cadet seniors) said there is a possibility I wont be able to contract if convicted. So theres a lot riding on this now (my future career). I wont know for sure if this is the case until tonight but they def arent messing around.