how i got completely screwed

so this just happened last night. and i cant believe how much of a dumbass i was. btw im also 18.

i was at my friends house with 4 other people, just havin a few beers and smokin some weed. This girl who i really like got in a huge fight with her friend and she basically just wanted to leave so she got in my car and we left.

5 minutes later im about to pull into arbys and a cop pulls me over. He asked me for my registration, and mine was apparently a day expired (or really like 30 minutes since it was 12:30). Then he asked me if i had been drinking, and i said no.

So he asks the girl to get out of the car and she was pretty obviously drunk, and pretty much admitted that we had been drinking and smoking, so they took her away.
They made me get out of the car and do those drinking tests (which i did fuckin sweet at) but then gave me a breathalizer and i blew a .023, so fucked there. Next, the girl brought in 2 beers we were planning on drinking later, and one of them was opened, and the cops could see it from outside the car (i know im a dumbshit). So the cop tells me he sees that so theyre gonna have to tow the car, and theyre going to have to search it, so he asked if i have anything else on me. I just told him there was weed and a bowl because it would have been in the first spot they checked.

Basically i got charged with;
Possession of marijuana
Possession of drug paraphinalia
MIP - alcohol
Improper Plate
Open intox

can you say.. fucked??!
So can you guys help me out, is there anything i should have done differently when they pulled me over, or is there any way of possibly getting out of any of this? I don't see how I could be so damn dumb.

Nope, if the cops saw the open container and then you said No you havent been drinking, you were completely fucked.

ouch,thats sux bro,but at least they didnt take you to jail.

you can't argue the law with cops, they're all fascists--logic is their weakness. oh, and stay away from drunk girls...and alcohol all together when you have herb on you. since you passed the field sobriety, i think you could have talked you're way through explaining the .23. if they ask about drugs deny the shit. live and learn. good luck.

well i just shouldnt haave had alcohol in my car to begin with hah. but stickyfingaz, i did go to jail, and it sucked ass.

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Originally Posted by PaperTigers

so this just happened last night. and i cant believe how much of a dumbass i was. btw im also 18.

i was at my friends house with 4 other people, just havin a few beers and smokin some weed. This girl who i really like got in a huge fight with her friend and she basically just wanted to leave so she got in my car and we left.

5 minutes later im about to pull into arbys and a cop pulls me over. He asked me for my registration, and mine was apparently a day expired (or really like 30 minutes since it was 12:30). Then he asked me if i had been drinking, and i said no.

So he asks the girl to get out of the car and she was pretty obviously drunk, and pretty much admitted that we had been drinking and smoking, so they took her away.
They made me get out of the car and do those drinking tests (which i did fuckin sweet at) but then gave me a breathalizer and i blew a .023, so fucked there. Next, the girl brought in 2 beers we were planning on drinking later, and one of them was opened, and the cops could see it from outside the car (i know im a dumbshit). So the cop tells me he sees that so theyre gonna have to tow the car, and theyre going to have to search it, so he asked if i have anything else on me. I just told him there was weed and a bowl because it would have been in the first spot they checked.

Basically i got charged with;
Possession of marijuana
Possession of drug paraphinalia
MIP - alcohol
Improper Plate
Open intox

can you say.. fucked??!
So can you guys help me out, is there anything i should have done differently when they pulled me over, or is there any way of possibly getting out of any of this? I don't see how I could be so damn dumb.

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Yes,under no circumstances never,ever take a breathalizer test. talk to public def or lawyer first

i thought it was a law that you always had to take one if asked?

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Originally Posted by alba22

Yes,under no circumstances never,ever take a breathalizer test. talk to public def or lawyer first

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The only thing your doing by refusing is making the cops even more suspicious and you can't refuse a breathalizer,the coppers will just wait on a warrant to come so you have to take it.

how much weed did you have on you?

Unlucky man

That sucks man, hope things get better.

Get a good lawyer. You might as well tell your parents what happened and ask them for help with legal fees.

Yet another American jailed in the senseless War on Drugs.

I'm sorry dude, but there is a difference between fascist cops and cops that are doing their jobs. I don't think you deserve to get all that but you fucked up dude. Drunk driving is a pretty shitty way to die so I wouldn't blame them for trying to make their town a little safer.

There was nothing you could have done but not left or not do whatever you did to get pulled over. Believe me, you made them suspicious somehow or they wouldn't have pulled you over. It really is a shitty situation dude, good luck in court.

That whole story really sucks...I feel for you..so, you were over double the legal limit? Surprised you didnt get charged for underage drinking to.

Dude, you screwed up by the numbers.... The only way it could have been worse is if you took a swing at one of the cops. I believe I would have had to tell the girl to take a cab or walk.

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Originally Posted by alba22

Yes,under no circumstances never,ever take a breathalizer test. talk to public def or lawyer first

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I wouldn't follow that advice, I believe that if you deny a breathalyzer test, it results in an automatic one-year suspension of your liscence.

i know i definately fucked up by even driving after ive drank at all. I just dont want people to think i was drunk, i wasnt even buzzed at all. and im pretty sure the legal limit is .02 (for people 21 and over obviously), but i still got the MIP. as for making them suspicious, it was just the license plate cause he turned right behind me and noticed right away

But anyway, what kind of consequences am i looking at here? I know ill go on probation and have to get dropped and that shit. will my license probably be suspended for like 90 days too?
Thanks for your time/consideration

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Originally Posted by yoda

I wouldn't follow that advice, I believe that if you deny a breathalyzer test, it results in an automatic one-year suspension of your liscence.

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it most certainly does.. but if you are in fact drunk you are going to lose your shit anyway when you take the breath test. At least if you refuse the test then you have a fighting chance in court, and possibly no dui on your record.......I have 2 DUI's and both of them like an idiot I blew for the cop... At $10,000 each it seems to be a clear choice if you get pulled over drunk, REFUSE and keep your mouth shut.............:stoned:

oh and i had probably like 10grams of weed on me and my bowl

any more input here. i still feel like total shit

Well, at least you know it was you who fucked up. Its shitty, but thats what happens when you live in a country like America with rediculous laws.

.02 is pretty low for a legal limit. Where I am it's .08

well am i probably looking at like a 2 month license suspension, probation, and a bunch of fines then?

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Originally Posted by ldg420

it most certainly does.. but if you are in fact drunk you are going to lose your shit anyway when you take the breath test. At least if you refuse the test then you have a fighting chance in court, and possibly no dui on your record.......I have 2 DUI's and both of them like an idiot I blew for the cop... At $10,000 each it seems to be a clear choice if you get pulled over drunk, REFUSE and keep your mouth shut.............:stoned:

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This is a state-by-state issue. Michigan does have implied consent as a condition of getting a driver's license.

can anyone tell me if they know if im gonna get a drunk driving charge against me? that would jst ruin everything

sorry to hear it bro.

The weeds charges might be less severe, depending on where you live. I live in Maine and anything under 1 1/4 ounces is a misdemeanor. nice name btw, Paper Tigers is an awesome song.

hellz yeah, thrice is awesome. could anyone just tell me if they think im gonna get a DUI or not? im hearin a bunch of different stuff from different friends of mine. thanks.

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Originally Posted by PaperTigers

hellz yeah, thrice is awesome. could anyone just tell me if they think im gonna get a DUI or not? im hearin a bunch of different stuff from different friends of mine. thanks.

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What did your lawyer tell you???

i havnt even talked to a lawyer yet. im going to at the beginning of the week. this was just the worst point in my life that this could have happened

if you dont consent to a breath test they will take you to a hospital to get your blood drawn with a warrant i believe. and lose your licence for not cooperating. .02 is the legal limit for driving, .08 is/was drunk driving. there could have been an impaired driving but i guess the cop didnt give it to you,judging by the tickets you stated. answer is i dont really know. the prosecuter might be able to push it though. the laws have gotten more strict since i was a youn'un but mip's were like $90 and i think probation with more than 1. you will likely get probation with you weed offence, but ask your attourney about the clause to strike it from your record if probation is completed with no problems. this only works the first time too.

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Originally Posted by PaperTigers

i know i definately fucked up by even driving after ive drank at all. I just dont want people to think i was drunk, i wasnt even buzzed at all. and im pretty sure the legal limit is .02 (for people 21 and over obviously), but i still got the MIP. as for making them suspicious, it was just the license plate cause he turned right behind me and noticed right away

But anyway, what kind of consequences am i looking at here? I know ill go on probation and have to get dropped and that shit. will my license probably be suspended for like 90 days too?
Thanks for your time/consideration

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Originally Posted by Perp

.02 is pretty low for a legal limit. Where I am it's .08

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Originally Posted by twoguysupnorth

if you dont consent to a breath test they will take you to a hospital to get your blood drawn with a warrant i believe. and lose your licence for not cooperating. .02 is the legal limit for driving, .08 is/was drunk driving. there could have been an impaired driving but i guess the cop didnt give it to you,judging by the tickets you stated.

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OK this thread has drifted too far towards the drinking aspect and after I correct a few things I'm going to close it. First of all 0.08 is the level at which most states use to show intoxication of those 21 or older. I think the term is presumptive positive or level or something. All this means is if you are at 0.08 or higher, the prosecution doesn't have to enter into evidence anything else that you were intoxicated as shown by bad driving, (swearing, bad lane changes, wide turns, running off the road, headlights off, causing an accident, etc). You can be convicted with a much lower level but then the burden lies on the prosecution to now show evidence other than the level that you were intoxicated. Now in some states the level is lower for minors such as Paper Tiger.

Next, Paper Tiger, sounds like the stop is good and you aren't going to get anything suppressed. You had an expired tag, (unless there is a grace period which I don't know or have heard about) so they had the right to stop you. You claim one of the beers was in plain view so that not only gives them probable cause but now an exigent circumstance and thus an exception to the warrant requirement. I don't know when you gave them permission to search of offered up the items, whether that was before or after the breathalyzer but if you passed your field sobriety tests or thought you did, you should have refused the breathalyzer. You may or may not have automatically lost your license for some time but it would have been harder to convict you of some of your other crimes. Part of getting a license these days is you have to agree to submitting for drug and alcohol testing and refusal is automatic suspension. However, it is better to be suspended for this and not a DUI because it is a lesser crime and usually doesn't affect insurance and usually has lower fines. You might have even been able to fight that if you did in fact pass field sobriety tests. So they probably would have still searched the car because of the open beer in plain view but they also have your permission to fall back on and the search prior to towing. It's going to be hard to suppress anything with the plain view, consent, and search to towing all working against the warrant requirement.

The other thing you did wrong was drive around with a rolling box of contraband on New Year's Eve, a cop heavy night looking to pull people over. All you needed was a lava lamp, disco ball, and portable DVD player playing a Cheech and Chong movie.

Your best hope is pretrial intervention, withheld adjudication, judicial deferment, whatever it is called in your state. It is basically strict probation (lots of observed drug testing) offered to first time offenders and if you complete the probation successfully and pay out the ying yang your record will be wiped clean.

I'm not a lawyer but that is some pretty solid info though.