Possession of Alcohol Only Because It Was in My Metabolism

My question involves criminal law for the state of: Virginia. I was arrested for being drunk in public and possession of alcohol under the age of (18)-21. Didn't actually have any alcohol in physical possession but facing the charge b/c it was supposedly in my metabolism :(. Sounds pretty bogus to me considering I refused to talk to the officer when he stopped me while I was walking and I spent the night/ half of a sunday in jail :wallbang:. And the cop didn't even read me my rights before or anytime after he cuffed me and took me off. Anyone have some thoughts? I feel like I could play it off by saying that I hadn't consumed any drinks of alcohol within like 60mins of leaving the party and all the alcohol was metabolized in my body before I was arrested. But everyone knows how police men are jerks!:(

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I feel like I could play it off by saying that I hadn't consumed any drinks of alcohol within like 60mins of leaving the party and all the alcohol was metabolized in my body before I was arrested.

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You're kidding, right? You feel like a whole lot of wrong, there.

You don't have to have the booze in your hand to be popped for MIP. You were drunk in public, therefore you had, at some point shortly before, been in possession of alcohol. Unless you can somehow convince the judge that you just magically became drunk without ever having any alcohol in your possession? And no, refusal to talk to the officer would not help your argument in the slightest. Not only are drunk people obvious from their inability to walk straight, their glassy eyes, and their slurred speech and ridiculous demeanor, they REEK.

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But everyone knows how police men are jerks!

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And everyone knows that under-aged drinkers are fools. Truisms are fun like that.

You are really going to go in front of a judge and say that you shouldn't be arrested for MIP because you had already drank it all?

You do realize that is a confession, right?

So, how did the nice officer know to talk to you? Were you staggering down the street? Throwing up in a bush? Peeing against a building? What?

LawResearcherMissy that's exactly the ignorant statement a cop would make and cops make me a sad stargazer........ As far as truisms go you actually have one thing correct. However riddle me this, how can a man be mature enough to be killed for a war with sinful intentions and ideologies yet not be able to treated like an adult and be able drink? “The misfortune of the wise is better than the prosperity of the fool.” If you are unable to comprehend maybe the apostle Matthew can change your self righteous attitude.
“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.3“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.6“Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and then turn and tear you to pieces."

I was leaving a fraternity party b/c I had a deep laceration on middle finger and was bleeding profusely. I wrapped it up and left the party where alcohol does magically appear and is filtered throughout hundreds of people. I may or may not have physically possessed or consumed any alcohol but that is beyond the dilemma because that was within a private party and location. Cops were outside arresting other kids for real injustices. I left on foot to go get my wound cleaned and fix it up. I walked passed the police minding my own business and walked about 50 yards when from behind a cop grabs me by my survival pack and asks if there is any alcohol in it. Whether or not the officer can simply assume that there is or is not any alcohol in my pack is egregious. I told him there was nothing in it b/c it was legitimately empty. I informed the officer of my civil liberty to be able to not speak to him and how I needed to get home but I guess he needed to fill his quota up instead of being a decent person and arrested me.

Alcohol is absorbed throughout all parts of the gastrointestinal tract largely by diffusion into the bloodstream. Healthy people metabolize alcohol at a consistent rate. Also chronic alcoholics may metabolize alcohol at a significantly higher rate than the average which is probably not the best thing to say to a judge. Furthermore, alcohol has a high affinity for water. An individual's blood alcohol concentration is a variable of the total amount of alcohol in one's system divided by total body water. A well muscular individual will be less affected in which the alcohol is metabolized at a higher rate (up to two times as quickly), keep in mind I'm 6'1 215lbs of muscle and very fit. Because of my the higher metabolic rate for alcohol. If there was perchance any alcohol in my system that I would have consumed hours before leaving would have been metabolized. Since there were no tests of my actual level of BAC that night there is no possible estimation of my inebriation. And for what it's worth a single officers assumption cannot be a fair reflection of justice.

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Quoting Stargazer

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LawResearcherMissy that's exactly the ignorant statement a cop would make and cops make me a sad stargazer........

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Most people are sad after being busted.... kinda goes with the territory.

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As far as truisms go you actually have one thing correct. However riddle me this, how can a man be mature enough to be killed for a war with sinful intentions and ideologies yet not be able to treated like an adult and be able drink

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Write your congressman about changing the law. Until then, you have to live under it... you don't get to pick and choose which laws you think apply to you.

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I was leaving a fraternity party b/c I had a deep laceration on middle finger and was bleeding profusely.

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Okay. Not relevant.

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I wrapped it up and left the party where alcohol does magically appear and is filtered throughout hundreds of people

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Magically appeared?

Kid, you really need to readjust your attitude. If you think for a single moment that a judge is going to even let you BEGIN that line of reasoning, you are mistaken. Just suggesting it is playing with contempt of court... because...well...you are showing the court contempt.

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I may or may not have physically possessed or consumed any alcohol but that is beyond the dilemma because that was within a private party and location

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Wrong... the illegal does not become legal on private property. Try again.

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Cops were outside arresting other kids for real injustices.

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Like, say, underage drinking?

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I left on foot to go get my wound cleaned and fix it up. I walked passed the police minding my own business and walked about 50 yards when from behind a cop grabs me by my survival pack and asks if there is any alcohol in it. Whether or not the officer can simply assume that there is or is not any alcohol in my pack is egregious

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As you are leaving a party where they are outside arresting people and you are walking with a very bad and very recent wound? Not really.

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I told him there was nothing in it b/c it was legitimately empty. I informed the officer of my civil liberty to be able to not speak to him and how I needed to get home but I guess he needed to fill his quota up instead of being a decent person and arrested me.

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Maybe you really don't understand the term "civil liberty" either.

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Alcohol is absorbed throughout all parts of the gastrointestinal tract largely by diffusion into the bloodstream. Healthy people metabolize alcohol at a consistent rate. Also chronic alcoholics may metabolize alcohol at a significantly higher rate than the average which is probably not the best thing to say to a judge. Furthermore, alcohol has a high affinity for water. An individual's blood alcohol concentration is a variable of the total amount of alcohol in one's system divided by total body water. A well muscular individual will be less affected in which the alcohol is metabolized at a higher rate (up to two times as quickly), keep in mind I'm 6'1 215lbs of muscle and very fit. Because of my the higher metabolic rate for alcohol. If there was perchance any alcohol in my system that I would have consumed hours before leaving would have been metabolized. Since there were no tests of my actual level of BAC that night there is no possible estimation of my inebriation. And for what it's worth a single officers assumption cannot be a fair reflection of justice.

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You know what's fun? That you think that people on this board need to be taught how alcohol is absorbed. That's fun. Isn't learning new facts fun? Makes you want to just tell everyone.

The officer is a trained observer and witness to your crime.

So, to review...

We have debunked the "I can fight for my country but can't drink" argument, the "I am walking out of a party where cops are stopping people and arresting them but think I can just walk by because I want to" argument and the "I read on wikipedia how alcohol is absorbed" argument.

You drank. You are too young to drink. You tried to walk past cops that were arresting partygoers as they left a party because you had a boo boo.

Believe it or not, your injury made you MORE likely to be stopped than less. Drunks hurt themselves all the time.

What else ya got?

While they call it "minor in possession" colloquially, the statute actually says:

No person to whom an alcoholic beverage may not lawfully be sold under § 4.1-304 shall consume, purchase or possess, or attempt to consume, purchase or possess, any alcoholic beverage

You've not said anything exculpatory. The officer will testify to the smell of alcohol or other signs of intoxication. Statements that you have drunken prior will also be used against you. Miranda doesn't apply until you are questioned AFTER arrest. It takes well over 60 minutes to metabolize "all the alcohol" out of your system if you've ingested even a ONE full sized drink.

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LawResearcherMissy that's exactly the ignorant statement a cop would make and cops make me a sad stargazer

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BAWWWWWWW more, kid. You broke the law, you got busted fair and square, and now you're going to have to suffer the consequences of your willful refusal to understand that yes, indeed, the law absolutely applies to you, too.

If you can't afford to pay the fiddler, keep your seat and don't dance.

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Alcohol is absorbed throughout all parts of the gastrointestinal tract largely by diffusion into the bloodstream. Healthy people metabolize alcohol at a consistent rate. blahblahblah irrelevant-cakes

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Honey, no. Just don't.

I volunteer in a winery and am well aware of how alcohol works. It's not going to help you. The judge will laugh at you and tell you to sit the hell down and shut the hell up, and you'll get to pay your fines after being thoroughly humiliated in front of a whole bunch of people, instead of simply paying your fines and going home.

Not to mention he was leaving a party where alcohol magically appeared... and so he can be considered in possession because he was near it.

Darn those alcohol fairies and their alcohol abandonment ways....

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Quoting LawResearcherMissy

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BAWWWWWWW more, kid. You broke the law, you got busted fair and square, and now you're going to have to suffer the consequences of your willful refusal to understand that yes, indeed, the law absolutely applies to you, too.

If you can't afford to pay the fiddler, keep your seat and don't dance.

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See, you could have had a LOT more fun with the OP than this.

Ah, to be young, stupid and sure that you knew an answer that no one had ever thought of before.

Oh someone's got jokes! But I guess they aren't really jokes since they aren't funny. Wikipedia has no creditability, that's why I got the info from a Academic Journal!

The only reason they were in the parking lot outside was bc someone vandalized a car and threw beer bottles at it and they were in the middle of arresting a kid for smoking dope. I wasn't the only passer by I was with in a group of people and was singled out for wearing my survival pack!

Politicians are just snakes in designer suits. But I guess "Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s" even if it doesn't make any sense.

I have the same lawyer that Phelps had soo I'm not going to be saying much to the judge.

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Quoting Stargazer

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Oh someone's got jokes! But I guess they aren't really jokes since they aren't funny. Wikipedia has no creditability, that's why I got the info from a Academic Journal!

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Kid, that still doesn't mean we need a lecture.... or a report on how very fit you are.

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The only reason they were in the parking lot outside was bc someone vandalized a car and threw beer bottles at it and they were in the middle of arresting a kid for smoking dope. I wasn't the only passer by I was with in a group of people and was singled out for wearing my survival pack!

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AH HA... we have a winner.

No, genius. You were singled out because the cops were there to find out who was throwing glass bottles at a car and you are trying to sneak past with a laceration.

I am not going to quote an "Academic Journal" here, but will go out on a limb and state that when you throw bottles, they break. When they break, broken glass is scattered around. Broken glass is sharp. Sharp glass causes cuts. You had a cut.

See?

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Politicians are just snakes in designer suits. But I guess "Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s" even if it doesn't make any sense.

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What, exactly, doesn't make sense? You knew the rules and broke them. Your approval of those rules was not required. If you don't like the rules, change them.

Ah, I remember the first time I was allowed to vote.... made me feel like I had to lecture my elders on the entire political scene.

So far you have given us a discourse on alcohol and on the political climate. A smart kid like you should have already understood that drinking for you was illegal. You choose to break the law and got caught.

One more thing... when you were throwing those bottles, I bet you got beer all over you. Smells to high heaven.

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I have the same lawyer that Phelps had soo I'm not going to be saying much to the judge.

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You do realize, of course, that Phelps LOST his underage drinking charge, right?