Minor in Possession South Carolina
My boyfriend was charged last month for minor in possession in South Carolina. He is 18 years old. He got charged a $490 fine. He doesn't have the money. This is his first offense and the cop and judge told him that if he doesn't have the money, he will go to jail for 30 days or 6 months. May I add that when he got pulled over, the cop had no right to check his car. The liquor bottles were covered up. He wasn't even driving. The cop told them to get out the car, he put them in handcuffs, and he searched the car. They weren't even his liquor bottles, his friends stashed them in his car so he would get in trouble. The dude driving doesn't have a job, and he's underage. My boyfriend's brother didn't have a job at the time but he is 22. My boyfriend took the blame for it and he was the only one to get in trouble. Now I've read on several websites that if it someone's first offense, they should be fined no less than $200 and no more than $300. Like I said my boyfriend was charged $490. I've read that his license will be suspended for 90 days. My boyfriend has a job. He works Tuesday-Friday. No one will take him back and forth to work if he loses his license. He doesn't want to lose his job. He has his own house and he pays his own bills. Now, i just want to what the real law is.
Re: Minor in Possession South Carolina
Your boyfriend has the right to bring a motion to suppress based upon his contention that the search was unlawful. It would be sensible for him to be working with a court-appointed lawyer.
When you let your buddies hide their booze in your car, you possess it. Possession is not the same thing as ownership. And when you confess to the police that it was your booze, you're not going to have much luck after the fact persuading the court, prosecutor or jury that it was not (and, to avoid continuing to admit possession, that you had no idea it was in your vehicle).
If you want to know why other websites think your boyfriend's assessments should be lower than they are, contact the authors of whatever you read and ask.