MIP in Michigan

My question involves criminal law for the state of: Michigan (college town)

We were in J***'s room watching the red wings game. I took like 3 shots of burnett’s then everyone went to D**'s room to hangout. He had a table set up to play water pong. There was water and nothing else in it the cups. The RAs knocked on the door and came in when someone opened the door. They saw an empty beer bottle in the room and said that they heard bottles clinking and asked D** to open his drawers, he opened them and there was liquor and D**'s marijuana paraphernalia. They said that they had to call the police because of his marijuana stuff. They cops showed up and suggested that everyone cooperate so no one goes to jail tonight. They asked by a show of hands who had been drinking. Myself, B******, J***, D**, and K**** raised our hands. M*** who had been drinking didn’t raise his hand. When the officer asked who furnished the alcohol someone said that we were at a party earlier in the night and got it there (this is not true we were in the dorms all night). I’m not sure who said we were at a party. The cops then took the paraphernalia away from D** and then pulled out a breathalyzer. They asked who was willing to take a PBT test. I wanted to be cooperative as possible so I agreed to take a PBT test for them. They didn’t tell us whether or not we had any kind of rights, I had no idea what was going on because I’ve never even been pulled over, so I didn’t know refusal of any kind was even allowed. (Do they have to inform us of any kind of rights?). Everybody but M*** agreed to take the test. D** blew first and it registered as a .000 he then told the officer that it must be wrong. The officer cleared the machine and then tried again, this time it said error. On the third try Dan somehow blew .000 even though we had all seen him drinking. Brandon also blew .000 even though he had been drinking. J***, K****, and I all blew positive. According to the ticket my BAC at the time was a .082
The officers took us out to the car and gave us tickets that has court dates on them. Minor in possession of liquor.
M***, the guy who had been drinking but refused the test got away with nothing. D** who somehow passed a PBT test (I think the machine was broken, will this hold up in court?) and had marijuana paraphernalia, the whole reason the police were called, got off with nothing. B****** somehow blew a .000 and also got off with nothing.

Is this sketchy police work? The fact that no rights were read to us whatsoever and the machine didn't seem to be working correctly?
They were called because of the marijuana and got us in trouble for the alcohol, can they do that?
Should I get a lawyer?

I want to be a police officer when I grow up and need absolutely no record of this whatsoever.

the only issue I see is the possibility of the machine not functioning correctly. It may or may not have been though. That is something you would have to address in your endeavor to extricate yourself from this problem.

they have no obligation to define your rights to you. Miranda rights are only required if in custodial detention (which you were) but are not necessary if the police have no intention of using any of your statements made after Miranda would be required. Blowing in a PBT is not covered under Miranda rights.

Quote:

---

I want to be a police officer when I grow up and need absolutely no record of this whatsoever.

---

You may want to reconsider your choice or reconsider your lifestyle.

You might want to hunt up a BAC calculator so you can run the numbers yourself but when using some arbitrary numbers (150 pounds, drinking 3 shots over a 1 hour period) your BAC should have been closer to .064; 2 hours .047; 3 hours .030. A report of .082 suggest having had more to drink.


http://www.dot.wisconsin.gov/safety/...calculator.htm


there are a couple possibilities for a diversion. I would suggest a lawyer so as to take every advantage of such laws as possible. Who knows, maybe a lawyer could get this dropped without you having to use any of your "Get out of jail" cards so you can hang onto them for something more serious.

What's sketchy? You all admitted to drinking. They don't even need the PBT (which can be balky at times). They do NOT have to read you your rights. That only comes to questioning after arrest. As long as they have some reasonable suspicion they can ask you questions. The ultimate crime they discover you have committed doesn't have anything to do with the stop. More people have been pulled over for equipment problems and being written up for DUI than you can imagine.

You should consider a lawyer (or at least legal aid which might be available through your school). The Michigan judges are all over the place as to whether you're going to get a chance at diversion or criminally convicted as a result of your crime.

Do you think the judge will show sympathy being that we were 100% cooperative, had no prior offenses, and weren't belligerent?
The way I see it (which really doesn't matter at all, just my opinion) the law is meant to keep kids from drinking and driving and being stupid. Because kids get real stupid with a little bit of alcohol. But I consumed very little, and the fact that my bac was so high off of only 3 shots (I'm 6' 204lb) only proves that I'm not a drinker, my tolerance is low. We weren't harming anyone. I just feel like they're throwing the book at me when it is completely unnecessary, had they not shown up I would've been in bed within the hour and there would've been no problems.

Quote:

---

and the fact that my bac was so high off of only 3 shots (I'm 6' 204lb) only proves that I'm not a drinker, my tolerance is low.

---

the fact you are not a drinker has nothing to do with your BAC. BAC is a relatively simple calculation of how much alcohol you drank, what your weight is, and how long since you had been drinking.

using the BAC calculator I linked for you, if you had drank all 3 shots within the hour prior to your BAC test, you would have a .045 BAC. If it had been 2 hours, .033 and 3 hours, .021.

It takes 6 or 7 shots over 3 hours to reach your BAC. If it had been only an hour, it would still take 5 shots to get you to a .084 BAC. You aren't going to be able to fool the judge with BS claims of being a booze virgin and it making your BAC skyrocket.

While you will feel the effects of the booze much more if you are not a drinker, it doesn't change your BAC.

Quote:

---

We weren't harming anyone.

---

actually, you were. You were harming society. That is why many of the laws we have.

Quote:

---

I just feel like they're throwing the book at me when it is completely unnecessary, had they not shown up I would've been in bed within the hour and there would've been no problems.

---

or if you had not broken the law and the school rules and not been drinking, you wouldn't have had a problem either.

If you are not 21, you are not allowed to drink *ANY AMOUNT* of Alcohol. The fact that you self incriminated yourself is all that is necessary. They don't even need a positive BAC.

Quote:

---

Quoting flyingron

---

If you are not 21, you are not allowed to drink *ANY AMOUNT* of Alcohol. The fact that you self incriminated yourself is all that is necessary. They don't even need a positive BAC.

---

agreed. The officers testimony the OP exhibited signs of haven been drinking, including breath smell, is adequate. The only reason I address the PBT is if that is the only claim to support the OP having been drinking. Since OP has admitted to the crime (I admit I overlooked that action), there is no defense.

Can I argue that their machine wasn't working right? Because I really only had 3 shots. And two kids that had been drinking blow .000

Quote:

---

Quoting mcperry94

---

Can I argue that their machine wasn't working right? Because I really only had 3 shots. And two kids that had been drinking blow .000

---

you can argue it but since it is not needed to convict you, all you need to do after getting the PBT tossed, figure out how to get your admission of guilt tossed and how to get the officers testimony that your breath smelled of booze tossed and you might start to see a valid defense.

Don't forget to challenge the finding of the bottle of wine along with Mr.D's drug paraphernalia that would have to be excluded as well.