Ticketed on a New Jersey Beach for Open Container

My question involves criminal law for the state of: NJ

About a week ago my friends and I went to Long Branch in NJ and were stopped by a cop on the beach because we had a cooler and solo cups. There was no alcohol in sight. We were on the beach approximately 10 minutes when the cop approached us which I think he only approached us because we are young girls. I am 19 almost 20 and my friends are all 20 almost 21. The cop made us open our cooler which he saw a beer sticking out. We spilled all the alcohol out in front of him and he gave us a ticket for open containers. I was driving so I was not drinking however I received a ticket as well. The cop filed our tickets incorrectly and gave us all parking tickets which he said would cost about 50 dollars and that we could pay the fine online. When we went online to pay it was discovered the ticket was not registered so we called the court and they said the cop has messed up multiple tickets in the last week and that we are not the only ones. The cop also explained that he catches lots of people drinking on the beach and that we will just have to pay the fine, no big deal. Now that we have to go to court we are nervous. How much will the fine for an open container be? Will we be charged with underage drinking even though we were not given tickets for that? How much will that fine be or what other punishments will come along with that if it is possible to be charged with. Will the cop screwing up be to our advantage? Does it matter that no one was intoxicated or even drank any alcohol at all? Will I be punished for driving even though I was not drinking and there was no alcohol in the car nor was anyone driving under the influence? Will the judge believe that I was not drinking and driving? One of my friends is thinking about pleading innocent and getting a lawyer. Should we all lead innocent or guilty? Is a lawyer necessary? Please help, court date is july 11th. This is also my first offense. I'm not sure about everyone else but I have no criminal past.

You all got parking tickets and you're complaining.

Keep your mouths shut and see how the tickets get entered into the court system.

If they get entered into the system as parking tickets then keep your mouths shut and pay the fines.

Meantime, there's no way to predict anything with regard to the questions you've asked. You'll just have to wait.

Did it ever occur to you that the cop routinely scares the crap out of kids with alcohol on the beach, makes them spill it all out as punishment, then purposely just gives parking tickets instead of booze tickets?

Where is that darn LIKE button?

^^ I second.

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Quoting nicolex

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The cop made us open our cooler which he saw a beer sticking out. We spilled all the alcohol out in front of him and he gave us a ticket for open containers.

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First of all, the cop violated your constitutional rights when he forced you to open your cooler without a search warrant.

As for open containers, did the cop force you to spill your alcohol out of the containers? If yes, then the cop forced you to open the containers.

So, the cop discovers alcohol via an illegal search. And he cites you for having open containers when the cop himself forced you to open the containers.

This cop's actions are corrupt, and yes, you and your friends should all get attorneys. And if this cop goes around doing this to others, then you can have a class-action lawsuit here.

You say it's only $50, but if the authorities do this to a lot of people, that money can quickly add up.

Please get an attorney and fight this.

You mean the officer smelled alcohol and investigated? You mean the officer said Open your cooler and they complied without disagreement? Nothing illegal about either.

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First of all, the cop violated your constitutional rights when he forced you to open your cooler without a search warrant.

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You're not really clear on the notion of "probable cause", are you?

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And if this cop goes around doing this to others, then you can have a class-action lawsuit

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No. Where did you get this ridiculous idea?

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Quoting Disagreeable

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You mean the officer smelled alcohol and investigated? You mean the officer said Open your cooler and they complied without disagreement? Nothing illegal about either.

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Where does it say that the officer claimed to smell alcohol?

If the officer ordered them to open the cooler, as opposed to requesting that they open the cooler, yeah, that's illegal.

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Quoting LawResearcherMissy

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You're not really clear on the notion of "probable cause", are you?

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If the officer had probable cause, then he should have gotten a search warrant.

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No. Where did you get this ridiculous idea?

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If there are many plaintiffs that are similarly situated, then there can be a class-action lawsuit. I know the definition of class action.

Overruled!!! Assuming facts not in evidence. :cool:

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Quoting John_28

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Where does it say that the officer claimed to smell alcohol?

If the officer ordered them to open the cooler, as opposed to requesting that they open the cooler, yeah, that's illegal.

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Where does it say that the officer ordered them to open the cooler? I can guarantee if the OP takes this to court he will be happy to testify that he requested they open the cooler, and the girls willingly obliged and consented to the search.

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Quoting John_28

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If the officer had probable cause, then he should have gotten a search warrant.

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Clearly he didn't need a search warrant. Having spent a lot of time drinking on beaches I 'd be willing to bet that if they refused the search he would just come back by later when the beer was no longer just sitting in the cooler, and instead was being consumed. Also a safe bet that there would be more than a small fine here.

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Quoting John_28

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If there are many plaintiffs that are similarly situated, then there can be a class-action lawsuit. I know the definition of class action.

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OK, so what about the lawsuit part, what exactly are the going to file the lawsuit over?

I am certain the OP would have much preferred for her and her friends to be detained for a few hours while a search warrant was obtained.
Just to then open their cooler, and subsequently be charged with Underage consumption/possession of alcohol and face up to 6 months in jail and a minimum fine of $500 as opposed to an open container ticket.

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Quoting nicolex

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We were on the beach approximately 10 minutes when the cop approached us which I think he only approached us because we are young girls.

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A group of underage kids with a cooler and Solo cups? Nothing suspicious there.

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Quoting nicolex

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The cop made us open our cooler which he saw a beer sticking out.

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By "made", I expect that you mean he asked and you complied. Right?

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Quoting nicolex

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When we went online to pay it was discovered the ticket was not registered so we called the court and they said the cop has messed up multiple tickets in the last week and that we are not the only ones.

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One possibility is that the tickets will be reissued in proper form. Another possibility is that the tickets will be dismissed. You'll have to wait and see. Once you have the corrected ticket, should that be the outcome, you'll be able to determine the fine.

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Quoting John_28

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First of all, the cop violated your constitutional rights when he forced you to open your cooler without a search warrant.

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You're imagining that the officer pulled out his gun and said, "Open it or I'll blow your head off?" Odds are the officer asked firmly and they complied -- and the officer is allowed to do that.

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Quoting John_28

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As for open containers, did the cop force you to spill your alcohol out of the containers? If yes, then the cop forced you to open the containers.

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Noting here that if they had the Solo cups for mixed drinks, there's a good chance that they had bottles in the cooler with the seals already broken. But more than that, when the officer gives you a significantly lesser charge than he could have cited, discretion can be the greater part of valor. "You're right -- you should have been cited for a much more serious offense. We'll dismiss and refile."

You can forget the nonsense about a class action lawsuit.

ROFLMAO In a lot of pain today. "Supervising" installation of French Drain from my scooter, needed before I bought the house. Trying to get them to finish before son goes to college next year in 11th hour. Mr K, you made my entire day. All the pain meds in the world could not have made me feel better than that today. I will hold it with me as I suffer until bed time.

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You're imagining that the officer pulled out his gun and said, "Open it or I'll blow your head off?"

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Quoting Mr. Knowitall

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You're imagining that the officer pulled out his gun and said, "Open it or I'll blow your head off?" Odds are the officer asked firmly and they complied -- and the officer is allowed to do that.

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Really? You're saying that, unless the officer says that he'll blow someone's head off, he is *requesting* a search?

Sure, he can ask firmly. He can say "Please" in a very loud voice. But is that what he did? Or did he yell "Open the cooler now!" That would be an order, not a request.

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You can forget the nonsense about a class action lawsuit.

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I would advise these people to see an attorney before forgetting about a class-action lawsuit. If these girls are named plaintiffs, they can recover THOUSANDS of dollars, in ADDITION to what the officer fined them.

I recently was in contact with some attorneys about filing a class-action lawsuit against a certain business, and they told me that I could make between $5000 and $15000 on top of what the business owed me.

Unfortunately, the business went ahead and paid me the few hundred dollars that I was owed, and so I could no longer be a named plaintiff.

But if these girls have a class-action case, they could make a ton of money.

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Quoting John_28

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But if these girls have a class-action case, they could make a ton of money.

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But they don't have a case. And you probably didn't either.

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Quoting brownj12

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But they don't have a case. And you probably didn't either.

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I didn't have a case? Then why did the business pay me the money?

And how could you know whether I had a case? You don't even know the nature of my complaint against the business.

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Quoting John_28

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I didn't have a case? Then why did the business pay me the money?

And how could you know whether I had a case? You don't even know the nature of my complaint against the business.

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There is a huge difference between being owed money and having a case for a class action suit.

Likely because some business legally owed you a couple hundred bucks.

You need to review what class action means and how it is used.

Even if the officer just walked up and started rummaging around in their belongings the only likely outcome would be some type of disciplinary action from his department and maybe a charge being dismissed as fruit from the poisonous tree, not some ridiculous windfall of money.

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Quoting Mephis

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Likely because some business legally owed you a couple hundred bucks.

You need to review what class action means and how it is used.

Even if the officer just walked up and started rummaging around in their belongings the only likely outcome would be some type of disciplinary action from his department and maybe a charge being dismissed as fruit from the poisonous tree, not some ridiculous windfall of money.

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If the officer rummaged through thousands of people's belongings, found illegal alcohol, and fined them all $50 each, then these people would be in a class, in a class-action suit.

You don't have thousands of people. You have a handful of girls who got caught with alcohol they could not legally possess.

They then got a ticket for a $50 fine as opposed to up to 6 months jail and a minimum $500 fine.