20 Year Old Given Citation for MIP

My question involves criminal law for the state of: Oregon. My 20 year old son was walking to a supermarket one block from his residence and was stopped by an officer and asked if he had been drinking. He had not been drinking and when the officer demanded he take a breath test he refused because he had just used scope and was afraid it would test positive for alcohol so he refused the test and today he went to court and plead not guilty and was told he could not have a court appointed attorney and would have to provide his own attorney. He doesn't make enough to pay an attorney and is innocent. How can this be legal? This goes against our constitution doesn't it?:mad:

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Quoting cyndi5

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My question involves criminal law for the state of: Oregon. My 20 year old son was walking to a supermarket one block from his residence and was stopped by an officer and asked if he had been drinking. He had not been drinking and when the officer demanded he take a breath test he refused because he had just used scope and was afraid it would test positive for alcohol so he refused the test and today he went to court and plead not guilty and was told he could not have a court appointed attorney and would have to provide his own attorney. He doesn't make enough to pay an attorney and is innocent. How can this be legal? This goes against our constitution doesn't it?:mad:

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After he was asked to perform a breath test then he was basically SEIZED under the federal constitution. The facts as related, unknown to me, indicate the officer had a reasonable suspicion to believe he was under the influence and conducted a field investigation.


If the charge is a NON jailable offense, punishable by a money fine only, the federal constitution does not require the appointment of counsel at taxpayer expense. I have also never heard of any state's constitution's mandating appointment of counsel for an indigent for a crime that is not jailable? I am not saying there is not though? You need to cite the offense listed and someone can check OR look it up yourself and see.


Does he have money? If he is NOT indigent and has submitted a declaration to that effect, a financial statement, the court may have denied an appointed attorney. Did he fill out such a form OR did the court simply tell him he can not be appointed counsel??

The closest clause I could find in the Oregon constitution on appointment of counsel is this:


Section 43. Rights of victim and public to protection from accused person during criminal proceedings; denial of pretrial release:.........


(2) This section applies to proceedings pending or commenced on or after the effective date of this section. Nothing in this section abridges any right of the criminal defendant guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States, including the rights to be represented by counsel, have counsel appointed if indigent....


A reading of case law on this article/section at a library where they have the Oregon laws/constitution volumes, may offer some insight and may also address such appointment for a crime NOT jailable, if it is indeed such!!

There is safety in numbers. If he would have had a friend who witnessed the scope use AND he would have told the officer so then the officer would have had to wait to perform a breath test. For that matter if the "minor" told the officer that he just brushed his teeth and used mouthwash then the officer would have had to wait.

Granted, it's easy for an officer to lie and omit that he was ever told that information. Most officers are looking for information that supports their arrest, not information that hampers it.

I studied criminal justice but am not associated with LE anymore.

A good attorney needed to defend this will be about $500-$100; the other problem is a refusal to blow can usually net someone a suspended driver's license in many states. ...and that is the item he needs to protect. Suspension on alcohol charges significantly raises the cost of insurance; trust me on that one!