Breathalyzer for a Minor in Michigan

My question involves police conduct in the State of: Michigan

Earlier this morning, the county police showed up to a party of my cousin's after his grandma showed up and called them. There had been a lot of alcohol there, but all but 5 kids scattered and left whenever his grandma showed up.
It took about an hour for the police to finally show up, and they asked the 5 kids what had happened and such. Then, they took each one of us and did some sort of test with a flash light and said every single one of us had been drinking. The thing is, out of all 5 of us, only 3 had been drinking, and one each at that. Then my brother showed up (as my guardian) and they looked at him and told him he had been drinking too, though he wasn't because it because he was sleeping (keep in mind this is at 3am-4am).
After the police got done with paperwork and such, they came out and gave us 5 a minor in possession of alcohol. Like I said before, I HADN'T been drinking, and asked if I could have a breathalyzer test to prove it. They said they couldn't give one to a minor, and my brother asked "even with parental consent?", and they said no. :confused:
This doesn't seem right. The kids that were drinking got off clean because they scattered and ran. The kids that stayed to talk to the police because they weren't scared to take a breathalyzer all got MIP's..

And let me answer a few questions you may have to ask.

- The reason I went to the party in the first place was because 1) I didn't want to see one of my friends take off in their car drunk and 2) because I didn't want to see my cousin's house get trashed.
- The reason I didn't call an adult is because I didn't want to rat my friends out, but we DID call my friends older brother who is in his 20's and tried to get him to break the party up because he was a huge football star at our school and everyone respects him.

SO, in conclusion, should the police officer have given me a breathalyzer with parental consent? I WASN'T drinking and really don't need this on my record.

Earlier this morning, the county police showed up to a party of my cousin's after his grandma showed up and called them. There had been a lot of alcohol there, but all but 5 kids scattered and left whenever his grandma showed up.
It took about an hour for the police to finally show up, and they asked the 5 kids what had happened and such. Then, they took each one of us and did some sort of test with a flash light and said every single one of us had been drinking. The thing is, out of all 5 of us, only 3 had been drinking, and very few at that. Then my brother showed up (as my guardian) and they looked at him and told him he had been drinking too, though he wasn't because I called him several times to wake him up. (keep in mind this is at 3am-4am).
After the police got done with paperwork and such, they came out and gave us 5 a minor in possession of alcohol. Like I said before, I HADN'T been drinking, and asked if I could have a breathalyzer test to prove it. They said they couldn't give one to a minor, and my brother asked "even with parental consent?", and they said no.
This doesn't seem right. The kids that were drinking got off clean because they scattered and ran. The kids that stayed to talk to the police because they weren't scared to take a breathalyzer all got MIP's..

SO, in conclusion, should the police officer have given me a breathalyzer with parental consent? I WASN'T drinking and really don't need this on my record.

Was there beer or alcohol in the house when the police arrived?

Then you were a Minor In Possession.

You possessed the alcohol. You do not have to drink it to be charged with possessing it.

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Then my brother showed up (as my guardian)

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do you have parents? Is your brother your legal guardian (as in appointed by the courts)? If not, then he is your brother, not your guardian that would have any official rights or duties.

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This doesn't seem right. The kids that were drinking got off clean because they scattered and ran. The kids that stayed to talk to the police because they weren't scared to take a breathalyzer all got MIP's..

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well, something surely doesn't seem right.

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all but 5 kids scattered and left whenever his grandma showed up

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they asked the 5 kids what had happened and such. Then, they took each one of us and did some sort of test with a flash light and said every single one of us had been drinking. The thing is, out of all 5 of us, only 3 had been drinking, and very few at that.

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did you lie to the police as well?

They could have given you a PBT had they wanted to do so.

To answer some of your questions:

Firstly, I didn't lie to the police. I really wasn't drinking, but I couldn't prove it because they wouldn't give me a breathalyzer. The 3 kids that were drinking admitted it to the police.

Secondly, the police did talk to my mother as well, and she was the one who told my brother to ask about a breathalyzer with parental consent.

And I am now aware that because I was at a party with alcohol, I got a MIP. But, I am trying to figure this out for court because I was reading up on laws and such and I could get away with just probation if I can convince the judge I wasn't drinking and I have a clean record.

Thanks.

The thing is, they refused to give me one. Even with parental consent, they wouldn't. Could I try to use this in court?

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Quoting BCreed025

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The thing is, they refused to give me one. Even with parental consent, they wouldn't. Could I try to use this in court?

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You were not arrested for consuming alcohol. Just possessing it.

Why would a breath test mean anything at all? You could have not had a sip of anything more potent than lemonade and still be rightfully charged.

Isn't this a site for legal advice? As in 'how do I get out of this?'... instead of 'the cop is always right'?

I have been lurking around here for a bit, and posted my own story a while back to no avail. How about some constructive legal advice? Aren't some of you guys lawyers?

Basically you are screwed out of ~$500 in lawyer fees because of some cop accusing you of a crime. There honestly needs to be a community of people out there to teach people how to DEFEND themselves in court without having to pay huge lawyer fees.

If you get lucky you might find someone willing to fight the charge for you. There are laws on the books making this type of 'guilty by association' logic flaky at best but the judges in low level courts don't care about making statements, just raking in their court fees. (coming from legal advice that I recieved).

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Quoting ytrew

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Isn't this a site for legal advice? As in 'how do I get out of this?'... instead of 'the cop is always right'?

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No.

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Sec. 703. (1) A minor shall not purchase or attempt to purchase alcoholic liquor, consume or attempt to consume alcoholic liquor, possess or attempt to possess alcoholic liquor, or have any bodily alcohol content, except as provided in this section. A minor who violates this subsection is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by the following fines and sanctions and is not subject to the penalties prescribed in section 909: [FN1]

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the OP was charged with minor in possession although it falls under the same law for consumption.

On top of everything else, I pointed out a huge discrepancy between 2 of the OP's post which the OP never clarified, merely said he does't lie..OP said the kids that were drinking ran away (supported by the fact that everybody that remained was willing to take a breathalyzer test because they had not been drinking. Then he goes on to say that of the 5 that remained, only 3 had been drinking.

why would anybody want to help those that are not truthful?

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Quoting ytrew

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Isn't this a site for legal advice? As in 'how do I get out of this?'... instead of 'the cop is always right'?

I have been lurking around here for a bit, and posted my own story a while back to no avail. How about some constructive legal advice? Aren't some of you guys lawyers?

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I answered your question. I don't know how I can be more constructive than that.

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Basically you are screwed out of ~$500 in lawyer fees because of some cop accusing you of a crime. There honestly needs to be a community of people out there to teach people how to DEFEND themselves in court without having to pay huge lawyer fees.

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We call them "lawyers".

If you want to learn to defend yourself, apply to law school. One of the first lessons you will learn is that a lawyer that defends himself has a fool for a client.

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If you get lucky you might find someone willing to fight the charge for you. There are laws on the books making this type of 'guilty by association' logic flaky at best but the judges in low level courts don't care about making statements, just raking in their court fees. (coming from legal advice that I recieved).

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From what you said, you were guilty. A judge's job is not to fight your case for you.