I recently was one of the 8000 kids at JMU holding a beer can, and was lucky enough to be one of the handful charged with possession of alcohol. I now have a courtdate in Virginia and I'm from Connecticut and will not be able to be there obviously. Also I have a previous infraction in Connecticut for possession of alcohol, where it was just a ticket. I was wondering...

a. If there is any chance on this not making it to my record or getting removed thereafter
b. If I should hire a lawyer and if so how good of one
c. Why did I cooperate and be very polite and forthcoming if I'll never hear from the police officer again and all he wrote down was a summons.