Ok, so I live in Middle Tennesee. Murfreesboro to be exact. I'm 18 and it's my freshmen year in college. I've never once been in trouble. Went to a party with a couple buddies of mine. I was the one driving so I wasn't even drinking. On top of that I was sick; I had a horrible cough and all i wanted was something to drink.
Well, all three of us were walking back out to my truck to get my friend's cigarettes out n i saw this girl i knew that had a drink in her hand. i honestly didnt know it was beer because it was in a red cup and we were on campus (our's is a dry campus). she said i could have the rest of it. turns out it was beer. i went to take a drink of it and didnt even swallow it because it cought me off guard. i spit it out and threw the cup out in the parking lot.
A cop saw it and came over and asked me if i had been drinking. i told him no. He said that if i had, i better admit it because he "smelled the alcohol on my breath" and if any alcohol showed up on his breathalyzer i would go to jail. I've never been in trouble so i was freakin out. I said i had just had a couple swallows because i thought that if i said that he would let me go. He gave me a sobriety test and i passed it.
It happened so fast i didn't know what to say. I had to sign the ticket thing and now i have to go to court for something that is complete bull. I have two witnesses that back up my story that were with me the whole time and they were completely sober. i was just wondering what would happened if i tried to fight the case and lost. would my punishment be worse than if i just plead guilty? and if i do decide to fight it what should i do? i dont have much money. should i plead not guilty on my first court date and get a court appointed lawyer? and will my friends that were with me even be able to help in court? One of them is in the millitary so i thought it would look good with him showing up to court in his uniform. lol. the cop kinda tricked me in to signing it and i really dont think that was fair.