Underage Possession of Alcohol in Fairfax County, Virginia

[derm76]

My question involves criminal law for the state of: Virginia
I was on my way home from a party around 1030 pm with 2 seventeen year old girls and 1 eighteen year old guy. One of the two girls was driving and had been drinking. She had her lights off and we were pulled over immediatly. The cop smelled alcohol, and the 18 and 17 year olds were seperated. My guy friend and I blew the test and i blew a .13 and he blew a .07. We were charged for underage possession of alcohol and luckily not contributing to juveniles. the driver was not told what she blew but was told it was under .05. The girls were charged for the same but it was put on hold. We gave the cops no problems. What am i facing? Do I need a lawyer? Should my 18 year old buddy and I deserve a hold on our charge too? Did the cop have the right to take us out of the back seat?

[Mr. Knowitall]

Penalties for MIP alcohol in Virginia are described in VA Statute 4.1-305.

Why wouldn't the officer be able to ask you to step out of the car? You're all minors, and you had been drinking.

[Shellmoney]

In order to pull a car over, police must have reasonable suspicion that a law has been broken. Once they pull you over, if they believe you have been drinking, an officer will administer a field sobriety test. The field sobriety test is used to give an officer "probable cause" to arrest you. However, if either the car stop or the field sobriety field test is conducted incorrectly, the charges against you may be dropped. Additionally, if a breathalyzer was used to test your BAC, questions may arise regarding its calibration and the general maintenance of the device.

If you are convicted in Virginia for your admitted offense of underage possession of alcohol, you should expect sentencing along the following lines:

By the book: Maximum 1 year loss of driver's license, up to 12 months in jail, up to $2500 in fines.

Generally, a guilty verdict will entail loss of driver's license for 6 months - 1 year, no jail time, $500 fine.

If this is first offense, you might be offered ASAP classes, probation for a year and loss of license, no fines. Record will be dropped upon successful completion of probation.