Question for the Legal Mags

[GBB]

Long story short, I was the lucky recipient of an MIP tonight.

I was the only passenger in the car receiving a sober ride home from a friend.
Cop pulls friend over, I get breathalyzed, get sat in the back of the cruiser, and receive an MIP.

This is my first offense of any sort. What implications will it have on my record in the future, specifically applying to law school.

Is it wiser to plead guilty or not guilty?

Thanks,
C

[Kevo]

First of all, I'm not a legal mag of any sort. I just couldn't sleep so I'm on TGR.

Secondly, you are under 21? i guess I thought you were older for some reason...not that I know you.

Thirdly, you've been accused of being a minor in possession, and if you are over 18 you'll be tried as an adult. That's fucked up. When you get out of law school, can you change that for us?

Bullshit that a you got this given the circumstances. I have no real legal advice. The breathalyzer will be hard to fight in court. I did think that MIP meant that you had alcohol in your possession, not in your blood stream.

Chances are you'll just be given a fine and community service. Maybe some bullshit alcohol class to attend for a while.

[Kevo]

Oh, and maybe tell the judge that you are sorry, made a mistake. You were trying to be being responsible with the DD and all. Maybe you'll get probation?

[sixstringski]

Disclaimer: I am not a legal mag, just a photo mag who has had run-ins with the law.

In my state, an MIP can cover alcohol within your body.

If you can plead not guilty and beat the charges, then good for you. But I doubt it given the breathalyzer. That being so, DO NOT plead guilty. Instead, plead no contest. The legal reasons for doing so are complex and you'll need an actual lawyer mag to explain them, because I'm drunk too.

[sftc]

Another non-legal mag that can't sleep adding my 2 worthless cents:

Depends on the state, but it's probably a misdemeanor charge, so not a major deal like a felony.

Look around on the interwebs and see what the deal is in your state for the charge, and see if it's worth contacting a lawyer, or not. Also, you can talk to the public defender office for advice, that's what they are there for.

Worse comes to worse, personally contact the district attorney's office before your court date and see if they can offer you a plea. The best deal is that they will totally dismiss the charges if you jump through some hoops and keep your ass clean for a year or two. They like first time offenders that are proactive and don't waste their time dealing with relatively small stuff like this in court.

If you do go to court, show up, and make sure the arresting officers have to show up as well. This plan doesn't work as much anymore, but in the past cops often wouldn't show and the case will be dismissed.

Again, depending on the state, you may be able to get the records of the whole deal sealed, but that's not likely if you are not a minor.

If you plan to go to law school then you'll have to keep your ass clean from here forward, or at least until you get accepted. 1 fuck up can be explained and/or overlooked, more than 1, not so much.

I know of a few people who have faced this type of charge, and much worse, who went on to law and med school so it's not the end of the world.

And keep your ass clean from here forward. Or at least until you pass the bar.

So what's the worse that could have happened to you if you refused the breathalyzer? I'd guess a suspended license, but you'll probably end up with that anyways.

[Dean Youngblood]

Lawyer here, not going to comment on the specifics of the MIP charge (don't do criminal law, but yo ucan probably plead to less), just the law school aspect. A single MIP won't affect your law school plans at all. You'd really have to do a lot more to have a law school take notice. I had a providing alcohol to minors charge, my brother had a couple MIPs, and none of that was a problem.

Just make sure to disclose all your legal run-ins before you apply. They don't like to find out that you lied later. Some state bars also like to know that you disclosed everything before applying for law school.

[deeppo]

Just a heads up. If you plead guilty to the mip and it is a misdemeanor(I cant imagine it would be felony) you will have troubles getting into Canada. Since its a first offense I would assume that they will drop it with some community service ect.
deeppo

[GBB]

Thanks for all the replies so far everyone.

Secondly, you are under 21? i guess I thought you were older for some reason...not that I know you.

Bullshit that a you got this given the circumstances. I have no real legal advice. The breathalyzer will be hard to fight in court. I did think that MIP meant that you had alcohol in your possession, not in your blood stream.

I am under 21. I'll turn 21 in January.
I can't even begin to explain how pissed off I was last night and still am. It's not like I was out there raging. I was getting a fucking sober ride home.

In Nebraska (where I'm currently going to school) alcohol in your bloodstream is considered possession.

Depends on the state, but it's probably a misdemeanor charge, so not a major deal like a felony.

Look around on the interwebs and see what the deal is in your state for the charge, and see if it's worth contacting a lawyer, or not. Also, you can talk to the public defender office for advice, that's what they are there for.

Worse comes to worse, personally contact the district attorney's office before your court date and see if they can offer you a plea. The best deal is that they will totally dismiss the charges if you jump through some hoops and keep your ass clean for a year or two. They like first time offenders that are proactive and don't waste their time dealing with relatively small stuff like this in court.

So what's the worse that could have happened to you if you refused the breathalyzer? I'd guess a suspended license, but you'll probably end up with that anyways.

It's a class III misdemeanor.

I'm making an appointment with Student Legal Services tomorrow to see if they can help me out in anyway.

Calling the public defender's office is a good idea, as is trying to contact the DA. I would really prefer to endure a little more now and have this thing resolved, than having it on my record (which I'm not entirely sure if I'll be able to get it expunged).

If I would have refused the breathalyzer he would have automatically given me an MIP, and probably would have been a much bigger prick than he already was.

Just make sure to disclose all your legal run-ins before you apply. They don't like to find out that you lied later. Some state bars also like to know that you disclosed everything before applying for law school.

Good advice.

Just a heads up. If you plead guilty to the mip and it is a misdemeanor(I cant imagine it would be felony) you will have troubles getting into Canada. Since its a first offense I would assume that they will drop it with some community service ect.
deeppo

So even though it's a class III misdemeanor, I'll still have difficulty getting into Canada?

[Tippster]

You're fucked, since in the eyes of the law you should have ZERO alcohol in your body. You were not being a responsible citizen letting someone else drive your under-age drunk ass home, you should have stayed sober, and maybe gone to church.

Now please sign up for military service and die for your country - the one that won't let you drink beer.

[gatorboy]

Another no-legal mag.

$.02

1. Do not plead guilty or no contest initially.

2. Get a lawyer.

3. Have lawyer see if there is a class (can't think of the name at this time) that you can take to have your record cleared. This way you won't have to explain situation later on job/school applications.

[deeppo]

Another no-legal mag.

$.02

1. Do not plead guilty or no contest initially.

2. Get a lawyer.

3. Have lawyer see if there is a class (can't think of the name at this time) that you can take to have your record cleared. This way you won't have to explain situation later on job/school applications.

Listen to gatorboy. Its worth spending some $$ to get it cleared. Yes even a minor misdemeanor can cause issue getting into canada. I pled no contest in 2002 to poss charge because it was the easy way out but regret that decision.
deeppo

[EZB]

If I would have refused the breathalyzer he would have automatically given me an MIP, and probably would have been a much bigger prick than he already was.

Translation: "He wanted me to help him prosecute. The alternative might have helped somebody defend me. BTW I wanna be a lawyer."

I'm confused, but good luck.

[Steven S. Dallas]

Unless there's a Nebraska lawyer here, any purported legal advice you receive will be pretty worthless.

Anecdotally, I was MIP'd and plead no contest with the understanding that the charge would be dismissed if I avoided getting arrested for a year. I did and they were. I have had no problems getting into Canada since they started cracking down on that stuff a couple years ago.

As for law schools, don't worry. They only want to know about stuff that could keep you from being admitted to practice, and there's no way this rises to that level. I wouldn't worry about disclosing it (as in, you're fine either way).

[GBB]

Unless there's a Nebraska lawyer here, any purported legal advice you receive will be pretty worthless.

Anecdotally, I was MIP'd and plead no contest with the understanding that the charge would be dismissed if I avoided getting arrested for a year. I did and they were. I have had no problems getting into Canada since they started cracking down on that stuff a couple years ago.

As for law schools, don't worry. They only want to know about stuff that could keep you from being admitted to practice, and there's no way this rises to that level. I wouldn't worry about disclosing it (as in, you're fine either way).

Were you MIP'd under the age of 18?

[toast2266]

As for law schools, don't worry. They only want to know about stuff that could keep you from being admitted to practice, and there's no way this rises to that level. I wouldn't worry about disclosing it (as in, you're fine either way).

I'd agree with all of this except for the disclosure part - you should disclose it; they won't care nearly as much about the MIP as they will about you trying to hide stuff on your record.

aside from that, I don't really have anything to add in terms of how you should plead.

[Kevo]

Also, an MIP isn't an arrest, right? Just a ticket?

I though the Canadian Border Patrol asks whether you have ever been arrested. I'm sure you could tell the Customs/BP that you got a minor in possession of alcohol when you were 20. It isn't even a crime in Canada.

[Blatant]

I wish they could just see it for what it is. Everyone drinks and they know it. This dude gets a DD b/c he's being sensible and stills gets brought up. Fck, they should just say, "dude, you're drinking, and you're under age, and you know this"...now lets think of a way to punish you that won't possibly affect your future and becoming a productive "responsible" contributor to society. As in, well give you such a bullshit penance that you'll definitely not get caught next time... Is what all of this amounts too.

Sucks dude, sucks. Hopefully school legal asst can point you in the correct direction. An assistant DA I know and became good friends w/ once hooked me up back in the day, when i was around 22. I got caught doing some dumb shit and further ruffed up the security guard that snuck up behind me and threw his hands on me... he scared the shit out of me and i thought i was getting jacked, as it were. My DA friend apparently made a few calls, knew a few dudes, reiterated it was dumbass shit and got everything adjusted to an anger mgmt class....My point being, i really think everything is adjustable or able to have concessions made. I'd keep calling and being a sorryass-remorseful squeaky wheel. What he got washed for me to an anger class wasn't terrible nonsense but much worse than yours, the fact i twisted some dudes head was a pretty bad charge, despite the fact he grabbed me first. We all look back and it's truly funny chapter, but at the time I felt my life was ending and i was fcked for ever, doomed to be a stat in some horrible cell.

Maybe dabble w/ the idea of crying at the trial. Either way, I would think you'd want a public defender and a judge on this, couldn't hurt.

[WyoWill]

Lawyer here, not going to comment on the specifics of the MIP charge (don't do criminal law, but yo ucan probably plead to less), just the law school aspect. A single MIP won't affect your law school plans at all. You'd really have to do a lot more to have a law school take notice. I had a providing alcohol to minors charge, my brother had a couple MIPs, and none of that was a problem.

Just make sure to disclose all your legal run-ins before you apply. They don't like to find out that you lied later. Some state bars also like to know that you disclosed everything before applying for law school.

What he said. An MIP will not prevent you from attending law school or being admitted to the bar unless you hide it from the administrators. They (school/bar association) are interested in serious crimes and crimes of dishonesty. An MIP only becomes important if you hide it.

[Danno]

An MIP only becomes important if you hide it.

quoted for truth

[huckbucket]

Alright, not to hijack the thread, but say for example you had a "friend" that is in law school (just finished first year) and got into trouble with coke and heroin to the point where he gets busted trying to steal a gun. Granted he has bigger problems than worrying about getting a law degree and practicing, but assuming he's convicted of a felony, is he out for good (school and bar)?

[ska21]

See if they have a pre-plea diversion program or something. Maybe attend some aa classes and get a signature from the person running it before your first court appearance to show them it was a mistake, ask them to dismiss the case for your good faith efforts. Tell them you take this seriously and your an upstanding citizen responsible citizen and please dismiss this. If not, do the diversion program and should be dismissed later.

[deliberate]

listen,

you are going to show up on your court date. There will be ~30 or so people there at the same time. You stand in a line in the courthouse hallway, someone is going to give you a talking to, tell you to sign if you plead no contest. This person will then walk down the line with forms. You will sign and plead no contest. Then you have to take an alcohol class and stay out of trouble for a couple of years.


If you don't sign no contest, or want to fight it, then you need legal services.

[leroy jenkins]

I realize this won't help you now, but since you weren't the driver, couldn't you just refuse the test? What right did they even have to search you at all?

Or am I missing something?

[iceman]

I realize this won't help you now, but since you weren't the driver, couldn't you just refuse the test? What right did they even have to search you at all?

Or am I missing something?

Yeah he probably should have refused to take the test, but it's too late now. Follow Deliberate's advice. That cop sucks, a sober person driving a drunk kid home is good, not bad. What a fuckwad.

edit: unless the sober person is a murderer and is planning to hold the kid in a dungeon and then kill and eat him. In that case, I support the cop.

[GBB]

The cop gave the driver a field sobriety test after saying the car smelled of alcohol (no shit, that's what happens when you DD people that have been drinking). Driver passed the field sobriety test as he hadn't had anything to drink. According to the cop, had I refused the breathalyzer I would have been issued an MIP. How he could have done that, I'm not sure.

In the future I will fully disclose this, because as others have mentioned it's better to be upfront than have them find out I lied about something relatively trivial.

I'm heading in to student legal services tomorrow, so I'll update with whatever advice they give me.