Tom McCutcheon – Attorney at Law
Q: My son was with a couple other kids who had been drinking. They are all 18 years old. They got pulled over and the other two kids were allowed to call their parents to come pick them up. My son told the police officer that as a minor he wanted to call his parents to come pick him up. He said the officer told him to shut up and sit down. My son ended up being arrested and charged with minor in possession, public intoxication and disorderly conduct. Why were the others allowed to call their parents and my son taken to jail?
Frustrated Mom
A: I am going to take a guess and say because your son didn’t sit down and shut up. In any encounter with the police invariably your best course of action is to be polite. When an attorney has to go clean up the mess later, it is always better if the officer in question either doesn’t remember the incident specifically or recalls the person they arrested as being polite.
Let’s face facts, there are good police officers and there are bad police officers. Generally, most police officers take their job seriously and that means there are a lot more good ones than bad ones. We as civilians rely on their training and experience to help us when we need help but even the good ones can have a bad day. The difference is, if they have a bad day they can make you have a bad day. Obviously, one of the problems with alcohol is that is impairs the judgment. It often takes good judgment and restraint to deal with public officials. It is really important to use restraint and good judgment when dealing with an armed public official who can take you to jail and charge you with a crime.
Years ago I handled city court cases in city courts all over North Alabama. I was a city court judge for several years. Some of these courts operate in the morning, some in the afternoon and some at night. Every city court has a hallway, room or space for the lawyers and the city prosecutor to talk and strike a deal if possible. It is rare for a prosecutor to strike a deal that the arresting officer does not approve. The police officer is not always right and certainly people are found not guilty every day in city courts but a trial is usually an all or nothing at all proposition. Often people truly are innocent. In those cases, a dismissal or trial should be obtained. More often the best result comes as a result of a negotiated agreement.
Remember that city court cases are usually best resolved in city court. Defendant’s have an automatic right to appeal and ask for a jury trial. Jury trials require a lot of time and attention to prepare and I cannot imagine less than several days of preparation and trial. At any decent hourly rate a jury trial is expensive. Sometimes that may be the only and the best option but most of the time it is not.
In your particular case, you are dealing with someone under 21 and they are probably eligible for youthful offender treatment which would in effect seal the record. That may be the most important deal you could make. Remember to ask for Y.O. treatment or youthful offender treatment even you if think you child is innocent.
Buckle up and drive safely.
