Minor in Possession of Alcohol: Dismissed
Local police conducted an undercover sting and investigation at local beaches seeking to identify minors in possession of alcohol. These seasonal law enforcement efforts in Rhode Island and other New England states usually increase with the arrival of spring and summer. One such police department conducted an investigation and came upon a group of high school students celebrating an end to their senior year and graduation.
Police approached the group as they sat on the beach nearby some closed coolers. Without advising anyone of their rights, police addressed the group, announced the nature of their investigation, and asked the students about the presence of alcohol. No one spoke up. This prompted police to ask again, this time in a more forceful and authoritative manner. Again, the group remained silent. As the police grew impatient, a young female senior high school student stood up and directed police to a particular cooler that was on the ground nearby. Police went to the cooler, looked inside and observed containers of alcohol beverages.
The police seized the bottles and asked the young female to follow them to an adjacent parking lot. A female police officer indicated she was charging the minor. The minor protested that she should not be charged with a crime citing her cooperative and voluntary efforts, obvious sobriety, and her overall innocence in that she had no consumed or possessed any alcohol. Notwithstanding, she was charged. She and her family retained Rhode Island Criminal Defense Firm, the Law Office of John L. Calcagni III, Esq. to defend her in this matter.
They wanted the case and charge dismissed expeditiously. Attorney Calcagni’s team delivered. The girl had no criminal record, maintained her innocence and could not afford a criminal charge given her imminent entry into college with a full scholarship. Attorney Calcagni and his firm successfully argued for the dismissal of this case at arraignment. As a result, the college-bound female will not incur any adverse criminal record from this incident and all documentation related to it shall either be destroyed or sealed from public record.