Legal Question in Civil Litigation in New Jersey

Underage Drinking Violation

I was recently given a sitation for underage drinking at a party. From what I understand the owner of the house let the police in the front door, they heard noise downstairs, and proceded to hand out court summons. On my ticket itself it lists my offense as two beers, which is what I told the officer. My only real question centeres around the information at the bottom of the ticket. Under a headline of ''Probable cause determination for issuance of process:'' are two boxes. One is for the court to assert there is proboble cause. The other says its for law enforcement use only, and simply has a check box with this paragraph next to it: ''The complaining witness is a law enforcement officer and a judicial proboble cause determination is not required prior to the issuance of this Complaint-Summons.'' My officer did not check this box. In my mind that means that the ticket might be unlawful, because she did not admit there was probobly cause at the scene. I didnt have a beer in my hand, I wasnt drunk, and she didnt ask me if I had drank until halfway through writing the ticket. Do I have legal ground to stand on to fight the sitation based on this technicality?


Asked on 3/18/09, 12:48 pm

2 Answers from Attorneys

Jef Henninger, Esq Law Offices of Jef Henninger, Esq.

Re: Underage Drinking Violation

I doubt you will be able to advance any legal grounds you may have without an attorney. Thus, I would hire an attorney and let him or her worry about the legal issues of the case. Call me at 732/247/3340 to discuss

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Answered on 3/18/09, 2:13 pm
Gary Moore Gary Moore Attorney At Law

Re: Underage Drinking Violation

The summonses will not dismissed. The failure to check a box under a heading of "probable cause determination" is not central to evaluating the validity of the summons. You need to hire an attorney.

Call me if you like.

Gary Moore, Esquire

Hackensack, New Jersey

www.garymooreattorneyatlaw.com

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Answered on 3/18/09, 1:34 pm


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