Legal Question in DUI Law in Pennsylvania
Underage Drinking
I am a student at a state campus university in Pennsylvania. On Halloween night a couple friends and myself went out. We returned back to my friend's dorm room. Within a few minutes the Resident Assistant knocked on the door and asked us to quiet down. She noticed the one kid who lived in the room sleeping and asked to wake him up. He was in a deep sleep and she thought he was unresponsive, so she called the Resident Director. The RD came up and called the police. The police came, woke the kid up, gave him a breathalizer, then also decided to just randomly breathalize everybody in the room. The one kid was 21, they allowed him to leave, another kid blew a .009 and they allowed him to leave as well, another was not a student, blew a .145 and they allowed him to leave and he drove home. They said we would receive citations in the mail. The RA was called for noise, but nobody was documented for a noise problem. The police allowed drunken students to leave? and randomly breathalized everybody, when they were only called in the case of one kid. The kid was clearly breathing and stable, I was told that pulse is to be taken before police are called? Is any of this true? Is there any way around this since it was poorly handled?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Underage Drinking
Probably not but there is a pre-trial diversionary program for this in Pennsylvania. It's hard to defend these cases even if there is no breathalyzer because the cops' testimony that there was an odor of alcohol on your breath is enough to convince most Magistrates of your guilt. The good news is that the diversionary program does not leave you with a record of any kind at all.
You should always get an attorney involved in any criminal matter, however, and remember that much is dependent on local practice.