Legal Question in DUI Law in Virginia

Re: underage alcohol possession

Well, the consequences will apply IF you are found guilty. You say that you blew a .07 but you were riding -- not driving. I assume from your question you were NOT charged with DWI because you were not driving? I hope that is correct.

Bear in mind that even though your immediate punishment for a first offense may be relatively mild, it will stil go on our record as a CRIME. You will have to report it on job applications. If you ever get in ANY trouble in the future, it will likely prompt a judge in the future to throw the book at you. Police officers sitting on duty may run your plates and see a conviction, and then find some reason to pull you over and look for trouble. (They may assume, reasonably, that you got a more serious charge knocked down and you may be an actual DWI repeat offender, so they may feel they should check you out.)

So you should definitely see if you can afford a good criminal defense attorney and beat the charges.

The main line of attack would be on whether the machine reading .07 was accurate or not.

I hope you did not tell the police officer that you had been drinking, because that might make it difficult to defend the charges.

I assume that you were drinking KNOWING that you were not going to drive. However, at 18, also make sure you get your life straight and don't go down that road. You have a lot of years ahead of you in which to get CAUGHT and have some very serious problems.

Re: underage alcohol possession

Underage possession of alcohol will typically result in $500 fine or 50 hours of community service along with substance abuse counseling.