Drug Possession: What Is Police Protocol When Responding to House Party Calls?
Question by Question Guru: What is police protocol when responding to house party calls?
Washington county Maryland.just wondering. i was at a party, and police had no probable cause to enter the house, no one was outside, no blinds were open, so they had no way to know there was alcohol or even underage drinkers in the house. When people were getting charged with citations they didn’t cite everyone at the party and were letting people that were drinking and over the legal limit go. people that were not even drinking got a constructive. Me i was not drinking and was nowhere near the alcohol and blew zeros on the breathalyzer, but still got a constructive because i had the power to possess it. also is when i go to court is there a way to get the fine dismissed thanks
Best answer:
Answer by Philmore
There is insufficient detail in your description to know if policy with violated. Here’s the general rule though:
Police cannot enter a residence without a warrant or probable cause. A noise complaint is not enough to just open the door and go in without even knocking. Best I can figure is someone from inside called the police to report underage alcohol consumption, or someone on the outside knew about the party and reported their assumption that drinking was going on as objective fact. But that is just guess because there might be more going on than you know or stated in your question. It’s entirely possible the police just went in without any probably cause because they knew there was a party, and are hoping all the people they cited are dumb enough to plead guilty to their tickets. I have watched Maryland police completely screw up drug raids because they didn’t have probably cause and the perp was smart enough to get a lawyer, rendering the entire raid a waste due to the Fruit of the Poisonous Tree doctrine (renders all evidence of an improper search worthless).
“Constructive Possession” (i.e. having immediate access to it equals possessing it) at these types of events, when you have objective proof you did not consume it, typically fails to pan out in court. It is generally standard procedure to charge everyone at the party with underage possession. The fact that they let some people go is peculiar on it’s face, but again there might be something going on you don’t know about (i.e. they were over 21, or were informants).
Underage possession is a civil offense, meaning it doesn’t go on your criminal record for purposes of getting a job or applying to a college. However, it does show up on your record for the police and the court system (not publically accessible). It is possible, with an attorney, to get the charge dropped based on you not having actually consumed or had physical possession of alcohol. Granted, lawyer’s cost money, but sometimes that money is better spent on the lawyer than on the fine. It’s the principle of the thing.
What do you think? Answer below!
Find More Drug Possession Information…