Legal advice for a friend

[SLCentral]

Hey guys,

My friend (and yes, it's actually my friend, not me), just got charged with a DUI. Once he was pulled over, they searched his car, and found ~2 gram's of marijuana and a bong (drug paraphernalia). He just turned 18 in November, and is heading to a top-25 University in two weeks. Everything just happened last night, so legalities haven't really caught up. I know he got charged with underage drinking and DUI, and has a court date in early September (which is when I assume they will charge him for the drug possession). They already let him know that he will lose his license for 2 years, no questions asked.

How at risk is his college future? Would a top-25 university realistically consider expelling him before school starts for something like this?

Please, no need for lecturing on his stupid decisions. He realizes what he did, and I'm not condoning anything.

Thanks!

 

[vi edit]

He needs a lawyer local to where he got the tickets. It's as simple as that. A local DUI lawyer that plays golf with the judge on the weekend is the best thing he can get right. The lawyer will take a couple grand, but he probably won't have to step foot in a court and his sentence & fines will likely be halved.

As for college, hard to say. He's already been accepted, it's not like they are actively pulling criminal records now that he's in.

 

[Zorro]

Wow Go get a good lawyer 18 DUI/Drugs/Bong +$20 grand attorney.....

 

[Codewiz]

Well on the college front, I sure hope he isn't counting on financial aid. Typically that involves filling out fafsa paperwork. One of the things that will disqualify a student from financial aid is drug arrests.

 

[purbeast0]

i just wanted to say that your friend is an idiot.

also what is the reason he got pulled over?

i'm not sure about the rammifications of his criminal record w/his school stuff. i was charged w/a felony and paid a lawyer $1000 for his services, but i never even saw a court room and only ended up w/16 hours of community service and the charge was put on stet.

 

[sjwaste]

Yup, local lawyer who tries cases like these is absolutely necessary. He needs to get these charges reduced or dropped.

 

[Vette73]

As already said by Codewiz, better hope he does not want/need any Fin Aid.


Also my old college now does background checks every year after a girl got killed and the guy has a record yet the school system never checked. So have him check with the school. As after it hits the records if they look they can/might kick him out even if he is already there. Heck look what Duke did to its players before there was even a trial. Mind you those charges were for rape. But your idiot of a friend was drinking, driving, under 21, drugs, etc....

 

[TallBill]

Tell him to have fun working at McDonalds for the rest of his life.

 

[Juddog]

My advice to him is: don't drop the soap.

 

[BoomerD]

Originally posted by: Juddog
My advice to him is: don't drop the soap.

QFT. Now is the time to invest in a case of soap-on-a-rope.

 

[RKS]

neither charges seem to be felonies so they 'probably' won't affect federal loans. He does need to get a local attorney to get everything reduced so there is no jail and just a probationary period/fines. I think he may be looking at around $5K or more for his lawyer but it may be well worth it.

 

[Glitchny]

get a decent lawyer and it wont affect him. and the weed thing will not affect his college or his loans because they only ask for FELONY convictions. I know this because I received financial aid for 4 years at college after a similar yet more severe ticket. MJ possession really isnt a big deal in many states now so it depends on where you are. Biggest issue is the DUI.

 

[SLCentral]

Originally posted by: purbeast0
i just wanted to say that your friend is an idiot.

also what is the reason he got pulled over?

i'm not sure about the rammifications of his criminal record w/his school stuff. i was charged w/a felony and paid a lawyer $1000 for his services, but i never even saw a court room and only ended up w/16 hours of community service and the charge was put on stet.

Luckily he is from a wealthy family and won't need any financial aid, and paying whatever it takes for a lawyer likely isn't an issue. He got pulled over for the dumbest of all reasons...his back license plate light was out.

 

[Glitchny]

Originally posted by: SLCentral

Originally posted by: purbeast0
i just wanted to say that your friend is an idiot.

also what is the reason he got pulled over?

i'm not sure about the rammifications of his criminal record w/his school stuff. i was charged w/a felony and paid a lawyer $1000 for his services, but i never even saw a court room and only ended up w/16 hours of community service and the charge was put on stet.

Luckily he is from a wealthy family and won't need any financial aid, and paying whatever it takes for a lawyer likely isn't an issue. He got pulled over for the dumbest of all reasons...his back license plate light was out.

the light was out? my license plate doesnt even have a light.. how can he get pulled over for that?

 

[Vette73]

Originally posted by: SLCentral

Originally posted by: purbeast0
i just wanted to say that your friend is an idiot.

also what is the reason he got pulled over?

i'm not sure about the rammifications of his criminal record w/his school stuff. i was charged w/a felony and paid a lawyer $1000 for his services, but i never even saw a court room and only ended up w/16 hours of community service and the charge was put on stet.

Luckily he is from a wealthy family and won't need any financial aid, and paying whatever it takes for a lawyer likely isn't an issue. He got pulled over for the dumbest of all reasons...his back license plate light was out.

A LOT of people get caught for major crimes for speeding, burned out bulbs, not coming to a full stop, etc... so it was not dumb for the cop, only your dumb friend.

 

[Vette73]

Originally posted by: Glitchny

Originally posted by: SLCentral

Originally posted by: purbeast0
i just wanted to say that your friend is an idiot.

also what is the reason he got pulled over?

i'm not sure about the rammifications of his criminal record w/his school stuff. i was charged w/a felony and paid a lawyer $1000 for his services, but i never even saw a court room and only ended up w/16 hours of community service and the charge was put on stet.

Luckily he is from a wealthy family and won't need any financial aid, and paying whatever it takes for a lawyer likely isn't an issue. He got pulled over for the dumbest of all reasons...his back license plate light was out.

the light was out? my license plate doesnt even have a light.. how can he get pulled over for that?

All cars have to have their license plate lite up. So yes all road legal cars have to have some type of light.

 

[SLCentral]

Originally posted by: Marlin1975

Originally posted by: SLCentral

Originally posted by: purbeast0
i just wanted to say that your friend is an idiot.

also what is the reason he got pulled over?

i'm not sure about the rammifications of his criminal record w/his school stuff. i was charged w/a felony and paid a lawyer $1000 for his services, but i never even saw a court room and only ended up w/16 hours of community service and the charge was put on stet.

Luckily he is from a wealthy family and won't need any financial aid, and paying whatever it takes for a lawyer likely isn't an issue. He got pulled over for the dumbest of all reasons...his back license plate light was out.

A LOT of people get caught for major crimes for speeding, burned out bulbs, not coming to a full stop, etc... so it was not dumb for the cop, only your dumb friend.

I never said it was dumb for the cop. I just said it was a dumb reason to get pulled over considering the circumstances.

 

[Glitchny]

Originally posted by: Marlin1975

Originally posted by: Glitchny

Originally posted by: SLCentral

Originally posted by: purbeast0
i just wanted to say that your friend is an idiot.

also what is the reason he got pulled over?

i'm not sure about the rammifications of his criminal record w/his school stuff. i was charged w/a felony and paid a lawyer $1000 for his services, but i never even saw a court room and only ended up w/16 hours of community service and the charge was put on stet.

Luckily he is from a wealthy family and won't need any financial aid, and paying whatever it takes for a lawyer likely isn't an issue. He got pulled over for the dumbest of all reasons...his back license plate light was out.

the light was out? my license plate doesnt even have a light.. how can he get pulled over for that?

All cars have to have their license plate lite up. So yes all road legal cars have to have some type of light.

really? wow guess i never look at my back license.

 

[TallBill]

Originally posted by: Marlin1975

A LOT of people get caught for major crimes for speeding, burned out bulbs, not coming to a full stop, etc... so it was not dumb for the cop, only your dumb friend.

This

 

[BoomerD]

Originally posted by: Glitchny

Originally posted by: SLCentral

Originally posted by: purbeast0
i just wanted to say that your friend is an idiot.

also what is the reason he got pulled over?

i'm not sure about the rammifications of his criminal record w/his school stuff. i was charged w/a felony and paid a lawyer $1000 for his services, but i never even saw a court room and only ended up w/16 hours of community service and the charge was put on stet.

Luckily he is from a wealthy family and won't need any financial aid, and paying whatever it takes for a lawyer likely isn't an issue. He got pulled over for the dumbest of all reasons...his back license plate light was out.

the light was out? my license plate doesnt even have a light.. how can he get pulled over for that?

Where are you at? AFAIK, US DOT laws (and most state laws) require a vehicle to have a working license plate light.

 

[RKS]

I know on ATOT that a DUI/DWI is the most evil of all crimes but in a real court a little pot and a DUI really don't amount to a serious crime.

Pay the attorney his expected fee, show up to court once (and on time), apologize to the court, state what you have learned from your actions, promise to not let it happen again, emphasize your bright future, go home with a license with driving privledges.

 

[OdiN]

Hopefully they don't reduce or remove any of the charges. DUI and drugs? Throw him in jail for a bit, suspend his license, and fine the shit out of him.

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: Glitchny

Originally posted by: SLCentral

Originally posted by: purbeast0
i just wanted to say that your friend is an idiot.

also what is the reason he got pulled over?

i'm not sure about the rammifications of his criminal record w/his school stuff. i was charged w/a felony and paid a lawyer $1000 for his services, but i never even saw a court room and only ended up w/16 hours of community service and the charge was put on stet.

Luckily he is from a wealthy family and won't need any financial aid, and paying whatever it takes for a lawyer likely isn't an issue. He got pulled over for the dumbest of all reasons...his back license plate light was out.

the light was out? my license plate doesnt even have a light.. how can he get pulled over for that?

Because the law requires that you be able to see the plate from a certain distance, and the lights are necessary to see the plate from that distance at night (it doesn't count that the cop can read your plate with his headlights, because when you rob a 7-Eleven the guy who sees you drive off might not be in a car). If your car doesn't have any lights illuminating the plate, you wouldn't be able to register it here in NJ (where the OP lives).

Of course the license plate light is just a convenient excuse to pull you over so they can check for other stuff. OP's friend was pretty dumb to drive after drinking when he's only 18, because the standards for DUI are substantially reduced at that age.

What was his BAC? Was he really drunk, or was he just over .02?

 

[Injury]

So he's smart enough to get in to a top 25 school but not smart enough to understand that getting behind the wheel of a car while under the influence can be lethal to both him and everyone around him?

Hope getting high is/was worth the risk of getting expelled.

 

[SLCentral]

Originally posted by: Injury
So he's smart enough to get in to a top 25 school but not smart enough to understand that getting behind the wheel of a car while under the influence can be lethal to both him and everyone around him?

Hope getting high is/was worth the risk of getting expelled.

Yawn. I specifically said in the first post there is no point to preach here. I've been telling him every single weekend for the past two years that drinking and driving is the dumbest thing he can do. I bombard him with articles, statistics, and real-life stories, but he never understood, and thought he was immune. I don't understand why ATOT always needs to add their own editorial. A little late for that now.