Thread: Was almost done with enlisting, minor in possession alcohol. :(

I talked to my recruiter and he said the best bet is to get it dismissed so once when I get summoned to court I'm gonna have the D.A. talk to my recruiter and see what can happen, and have him talk to some friends I know that are high up there in the army ranks. My lawyer said most likely I would get a continuance without a finding which means if I keep my nose clean for 3 months (which I will this just was bad luck for me) the charge will get dismissed, but in the eye of the military a continuance without a finding is still considered bad. So I really do not know what to do, take the CWOF or try and reason with the D.A. and have him talk to my recruiter and a couple of my family friends.

Alright I think that's what I am going to do, thanks Papachop. And your right no matter what it is my fault and you gotta man up to your mistakes especially in the eyes of the court.

Just my .02 on minor in possession charges. If what you say is true, I don't see how they can give you a possession charge. First, you didn't have any booze in your possession! Second, the cop didn't give you a breathalyzer, so they have no proof that you were even drinking. Using the Army as a reason to get out of a charge twice might not look so good to the DA, that is if you see the same person. Don't go into the office saying 'well they let me out of it last time because I'm joining the Army'! lol. Go into the DA, tell them your side of the story, insist that you knew nothing about alcohol being present, you didn't have any alcohol in your car, and there was no breathalyzer to prove that you were drinking. I just really don't see how you can get a charge like this without proof! Anyways, good luck, hope it all works out for you!

Originally Posted by asherdasher114

Just my .02 on minor in possession charges. If what you say is true, I don't see how they can give you a possession charge. First, you didn't have any booze in your possession! Second, the cop didn't give you a breathalyzer, so they have no proof that you were even drinking. Using the Army as a reason to get out of a charge twice might not look so good to the DA, that is if you see the same person. Don't go into the office saying 'well they let me out of it last time because I'm joining the Army'! lol. Go into the DA, tell them your side of the story, insist that you knew nothing about alcohol being present, you didn't have any alcohol in your car, and there was no breathalyzer to prove that you were drinking. I just really don't see how you can get a charge like this without proof! Anyways, good luck, hope it all works out for you!

Yeah when I talked to the D.A. the first time I never mentioned the army like I said i was enlisting and if you want to talk to my recruiter then he can. I'm going to go in tell my story to the D.A. give them my recruiters number and be completely truthful. Because yes they didn't Breathalyze me so they have no proof i was drinking i think i should be fine, but if i take the continuance without a finding, will this screw me over?

I know it will be hard to enlist if these charges stick, but my other charges were dismissed and this is the only pending charge that I have. I have read up on other army forums and stuff people have much much worse charges than me and they still got in the military. So this might make my enlistment harder but even if it takes time for me to join I do not care.

Originally Posted by Jgrillo123

Hey everyone new to the forums.

So my question is will having 2 minor in possession charges screw things up for me. My first charge got dismissed because I didn't know anything about the alcohol and I told the D.A. that I was enlisting into the army and he talked to my recruiter and cut me a break. But this time same situation I show up to a house not knowing there was booze, I was only there for 10mins and as I was pulling out the driveway a cop pulls up saying there is a noise complaint and to step out of the car. Next thing you know boom there was alcohol in the house so I get a summons to court for minor in possession. So I am really freaked out because I have a A&B charge that got dismissed and 1 MIP charge that got dismissed and now a pending MIP charge that I will need to go to court for.

This is all I want to do in life and that's being a soldier and I don't want this to screw this up for me. Even if it makes my enlistment harder I don't care as long as I can serve that will make me happy, so please any information at all will help. Thanks, Jared

Welcome JGrillo,

First thing that is important here is your ship date. because If your sworn in yet your process will be put on hold until you clear this case as well as complete whatever sentence you receive. You will must likely have to do a military required interview questioning your alcohol status (since you are a minor). That part is not a big deal. You can have 2 misdemeanor alcohol charges but overall you DO NOT WANT THEM ON YOUR RECORD. THEY AFFECT YOUR SECURITY CLEARANCE. Personally my SC cut mos options from like 40 to 10. I know all this information because I also had 2 misdemeanor charges for minor pos of alcohol. When you go to court if you plead no contest you will most likely get a lowered charge of around $100-$150 dollars. If you want to plead not guilty you will have another court date to argue your case. If you have a lawyer it will likely get dropped.

On a side not my friend. You are who you hang out with. I leave sept 1st and about a month ago I recieved a charge for fake Id b/c I decided to go hang out with some friends at a beach and get trashed. If you want to drink man wait till your of age. No offense if you are telling the truth about your story but I have no clue why a officer would give you a minor possesion charge if he didn't see you with a drink or reasoning... Go look at my post when I was in trouble not 3 weeks ago. If your like me and all you want is military in your future lets act like it brother.