We've helped many Ohio State University students sort through their underage drinking indiscretions.  Unfortunately, many students are quick to enter a plea to the charge at their first court appearance without ever speaking with a lawyer.  What these students might have discovered is that the State's case against them isn't nearly as simple to prove as it may seem.  Oftentimes, cups confiscated must be properly analyzed in a lab for traces of alcohol  and the evidence must be carefully handled every step of the way.   The State's failure to account for the entire "chain of custody" of even a cup will necessarily result in its exclusion at trial.  Students might also be surprised to learn that an officer must have "reasonable and articulable suspicion" that they are in fact underage and drinking alcohol.  These "suspicions" are susceptible to considerable doubt in cases involving  college students because they cannot be easily  discerned as over or under the age of twenty-one.  Indeed, the pretextual circumstances that usually lead an officer to initially encounter a student about matters of age and alcohol are also subject to challenge and ought to be carefully reviewed by an attorney.   

 

Perhaps most daunting is that a seemingly innocuous and inconsequential underage drinking charge can have harmful effects down the road when students are obligated to disclose the conviction on employment and professional licensure applications.  It is also the policy of some judges in Franklin County to impose severe penalties, fines, and intensive probation as punishment for such an offense.  Be sure to contact us for a free evaluation before entering a plea in your case.