So, …
(1) Never go the police station when called. If they haven’t already arrested you, it’s because they have nothing. Don’t give them the evidence they don’t have.
(2) Have your lawyer call them and ask why they want to speak to you. And then have him tell them you’ll only appear with him or her at your side and you’ll say nothing.
(3) They’ll quickly lose interest in you. There are easier ways to build their arrest stats.

But what, however, will he do in 5 years when Senator Lautenberg gets a brain-dead US Senate to pass a lifetime ban on owning a car for those with such a prior conviction. It won’t be an ex post facto law in the eyes of the federal courts but he’s screwed.

He should have paid a lawyer $500 and beaten the charge.

But, of course, he forgot the FIRST LAW OF CIVILIZATION. Never talk to the police. YOU HAVE A CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT TO REMAIN SILENT AND TO REFUSE TO CONSENT TO ANY SEARCHES. Always do so until you can speak to a lawyer. There is NO upside to talking or consenting. Be glad you don’t live in the United Kingdom (remember now why we fought the war of 1775?) or Canada.

Once again, children, “I have nothing to say until I speak to MY lawyer and I do not consent to any search of my person or my property.” Now, “Am I free to leave?” If so, GO. You have absolutely no obligation to cooperate with the police. They are NOT your friend.

As prior posters have made crystal clear, the state had NO evidence whatsoever until the young man opened HIS MOUTH and gave it to them.

I agree with this post, above. Why did he confess?

“I cannot stress it enough. NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER talk to the police.”
Well, technically saying “I have nothing to say” is talking to them.
If you’ve ever been grilled by govt goons you know FEAR is a big
tactic. Sitting there silent is not realistic . Listen to Steve Bierfeldt’s TSA encounter to get a feel for how to play it right, IMHO.

It costs almost nothing for the cops, yet how many kids paid the $227 fine because they were nervous, scared, confused, etc…?

NEVER talk to the cops, even if they say you’re not being charged, they could certainly charge you based on what you say.

The late social critic Philip Wylie warned us long ago about allowing for creeping infantilization of society, courtesy of ‘Momism’, and the effects that it would have on this society seem to have been borne out, as we have the Gub’mint trying to ‘protect us’ from ourselves, i.e. the DrugWar.

If more so-called parents were to sit their kids down and tell ‘em the facts of life as my Marine Da did for us kids, telling us that if we were going to experiment with alcohol and tobacco, do it at home and not bring shame to the family, there’d be less of this fascistic crap where police pull this kind of stunt.

#42 Which is why we need to eliminate the immunity privilege for DAs.

And the D.A., if (s)he were feeling dickish, would probably throw in five to ten more charges just to see what would stick and get you sentenced to a lot more than a 200 dollar fine to punish you for exercising your constitutional right.

While the picture would be subject to some pretty minimal authentication, a picture is not hearsay.

It would be interesting to know whether any court has dealt with the authentication issue in the context of Facebook. Were I attempting to get a picture like that introduced, I would look at the data Facebook gives about it, such as date of upload and any meta-data (names, locations, times). If it is the defendant’s account, and he has dominion and control over the account, then those are statements by a party opponent, which are not hearsay under FRE 801, and he would have to either testify to rebut my evidence (and thereby waive his Fifth Amendment right) or just let my interpretation stand. I don’t know whether I would win, but it’s not just a fast and loose argument and it could well be a persuasive one.

Far, far too many people can’t tell the difference between a genuine crime involving wronging another — causing demonstrable damage to an identifiable victim — and an act that’s labeled illegal but isn’t wrong.

If you make no statements, it is awful hard for a cop to flesh out a report that says you admitted.

Wrong. It makes no difference whether you say something or say nothing, as a cop can make up anything they want, knowing that their “word” has more weight than their victim.

How many different ways could this have gotten tossed out?

Is there any proof it was beer?
If there any proof it was alcoholic beer?
Is there any proof he actually consumed the beer?
Is there any proof he consumed the beer in that jurisdiction?
Is there any proof that he consumed the beer within the statues of limitations?
Is the image real? Has it been altered in any way? Who took it? Can they authenticate it?

Talking to the police without any representation is crazy. The moment you talk to them, anything you say, or anything they claim you say can be used against you. If it is your word against theirs, you will lose.

Until they actually charge you, don’t cooperate… period.

Did they ask you to come in to answer a few questions? Just Say No.

They ask for you to clear up a few things? Just Say No.

They want you to come in without telling you why? Just Say No