It’s late at night. Actually, its 1:13am and I have viewed all my networking pages including Facebook, Tweeter, YouTube and my email. I have had plenty of random thoughts today but nothing stuck.
I did give some thought to the final outcome to the student’s case before the municipal judge for minors in possession (of alcohol). I was hoping to make it to Eagle Pass and listen to both sides.
From the prosecutor’s side, I felt that proving possession might be the major obstacle especially arresting 50 people at one time. I wondered if each student was seen with a container in hand or did they admit it to the arresting officers. Was the student advised of his/her right to remain silent thus thwarting an admission of guilt? Then there is that thing called constructive possession, which I don’t understand but kept coming up.
And then what I read about the defense’s argument centered on the legality of officers going onto the property without probable cause. Personally I felt that was a weak point since calls had been made and could they have seen minors with cans and then decided to intervene.
Regardless, the final outcome was a win – win conclusion. These minors got a much lesser charge after the possession charge was dropped and replaced with disorderly conduct. But what was on my mind today was not only all that but the additional court ordered community service imposed on the students. What has been mentioned is that they must go before students (age unknown at this time) and try to convince them of the evil ways of drinking. Will they be able to get their point across? Are they really aware of the total ramifications of what could have happened? More importantly, remorse. Is there any remorse or is it a badge of honor or a rite of passage. And most importantly, does every parent want his or her kids to sit through such a possibility.
