underage drinking loss of driver's license NJ Lawyer

...: hey i got an underage drinking ticket, i was under 21 at the time, now i am 21 a few months later. i pled not guilty and have a rescheduled court date; because the cop was not there. i have read on the police report that it says that i said" i had one to two beers" which i didnt say. i do not have a lawyer or public defender, and in my town apparently you can lose your license for a month to 6 months for underage drinking. i live in hillsborough, nj. i do not wanna lose my license for a month let alone 6 and the prosecutor said that if i get proven guilty he will push for 6 months. what should i do?? thanks!!

james
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Answers (2)

Karyn T. Missimer

Karyn T. Missimer Avvo Pro

Contributor Level 7
We would need much more information than you can post here to answer your question. (You should not post any more details in a public forum anyway.) And respectfully, the advice you are asking for is the type of advice attorneys are normally paid to give. It is like you emailing a doctor a list of your symptoms, and asking him to diagnose you. A doctor will require you to come to his office and pay his fee. Most attorneys probably will, as well.

It is entirely up to you whether to accept a pretrial offer from the prosecutor (if there even is one) or to go to trial. In deciding what to do, you must weigh the potential penalites (i.e., the driver license revocation) and how they affect you. If the prosecutor is offering to resolve this without a trial and the offer includes no driver license suspension/revocation, that would obviously be very important to you; and you may not want to continue to fight under those circumstances.

Before you make a final decision, however, I urge you to consult with a local, experienced criminal defense attorney in NJ. You need to know how a driver license suspension in IL will affect you in NJ, as you are likely not too concerned with not being able to drive in IL. In my experience, NJ is very draconian in its reciprocal penalties. So, know what you are facing in NJ before proceeding further. A consultation regarding this issue can likely be handled by a free, initial consultation. It is getting into details about your case and asking about options and strategies that tend to make attorneys want a fee.

Good luck!
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Howard Woodley Bailey

Howard Woodley Bailey

Contributor Level 9
The entity that dictates the period of time that you will lose your license is the State statute, not the town. Whether you should plead guilty to cut your potential losses, or take the case to trial is a decision that only you can make. In order to give you an assessment of the strength or weakness of your defense, I would need to review all of the reports and documentation that the Prosecutor would seek to introduce at trial. In response to your inquiry what should you do....You should be consulting wioth an experienced criminal defense lawyer to determine the direct and collateral sentencing consequences of a plea or a trial; and, the legal issues and arguments that could affect the outcome of a trial. Then you would have the information necessary to decide whether to accept the plea or take the case to trial. Good luck.

Disclaimer
While I do practice law in NJ, this information is offered for informational purposes only. It is not intended as legal advice and you should not rely upon it to decide how to resolve this issue. No Attorney-Client relationship is intended or established by this response. You are faced with a situation where you need to consult with an experienced defense lawyer admitted to practice law in NJ before you make any decisions as to how to resolve this issue.
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