I'm a gambling man by nature - Duey "Ox" Oxenberger

Checking the Dispatch today I noticed an article about the annual Halloween Bash at Ohio University. There were 182 arrests or citations issued down there this weekend for a variety of offenses. Many of these were for underage drinking or open container violations. This is a tricky area to know your rights in, and to know how to react if approached by law enforcement. In these cases it usually makes a big difference which officer you are dealing with and why they are there. Here in Columbus many of these cases originate around the Ohio State campus on Saturday afternoons. Under our former first lady, Hope Taft, there were grants and enforcement directives concerning these types of offenses, so the Ohio Investigative Unit of the Department of Liquor Control/Department of Commerce would be sent down to campus for the sole purpose of enforcing the underage drinking statute. If one of these guys approaches you, his intention is to arrest you if there is a violation. Local officers or deputies may exercise a bit more discretion before slapping the cuffs on.

I must insert a disclaimer here. I am a firm believer that if you are old enough to vote, you are old enough to have a beer. If you are old enough to go to Iraq or Afghanistan and put your life on the line for this country, you should be allowed to have a drink when you get home. So, with that in mind I would remind you that you are not required to assist the officers in proving their case against you. You are also protected from self-incrimination by the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution and similar provisions of the Ohio Constitution. In order to trigger these protections, you are usually required to be subjected to a custodial interrogation. So, the gamble here is walking away when approached by the police and seeing how they react.

Lets say you are a twenty-year old on campus and you are drinking lemonade out of a red plastic cup. Two men in plainclothes approach and ask how old you are. When you ask who they are, they say "police, what's in the cup?" If you turn and walk away, they have to decide if they have enough to detain or arrest you at that moment, and all they have seen is you drinking from a red plastic cup, that is not a crime. They do not know how old you are, or what is in your cup. If you walk away and they grab you, or order you to return, then you have a stronger argument that you are in custody, because you are not free to leave. If you are not advised of your rights at that point, then it makes a difference. The only time the police have to read your rights is when they are questioning you and you are not free to leave. Of course in our scenario you are within your rights because you are drinking lemonade, but if it were something a little more adult, the decisions you make could mean the difference between a conviction or a dismissal.

The best advice, of course, is to obey the law and use your best judgment. I think it is important, however, that you know your rights when faced with a police officer who may not see things the same way you do. They do not have unlimited power to question you or detain you without a reason, or based on what they think you are doing. Know your rights and exercise them. If they are violated, don't just accept it, call me at 224-6142.