Dain Smoland, Attorney at Law PLLC
Criminal Defense in Utah
Dain Smoland, Attorney at Law PLLC
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Park City “Minor in Possession” Enforcement

September 29, 2017 | Filed under: Constitutional Law and tagged with: Alcohol, Minor, Park City, Possession, Summit County

Beer

There’s an old saying, “You go to war with the army you have.” It’s like another way of saying, when you have to do something, you do the best with what you’ve got. Well, what the Park City Police Department has to do is fight crime.  And what they’ve got is a bunch of 18-year-olds drinking beer, so that’s what they fight against. (You go to war against the army you have, too, I suppose.)

Basically, it seems the Park City Police have been on a bit of a Minor in Possession blitz lately (I imagine it has a code-name, too: Operation Scatter-Bomb, maybe). If there’s a gathering in your back yard and the police catch wind of it, they might storm in, detain everyone present, and have them take portable breath tests (PBTs).  If you’re inside your house, they’ll get search warrant to come in and check IDs. Seriously. It happens. This overzealous enforcement seems, at the least, a questionable use of police resources. At its worst, it can violate the constitutional rights of everyone there.

Of course, it is illegal for a minor to drink alcohol in his own house, even with his parent’s permission, and a conviction for “MiP” can have serious consequences, including a driver’s license suspension, and a criminal record.  So if you’ve been cited for Minor in Possession by the Park City Police, make sure to get in touch with me or another local attorney for a confidential consultation about your case before you walk into court and plead guilty.  If there was a constitutional violation, we’ll try to get the case dismissed. If not, we’ll help make sure you get the best result possible, minimizing the collateral consequences.

Also, Smoland Law recently opened up a satellite office in Summit County, to make client meetings easier and more convenient.

For more information, check out these posts:

  • Minor in Possession Charges in Utah

  • How to Avoid the Consensual Police Encounter

  • The Law of Automobile Search and Seizure (not exactly the same topic, but a bit similar)

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Some Posts from My Blog

  • Utah Legislature Temporarily Suspends Expungement Filing Fees!
  • Parolees Become Eligible for 402 Reductions in Utah
  • Utah’s “Clean Slate” Law, and Automatic Expungements
  • Utah Legalizes Medical Marijuana! Kinda! Sort Of!
  • Utah Eases Expungement Eligibility, Especially for Prior Drug Convictions!

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I am licensed to practice criminal law anywhere in Utah, but my office is in Salt Lake City so I focus my defense practice on Salt Lake County and the surrounding counties: Weber, Davis, Utah, Summit, Wasatch, Tooele.

That includes any of the state, city, or federal courts located in Salt Lake City, West Jordan, South Jordan, West Valley, Heber, Park City, Provo, Ogden, Farmington, Bountiful, Holladay, Cottonwood Heights, Murray, Millcreek, South Salt Lake, Grantsville, Tooele, Orem, American Fork, Sandy, Draper, Centerville, Layton, Kaysville, and anywhere else within an hour's drive of Salt Lake. I'll also go down to Carbon County (Price and Helper), because I like that drive!

For locations in Utah outside that area, just contact me and we'll talk about it.

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