Boston Criminal Lawyer Blog
Here is another one in a series of people being prosecuted for having parties wherein juveniles are allegedly given alcohol. As mentioned last week, ’tis the season apparently.
Specifically, Elizabeth M., 50, and her son Taylor, 18, of Cohasset ( hereinafter, collectively, the “Defendants”) now face charges in Quincy District Court. They have pleaded not guilty yesterday to charges that they hosted an underage drinking party that drew dozens of teenagers to their home on Saturday night. Her charges include furnishing alcohol to minors under the ”social host law,” keeping a disorderly house, and disturbing the peace. He faces charges of furnishing alcohol to minors and being a minor in possession of alcohol.
Both were ordered to abstain from drugs and alcohol and undergo in-home sobriety testing, while they wait for trial.
The mother was slated to return to court on August 30th for a pre-trial conference and to deal with a recent previous domestic case involving alcohol. No details were immediately available on the previous case.
Attorney Sam’s Take:
There have been a number of these cases lately. Recently, we discussed one such matter which ended up in someone’s death.
The Commonwealth takes these cases seriously. Really!
“But, Sam, what if the kids were going to be drinking anyway…isn’t the parent just giving a safe place to imbibe?”
It doesn’t matter.
“Hey, better they were drinking in a home than out drunk driving…”
Doesn’t matter.
“Aren’t there other, more important, crimes the police could be focusing on?”
Maybe. But it does not matter.
Every year, particularly around prom season, we see these kinds of arrests. While the law normally holds that what one does inside one’s home is one’s own business, one does not have the right to commit crimes in said home. If the police have a lawful reason to be in a position to observe kids drinking, they will take action. It is as if they noticed a kilo of cocaine sitting, standing and dancing in the room instead of teenagers.
By the way, you may notice that the 18 year old son was charged as well. This is because a juvenile can be prosecuted for giving alcohol to another juvenile, even though being prosecuted for have said alcohol him or herself.
Yet, the mother did get one break. Technically, when one is charged with a new crime while out on bail (or personal recognizance), one can be held with no right to bail for up to 60 days.
Apparently, she wasn’t.
The bottom line here is that if you face charges like this, or are being investigated for it, you should take it seriously. Get an experienced criminal defense attorney as soon as possible to advise and represent you. Should you wish that attorney to be me, please feel free to set up a free initial consultation by calling (617) 206-1942.
To view the story upon which today’s blog is based, please go to http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2010/08/cohasset_mother_1.html?p1=Local_Links
