millerboycott.com

Four students from North Carolina State have been booted from the soccer team after being arrested at a Raleigh, North Carolina sports bar. Police were called to the establishment around 1:45 a.m. October 14 to investigate an alleged altercation at the bar. Four students from N.C. State had been escorted outside. Authorities say that one of the student athletes had been in some kind of altercation with another individual.

The four soccer players were ultimately charged with resisting, delaying or obstructing arrest. Two of the students are also accused of underage drinking. The two others were each given an additional charge. One is accused of simple affray– while the other faces disorderly conduct allegations. Police claim that a fake ID was involved, but it is not clear if anyone was charged with a fake ID offense. A report from WRAL-TV indicates that the establishment was not cited.

Many students may not understand that North Carolina law prohibits fake IDS. In fact, mere possession of a fake ID can bring legal troubles for a person in North Carolina.

An employee at the bar told Technician Online, the N.C. State University paper, that no one should have been arrested. The police, and possibly the university, see it a different way apparently. The four students not only face charges for the alleged incident, but the four players have been kicked of the team. The school has also banned all N.C. State student athletes from entering the bar, regardless of the age of the student athlete.

While the school imposed sanctions against the students and added the administrative ban, the students also face charges in criminal court. The North Carolina justice system includes a wide variety of constitutional rights, including the right to due process and the right to present a defense in criminal court.

Sources:

• WRAL, “Four NC State soccer players dismissed after arrests,” Erin Summers, Oct. 18, 2012
• Technician Online, “Can athletics ban athletes from DTSB?,” Jonathan Stout, Oct. 18, 2012

Greenville DUI Attorney Blog | North Carolina Underage Drinking Lawyer | Pitt County First DUI Law Firm

The latest example of what I’ve called "The DUI Exception to the Constitution"….

Officer Who Kicked in Door for DUI Has Immunity

Vienna, VA.  Nov. 9 – A police officer is not liable for a civil rights violation for kicking in the door of a man’s home to arrest him for drunken driving, in a new case from the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

On Oct. 2, 2004, Vienna police officer M.A. Reeves followed Alan J. Cilman from a sports bar to his home on suspicion of drunken driving. Cilman got out of his car, asked the officer to leave his property, went into his home and locked the door. Reeves called for back-up and then kicked in the door to Cilman’s home when he wouldn’t respond.

Reeves arrested Cilman not for drunken driving, but for being drunk in public and evasion without force.

All criminal charges against Cilman were dismissed.

When Cilman sued Reeves, Alexandria U.S. District Judge Gerald Bruce Lee said Reeves was liable as a matter of law under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and Va. Code § 19.2-59 for the warrantless entry…

In an unpublished per curiam opinion in Cilman v. Reeves a 4th Circuit panel said the law on warrantless entries in this kind of case is unclear, and Reeves deserved the benefit of the doubt, and qualified immunity…

Hmmm….In other words, the cop violated the Constitution, but…well, it was a DUI case, right?  

And by the way, if the cop broke into Climan’s home to arrest him for drunk driving, why did he arrest him for being drunk in public (no driving) instead?

(Thanks to attorney Bob Battle of Virginia.)

 

DUI BLOG