My question involves criminal law for the state of: Delaware
I am 22, and my boyfriend is 19. He and I were visiting a store in a Delaware shopping center, though both of us are from out of state. I decided to visit the liquor store located there to get some drinks for a get-together with a friend the next night, and he waited in the car while I went inside and made my purchase. When I came out of the store, I placed the liquor on top of the trunk, opened the door, then handed it to him to hold as I got into the car. Less than 2 minutes later, an officer knocked on my car window. He asked for our IDs, and we gave them to him. I explained that I was of age but he was not, and that the liquor was mine, and if him holding it was an issue, I could out it in the trunk. He explained that he was a drug enforcement officer who had been sitting in the parking lot for the explicit purpose of catching underage people purchasing alcohol or getting others to purchase it for them, and that it was illegal for my underage boyfriend to even be touching alcohol, despite the containers being unopened. He said that if I had put the liquor into the trunk or on the back seat, there would not have been a problem, but that the act of putting it in his hand constituted as providing alcohol to a minor.
He confiscated the alcohol, asked us to step out of the car and asked to search our pockets and my purse. We agreed, and he did not find anything illegal. He questioned us, and we each repeatedly stated that the alcohol was not for him. However, it seems that the officer did not buy it, and I am being charged with providing alcohol to a minor, and he is being charged with minor in possession. Neither of us have any prior offenses, and the vehicle we were in is owned by myself.
What could anyone suggest about our case?
I am 22, and my boyfriend is 19. He and I were visiting a store in a Delaware shopping center, though both of us are from out of state. I decided to visit the liquor store located there to get some drinks for a get-together with a friend the next night, and he waited in the car while I went inside and made my purchase. When I came out of the store, I placed the liquor on top of the trunk, opened the door, then handed it to him to hold as I got into the car. Less than 2 minutes later, an officer knocked on my car window. He asked for our IDs, and we gave them to him. I explained that I was of age but he was not, and that the liquor was mine, and if him holding it was an issue, I could out it in the trunk. He explained that he was a drug enforcement officer who had been sitting in the parking lot for the explicit purpose of catching underage people purchasing alcohol or getting others to purchase it for them, and that it was illegal for my underage boyfriend to even be touching alcohol, despite the containers being unopened. He said that if I had put the liquor into the trunk or on the back seat, there would not have been a problem, but that the act of putting it in his hand constituted as providing alcohol to a minor.
He confiscated the alcohol, asked us to step out of the car and asked to search our pockets and my purse. We agreed, and he did not find anything illegal. He questioned us, and we each repeatedly stated that the alcohol was not for him. However, it seems that the officer did not buy it, and I am being charged with providing alcohol to a minor, and he is being charged with minor in possession. Neither of us have any prior offenses, and the vehicle we were in is owned by myself.
What could anyone suggest about our case?
Providing to a Minor: Providing to a Minor and Minor in Possession: Minor Holding Unopened Container
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