My client was originally charged in Count 1 with a violation of Business and Professions Code § 25658(a), sale of alcohol to a minor, as a misdemeanor. My client had no previous criminal history and was working as a bartender in a restaurant at the time of her arrest.
Law enforcement from Orange County were conducting a “Minor Decoy” operation to investigate whether “ABC license” holding restaurants were serving alcohol to minors. A “minor decoy” was placed in the restaurant and my client served the minor alcohol in violation of BP § 25658(a). My client was subsequently arrested and issued a citation to appear in court.
After reviewing the discovery, it became apparent that the “minor decoy” had the appearance of a twenty-five year old versus his true age of seventeen, and we believed this to be a strong factor in our client’s favor. We determined it would be appropriate, given the minor nature of the conduct and the appearance of the minor decoy, to prepare and provide the prosecution with an equities package requesting a dismissal in the interests of justice.
We obtained letters of recommendation, proof of employment, education proof and other equitable documents to the prosecution for consideration. During negotiations, we argued that our client had no prior criminal history and was attempting to become a teacher and, therefore, a dismissal would be appropriate to protect her job future and in light of her remorse and prior good behavior.
The prosecution agreed to dismiss the complaint outright if our client submitted her DNA sample to their database. After submitting her DNA, the charge was dismissed!
This is a great result for our client and will protect her future job opportunities as a teacher!
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