Author: Benny Greenspan | Wild About Trial
Santa Maria, California: Two men arrested for furnishing alcohol to minors
On Wednesday, February 11, two men in Santa Maria, California, were arrested for furnishing alcoholic beverages to minors.
This came after the Santa Maria Police Department conducted a shoulder tap operation, which involves underage decoys asking adults to purchase them alcohol outside of liquor stores. For the arrest to have any probable cause, the minor must indicate to the adults that they are, in fact, under the legal drinking age, which was the case in Santa Maria on Wednesday.
In California, the penalty for furnishing alcohol to a minor is a minimum $1,000 fine and 24 hours of community service, which is what these two suspects will be facing. However, if the minor suffers from a great bodily injury or death as a result of their consumption of alcohol, the penalty can be up to 1 year in jail. That being said, the People would have to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the adult who bought the alcohol directly led to said consumption which caused the injury or death.
Looking across the country, California’s punishment falls relatively in the middle and is considered to be moderate.
By comparison, Utah, with the most severe punishment for furnishing or purchasing alcoholic beverages to minors, considers the crime to be a Class A misdemeanor. Utah’s punishment is a $2,500 fine and up to one year in jail. On the other side is Oregon – not so surprising – where on first conviction, the fine is $350. The second conviction results in a $1000 fine, and only from the third conviction is any custody time on the table, and even that is up to 30 days.
Another important aspect of the charge is who is serving or purchasing the alcohol for the minor. If a child’s parent or guardian is purchasing the alcohol, many states, including California, can add a “child engagement” charge, which is a wobbler charge as opposed to a direct misdemeanor, and can even be a felony depending on the risk of injury endured by the minor. Other states have similar charges, such as New York’s “Endangering the welfare of a child” and Arizona’s “child abuse,” to which includes the endangerment of a child’s health.
Regardless of the state, convictions tend to come with court orders requiring defendants to attend alcohol education courses and community service.
