Defending Connecticut ID Forgery Arrests
The best UConn, Yale, Fairfield University, Trinity College and other Connecticut college and university criminal lawyers routinely see UConn and other Connecticut students getting arrested for possessing Fake IDs. Year ago, campus and UConn police would confiscate the Fake IDs, cut them up, trash them, and send the college students on their way. Now it’s a felony arrest in Connecticut for a Connecticut college or high school student to possess a Fake ID, regardless of whether they even try to use the Fake ID at a bar, dance club or liquor store. Connecticut’s Forgery laws have become much more serious, and with high level and low level internet background checks picking up every arrest these days, an arrest in Storrs, Fairfield, Stamford, or New Haven Connecticut for Forgery – Second Degree / Possession of a Fake ID can have a lasting negative impact on your child’s employment and grad school admission prospects. That’s why it’s critical to consult a top UConn, Storrs, Stamford or New Haven theft lawyer attorney to fight your Connecticut arrest for possessing a Fake ID.
Potential Defense Strategies
The most common defense strategies for fake ID and forgery second ID cases in Connecticut is anything under the Fourth Amendment that deals with an unlawful search or seizure, or any kind of unlawful questioning of a person without their rights being read. In some of those cases, the evidence gained from the search, seizure, or interview can be suppressed by the court. If suppressed, that removes the potential evidence the prosecutor planned to use. The attorney can look at the police reports to make sure the police did everything they were supposed to do when making the arrest.
How Defense Strategies Change If a Person Also Face Charges for Underage Drinking
A person can face additional related charges, especially with fake ID arrests at the University of Connecticut, Yale, Quinnipiac, and other colleges. The charges are often paired with possession of alcohol by a minor or some other alcohol or drug-related charges. The defense strategies change because an individual might have to use more than one program. In addition to AR, the person may be required to use a drug program or a program for people who are under 21 facing possession of alcohol charges.
In addition, an experienced defense attorney may have the defendant do some upfront work, such as an evaluation with a licensed alcohol and drug counselor. The attorney might have the person they are working with do community service, in order to build a track record of treatment and of giving back to the community. This is typically done in an effort to show the judge that this is someone who deserves a break and a second chance to keep a clean record.
Is It Really a Felony Arrest for a College Student in Connecticut to Possess a Fake ID?
Yes. Possessing a Fake ID in Connecticut is a violation of Connecticut’s Forgery laws. But how is a college student who uses or possesses a Fake ID to get into a bar or buy alcohol an actual felony? Ask the Connecticut legislators who classified Fake ID arrests in Connecticut as felonies ( and also see our blog article discussing this topic). As the best UConn Storrs Connecticut criminal lawyers would explain to you, the specific crime is called Forgery in the Second Degree, as codified in C.G.S. § 53a-139. This crime prohibits you from altering or possessing a an altered government-issued identification instrument, with the intent to deceive or defraud another person. This crime includes altering any kind of driver’s license (from any state), passports, or social security cards. Top Connecticut criminal lawyers and attorneys who regularly defend Yale, UConn, Trinity, and Quinnipiac students know that the crime has been classified as a Class D felony in Connecticut, carrying a maximum jail sentence of up to 5 years in jail, probation and up to $5000 in fines. Click here for more information on the specifics of Connecticut Forgery arrests, and how to most cost-effectively fight your child’s Forgery Fake ID arrest in Connecticut.
Fighting the Connecticut Fake ID Arrest and Keeping Your Child’s Criminal Record Clean
One of most typical scenarios that the top Fake ID Connecticut criminal lawyers and attorneys see are when a teenager or someone under 21 opens up their wallet during a police stop or traffic stop and the police see the Fake ID in the wallet. To be clear, these are scenarios where the teenager does not even show the police officer the Fake ID. Unfortunately, and as the best UConn arrest criminal lawyers would tell you, this is still grounds for a Connecticut Forgery in the Second Degree arrest. The mere possession of a Fake ID is a crime in Connecticut. What the best Fairfield Connecticut criminal lawyers who deal with arrests at UConn, Fairfield University, Southern Connecticut, and Quinnipiac University typically do is challenge the search and seizure of the Fake IDs, especially when the Fake ID is never presented to the arresting officer. Police do not have carte blanch to ransack your glove compartment, wallet or purse. A top UConn criminal lawyer will carefully review police reports, witness statements and surveillance recordings to make sure police have complied with all rules and regulations governing search, seizure and processing. Further, the student’s academic and athletic resumes and achievements can be helpful talking points in pre-trial negotiations with the prosecutor and judge. Typically, your top Connecticut criminal lawyer can persuade a prosecutor to give your child a second chance and quickly work a deal which would allow for the quick dismissal of your college student’s felony Fake ID possession arrest in Storrs, Rockville, New Haven, Fairfield or Stamford, Connecticut.
College and University School Discipline in Connecticut as a Result of a Felony Arrest for Possessing a Fake ID
When you or your child is arrested at UConn, Yale, Quinnipiac, Fairfield University, Wesleyan, or Trinity College for possessing a Fake ID, there’s a good chance the felony arrest will be reported to the Dean of Students for additional consideration and possible discipline. It’s important that you or your parents carefully review your student handbook, especially if you are a member of an NCAA athletic team, to review and comply with the disclosure and reporting requirements relating to your Connecticut arrest for Possessing a Fake ID. School discipline proceedings may be immediately triggered by the arrest itself and need to be properly handled by you and your top UConn or Connecticut college or university criminal lawyer attorney. If you are not careful and prepared, the college discipline process can run right over you, leaving a permanent mark on your college transcript that grad schools and employers will see. Know that during a public or private university discipline process, everything is negotiable, and hiring a top Connecticut school or college discipline lawyer can help you level the playing field during the discipline process, especially when you have been arrested at UConn, Yale, Quinnipiac, Wesley, Trinity or Fairfield University for Possessing a Fake ID / Forgery in the Second Degree under CGS 53a-139. Click here for more information on how to fight a Connecticut university, college, private school, or prep school discipline proceeding or expulsion hearing.
Is an Unlawful Arrest Possible?
There is always a possibility an unlawful arrest in fake ID cases. It happens most often where rights are not read or a search is done without the proper warrant, consent, or reason for the search.
The other example is more of a mistaken arrest. In a dorm room situation where there is a fake ID, perhaps the officer arrests the wrong person who was in the room. The arrested person did not have possession of the fake ID. An attorney can help clear up the issue in court and present evidence to show why the person is innocent.
When a person is arrested unlawfully, much of the evidence could be subject to a motion to suppress. If the attorney is successful on the motion to suppress, it takes a lot away from the state’s allegations and anything they wanted to use to support the allegation. Unlawful arrests often become a part of defense strategies for fake ID and forgery second ID cases in Connecticut.
Commonness of Officer Error
It is common for officers to make mistakes during the arrest process. Police officers are human and mistakes can be made. For example, defendants may call and say their name is misspelled in the arrest warrant or the date or the time is wrong in the report. Those factors do not normally affect the outcome of the case as a whole. They can be corrected. Usually, when an officer makes a minor mistake, it is irrelevant. It has no bearing on winning the case. When the mistakes are bigger, motions to suppress and motions to dismiss may come into play.
Defense Investigating Charges
The lawyer obtains the police report as soon as possible and scrutinizes it to see what evidence the police department claims to have against the individual. The lawyer identifies whether all of their rights were protected, especially Fourth Amendment rights, and makes sure the police did everything they were supposed to do. They determine how the fake ID was found, whether someone was trying to use it, or whether it was found in their possession when deciding how to craft the defense.
Contact a Connecticut Fake ID Arrest Lawyer Today
The Mark Sherman Law team of criminal lawyers frequently defend students arrested for possession of Fake IDs / Forgery in the Second Degree under CGS 53a-139. We have had great success in de-escalating the seriousness of these felony arrests, and getting these felony Fake ID arrests in Connecticut dismissed, erased, and expunged from our college student clients’ permanent records. We have also been able to successfully run simultaneous interference and damage control with the school’s discipline process to keep the student’s permanent academic record clean. So call us today at (203) 358-4700 to learn how we can help you fight your child’s Connecticut Fake ID arrest today.