The following tale is a story that is retold with similar details time and again across the United States. It involves a mass congregation of teenagers, a weekend evening and the apparent widespread availability of alcohol.
What could go wrong with that combination of factors?
Adult readers of our criminal defense legal blog at Shazam, Kianpour & Associates in Denver know well the answer to that, in a single word.
Plenty.
Adolescents are by very definition young and comparatively immature. They are adventurous, optimistic, impressionable, often easily susceptible to peer pressure and – at least in their own minds – invulnerable.
And alcohol consumption literally fuels that collective concoction.
It apparently did early this past Saturday outside a Pueblo country club, where a “huge crowd” of juveniles was noted to have scattered after shots rang out. Luckily, no one was reportedly hurt in the incident. An individual found with a firearm was arrested.
The aftermath was predictable, reflective of an outcome that similarly plays out in teen-and-alcohol scenarios across the country.
To wit: A large number of young people were criminally cited for underage drinking/possession and disorderly conduct.
We have duly noted in select prior blog posts that those charges can sting, and in a lasting way. Much is potentially on the line for teens facing drinking-related or other criminal charges in Colorado. Participation in school programs can be jeopardized. So too can be college admission, the ability to serve in the military and the opportunity to engage in desired employment. Fines and related exactions often accompany criminal charges. Community service might be ordered. Jail is a possibility. The list goes on.
Teens make mistakes, with many of those errors simply being youth-linked transgressions that are arguably part and parcel of the learning process for young people.
Experienced defense attorneys know that intimately and believe that youthful offenders are often best served by criminal law outcomes that afford them a second chance.
Shazam & Kianpour attorneys work resolutely and with passion to promote such results.