Before ordering another beer or grabbing their keys, some Texas Tech students may want to stop and consider the legality of what they do while they drink and what they'll do afterward.
Matthew Pilkington, a junior advertising major from Houston, said he ran into some alcohol-related trouble earlier this year.
He said he and some of his friends were drinking vodka at a friend's apartment. When they left the apartment, legally sober, and got into Pilkington's car, he put the liquor bottles in a backpack, closed the bag, and put it in the backseat of the car.
After leaving, police pulled him over for a broken taillight and asked him what was in the bag, Pilkington said. Wanting to cooperate, Pilkington told the officer about the bag's contents.
Trouble followed.
Stephen Hamilton, a local attorney who specializes in alcohol-related offenses, said Lubbock police vehemently have been cracking down on students for drinking irresponsibly.
More often than not, he said, students know when they are breaking the law, but sometimes they may misunderstand the legality of certain situations and behaviors associated with drinking.
One major legal nuance many people often fail to realize, Hamilton said, is that they legally are not required to participate in a field sobriety test if an officer pulls them over and suspects they are driving under the influence.
There are absolutely no consequences for refusing a field sobriety test, he said. Police, however, have the right to arrest a person if he or she does refuse the field test. Refusing to give a breath sample upon subsequent arrival at the police station, will result in an automatic 180-day suspension of their driver's license.
In Texas, the difference between a DWI and a DUI is a matter of age, Hamilton said. A DUI is given to those who are under the age of 21 who have had some alcohol but have not exceeded the law's 0.08 percent blood-alcohol limit. A DWI refers to the charge given to anybody who drives a car with an excess of the 0.08 blood-alcohol percentage, regardless of age.
After passing a field sobriety test, Pilkington said, because he was a minor, the officer charged Pilkington with driving under the influence, even though he was sober enough to drive legally.
"I was surprised because the bag was closed, you know," Pilkington said, "but he knew what was in it."
The DUI charged was dropped several weeks later, he said, and changed to a charge of minor in possession, which he was thankful for because of the less-severe nature of the possession charge.
Lt. Greg Stevens of the Lubbock Police Department said Pilkington's case is not unique. Prosecutors frequently lessen charges to ease the burden of alcohol-related caseloads.
"The cop was surprised because he thought I would be drunk, but I really wasn't." Pilkington said. "I passed the sobriety test. He called me a couple of weeks later and told me they were going to drop (the DUI charge)."
Next time, he said, he will be sure to put the alcohol in the trunk and perhaps ask somebody else to drive.
"I was happy because that was a lucky break," Pilkington said. "I was cooperative, because I had been drinking earlier. I figured cooperative would be the best way to go."
Ideally, Hamilton said, police cannot charge a person with minor in consumption or minor in possession unless they know for certain a person has been drinking, a certainty they must get from personally witnessing a minor with care, custody and control of an alcoholic drink.
"Obviously, if the person is under (the age of) 21 and has a beer in his or her hand, or is right around the keg, that type of thing, then they're going to be MIP," he said.
A law very few people are aware of is that of chapter 105.06 of the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code, Stevens said, which restricts the consumption, or intent to consume, alcoholic beverages in a public place - which includes one's front porch - between 2:15 a.m. and 7 a.m., Monday through Saturday.
On Sunday, according to the law, public consumption of alcohol is restricted until 12 p.m.
Gordon Hoffman, deputy chief of Tech's police department, said although most students do not know the exact wording of alcohol laws, they generally are aware of what is illegal when it comes to alcohol.
"We usually don't have questions from people asking us, you know, 'What is the charge? What is this charge about?'" Hoffman said.
There are exceptions to the ban of open alcohol containers in vehicles, he said. It is not illegal to have open alcoholic beverages in the trunk or locked glove box.
Police will charge a student with public intoxication if the student's behavior poses a risk to themselves or to those around them. Some warning signs of such danger are stumbling, slurring, inability to stand and/or belligerence.
Hoffman said Tech police have made more public-intoxication arrests this year than in the past. During September, 2007, for instance, officers made 55 arrests, which is a 189 percent increase from the 29 arrests made during the same month in 2006.
According to Tech Police Department records from all campuses, alcohol-related arrests have declined since 2004. During 2004, university police made 243 arrests related to alcohol. The same numbers for 2005 are lower with 181. In 2006, police reported 197 such arrests.
"That's what is getting scary," Hoffman said. "It seems like we're having more alcohol poisoning. It seems like it's on the increase. I just don't know what the cause of it is, exactly."
Despite misconceptions, police are not on a mission to crack down on students who drink, Stevens said, and in fact, often do not bother students who are drinking simply because they are drinking.
The majority of citations and arrests made because of alcohol violations, he said, often are the result of police getting involved for other reasons. Dealing with students who are drinking is a very small percentage of what police do on a day-to-day basis.
"In reality, most officers would rather do anything but deal with students that have been drinking," Stevens said. "They'd rather be chasing crack heads down dark allies."
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