That cooler couldve been empty, full of pop and water, full of fish, full of beer, or any number of other things, the chances of any of that are equal, that doesnt give them the right to search it, unless there were empty cans or something like that, especially without consent, they still have to ask to search your vehicle or get a warrant IIRC. And unless they were going REDICULOUSLY fast and were a danger to themselves and others, speeding is not/should not be an arresting offense. The minute I get hauled down to the station and strip searched for speeding, the county or whoever the officer is working for will owe me a LOT of money. The police shouldnt be able to do anything "just because they feel like it". Im a firm believer in the notion that they should have to have solid evidence for anything they do.

In NE, the laws to do with alcohol are a little weird IMO, Ive had a fair share of run ins with the law for various reasons from speeding to a DUI. The way it used to be, was the minor had to be within easy or arms reach of the booze, but if they had alcohol on their breath, that
negates that. I had a similar situation, but the alcohol wasnt within easy reach, so they couldnt do anything. From the sound of it, its a shakey case already. So if it was me or my kid, I would fight this tooth and nail, even just out of principle.



Someone stated about fighting a DUI for example by refusing the sobriety tests and the breathalyzer, in NE that is automatic suspension for a year, plus it doesnt look good on the court record when you do go to court. Also the field sobriety test is nothing more than a time waster, it doesnt matter if you pass every one of them, they will still give you the breathalyzer, theyre just hoping for the alcohol to go up in your system during that time. My DUI was BS, while I was over the limit, I wont deny that, I was .10. I was trying to do the right thing and take a VERY drunk friend home, hes well known for getting drunk and wrecking multiple pickups. But the reason I was stopped was that after the officer followed me for almost 2 miles, "supposedly" I crossed the center of a very narrow GRAVEL road going around a curve, the road isnt wide enough for 2 pickups to meet each other without one or both moving over. This was in April, so of course I was making sure that I didnt get too close to the edge so I didnt get sucked into the ditch. The officer is a woman, which I have no problem with, and I havent had a speeding ticket up to this point since I was 18, Im 28 now, but this particular officer is well known for being "on a power trip". Also I sat 3 people down from her and even conversed with her a little at the local firemans nut fry where they serve free beer earlier that evening. She has done the same thing to other people at closing time of the bar, followed them and then used the excuse of "crossing the center of a gravel road" to pull them over, sometimes she gets what she wants, others are completely sober, but to me its not right to pull someone over at 1am for something they wouldnt pull them over for at 1pm. "Here", everyone drives over the center, theres always 3 tracks on a gravel road, one on the left, one in the center, and one on the right, unless you meet someone your drivers side tires are always on the center, everyone knows it. I got a lawyer and he talked to the county attorney and even he started laughing and agreed that thats how everyone drives, and agreed to drop it to willful reckless. Sorry for the rant, but its a touchy subject for me, even before all of that.