53-180.02. Minor; prohibited acts; exception; governing bodies; powers.

Except as provided in section 53-168.06, no minor may sell, dispense, consume, or have in his or her possession or physical control any alcoholic liquor in any tavern or in any other place, including public streets, alleys, roads, or highways, upon property owned by the State of Nebraska or any subdivision thereof, or inside any vehicle while in or on any other place, including, but not limited to, the public streets, alleys, roads, or highways, or upon property owned by the State of Nebraska or any subdivision thereof, except that a minor may consume, possess, or have physical control of alcoholic liquor as a part of a bona fide religious rite, ritual, or ceremony or in his or her permanent place of residence.

The governing bodies of counties, cities, and villages shall have the power to, and may by applicable resolution or ordinance, regulate, suppress, and control the transportation, consumption, or knowing possession of or having under his or her control beer or other alcoholic liquor in or transported by any motor vehicle, by any person under twenty-one years of age, and may provide penalties for violations of such resolution or ordinance.

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Annotations

Circumstantial evidence can be sufficient to sustain a conviction of a minor in possession in violation of this section. When relying upon circumstantial evidence, it is not necessary for the State to disprove every hypothesis but that of guilt. One accused of a crime may be convicted on the basis of circumstantial evidence if, taken as a whole, the evidence establishes guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Circumstantial evidence is sufficient to support a conviction if such evidence and the reasonable inferences that may be drawn therefrom establish the defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. State v. Laue, 225 Neb. 57, 402 N.W.2d 313 (1987).

Circumstantial evidence was sufficient to sustain a conviction under this section. State v. Reeder, 183 Neb. 425, 160 N.W.2d 753 (1968).

To sustain conviction, minor must have known or have been conscious of actual or constructive possession of intoxicating liquor. State v. Eberhardt, 176 Neb. 18, 125 N.W.2d 1 (1963).