Possession of alcohol in motor vehicle?

im not in cali, i live in texas, but im sure the laws are similar. First off, if its your first offense, don't even worry about jail time. What your probably looking at is something called deffered adjudication. Heres whats most likely going to happen. If you plead guilty, which I suggest to do if you really were at fault and the police have a open and shut case the judge will probably issue you a fine, you will placed on some type of community service, or probation, and will have to take an alchol awareness course. Now considering you do all these things once thats complete the charge will be dropped. Thats what deffered adjudication is. It means a judge will suspend the charge if all his requirements are met. Now if you slip up once then your pretty much at the mercy of the court. Hope this helps.