Yesterday, some friends and I were smoking when a couple of park rangers popped up. Two of my friends started booking it, and I had weed and a pipe on me so I decided to start running too. In my panic, I tossed the weed and pipe off a cliff (which might have saved me). The two friends who booked it first got away, but two other friends and I got caught. When the cops searched us, all he found on me was my wallet and cell phone. One of my friends, who is 17, had a pack of cigarettes on him and got cited for that. The cops knew we were blazed because of our eyes and smell, but everything was tossed so they couldn't prove anything. I walked out of the event with a misdemeanor resisting an officer and a misdemeanor for being past a posted sign (I guess the area we were smoking at wasn't open to the public. I didn't see any sign saying that). This is a really bad time for me to get into trouble. I'm literally days away from starting summer, and I'm going off to university later this year. I still live with my Mom, and if she found out she probably wouldn't help me with my tuition (not to mention my whole summer before college would suck). I gave the officer my cell phone number so all calls will go to me, but I'm worried that court notifications and other shit will start popping up in the mail. I've never been in legal trouble before. My court date isn't until mid June which gives me some time. I'm already doing some research, but I would like a few questions answered/reaffirmed. When should I expect court notifications to start showing up in the mail? What are my chances of getting a lesser conviction? Is this going to mess up my record, or is there a chance I'll just be put on probation? Thanks for any advice
By just looking at the charges, you could say you knew you were not supposed to be where you were and ran from the ranger. Also I'm pretty sure you'll only have to pay fines, no serious record or probation.
if ur that worried about the mail go to the post office get a po box rly rly cheap like insanly cheap and forward all ur mail to it no worries i have major doubts thell do much to u
I looked through Google and found that resisting an officer can be a fine up to $1000 and some minor jail time. I'm not worried about getting charges that severe, but I'm probably going to face some time of fine. How will the fines against me be decided? Will it depend on how good my lawyer is, or is it up to the discretion of the judge? Should I even bother trying to hire a lawyer? I don't have a lot of money, the fines will probably take out most of my money for a while, so I don't want to hire a lawyer if it will do nothing for me
Though you can never predict what the Police will attempt to charge you with, from the sounds of your situation you might be okay. They didn't find any marijuana or paraphenalia on you, so they can't charge you for that. You did run from them, but since they weren't trying to arrest you it's not resisting arrest. Also, since you were at some sort of event the Police probably had a lot of other things to look out for and may have forgotten about the encounter. Best of luck, hope nothing sinister shows up in the mail. Keep on toking...just in a smarter place. Hopefully these hypocritical and corrupt marijuana laws will be history soon.
Can't really give you any advice on what to expect, but if it's your first offense, you might be leaning towards a minimal sentence. As far as your Mom goes, since you weren't changed for anything drug-related, just tell her that you guys were in the woods and your friend was worried about being caught with cigarettes while under-age, and that's why you all started running. I know it sounds really lame, but it might just work.
they gave u resisting arrest because you ran? wtf...Id plead not guilty because you werent really under arrest at the time you ran.
i would get a laawyer if i was you, it is possible you might lose your liscence if you represent yourself. On your court date look as presentable as you can, get a honest hair cut and shave. I think you should be fine, but honestly your mom is probably going to find out, unless you get to the mail earlier then her every day from now until a couple weeks after your court date, good luck. Ps. Your mom will be more disappointed if you don't tell her first, Be honest with her, she just wants to help you.
dude i wouldnt even worry about it. a couple park rangers were fucking with me and my buddy a couple weeks back and i was a smartass too them so they took my name number parents number and all that stuff and we never heard from them again so i wouldnt worry
Park Rangers? I'd be surprised if they show up to the court proceedings. Honestly, worrying about it could be the worst thing to do. Research it, plan out your way to defend yourself, write it down, be satisfied with it, then wait until the court date. Oh and tell your Mom ASAP, she's gonna known, being honest with her is the best thing you can do, but you can omit the weed if you want. Deny all drug use.
Park Rangers? I'd be surprised if they show up to the court proceedings. Honestly, worrying about it could be the worst thing to do. Research it, plan out your way to defend yourself, write it down, be satisfied with it, then wait until the court date. Oh and tell your Mom ASAP, she's gonna known, being honest with her is the best thing you can do, but you can omit the weed if you want. Deny all drug use.
Since I can't really afford to hire a lawyer, should I just hope for the best with the Court-appointed lawyer?
I recently had some minor misdemeanors come my way. I showed up to the court date, a first appearence court date pretty much, and sat there for like 2 hrs waiting for my turn (kinda big city, lots of people in there lol). I asked for a continuance because I knew I didn't have the money. All my fines totaled were at a max 900$ and thirty days in jail. Well after my continuance I got another month till court, showed up with the 900$, and they reduced my fines to no jail, no probation, and 475$. Now the reason I already knew my max fine was because the cp wrote it on my ticket. I got nothing in the mail about court or anything. The only way you might get something from court is if you dont show up and they issue a bench warrant, so I reccomend going, and if you don't have the money, ask for a continuance.
I definitely could not afford the cost of missing a court date and pay off my fines, so I'm definitely going to show up. Will I be automatically granted a continuance if I request it or does there have to be a valid reason? I'm not too familiar with the whole court process so I appreciate any and all advice. I was talking to a friend who has been to court a couple of times. He said the best thing for me to do would be to plead guilty, explain that I'm having some financial issues, and hope that the judge will be nice and cut me some slack. He said that since I have no prior run-ins with the law things will be much easier for me. I was wondering if anyone recommends this, or if you guys have ANY advice about getting the fine reduced. Also, I've done some research and some people have mentioned monthly payment plans. Will I be put on a plan if I request it from the judge? I will probably not be able to pay the fine in one lump sum
Don't worry about the resisting arrest charge. Those vary with your actions. You will be charged with a higher fine if you physically fought back. I'm pretty sure that running away constitutes less of an issue. Props on tossing the herb. If you got busted with the weed, you might not be able to go to the university.
Yep, that's one of the things that ran through my head. I knew I was committed the second I started sprinting away from the rangers, so I didn't want to make things worse for myself if they caught me (which they did). It hurt to toss that pipe, especially since it had about as colorful of a history as a pipe can, but his death saved my ass from some serious shit
I'm bumping this thread to ask a new question. My friend and I went to our court dates, but we weren't on the roster outside the room. We went to check and we were told that the agency that cited us (the Park Rangers) never filed the case with the DA's office. We were told that they have a year to do so. Since there was no case, we just got to go back home Should I expect this to actually happen, or am I virtually in the clear?