Ok. So. My two buddies and I decided to smoke a joint, consisting of both my bud and his bud (other friend didn't toss in), relatively close to a dormitory and the college gym (we attend a University). We're damn close to finishing the joint when a cop shines his flashlight on all of us and tells us to stop what we're doing. My friend, who also threw down on the joint, roaches it instantly and buries it in the ground near him. The officer searched us, patted us down, and asked who owned the weed. There was about a 7 second pause before my friend (the one found with the joint in his hand) said that it was both of ours (mine and his). Upon emptying all of our pockets, a cigar tube for a Backwoods sized cigars was found in my possession (on my person). That tube has never held weed in it until the officer put the roach in it (assuming that this was what the tube was intended for). He asked me who owned it (the tube), and I said "I did," but that was it. Note that he never told me that this is paraphernalia. He simply asked me "Who owns this?" He walks us to a couple picnic tables and begins to write all three of us our summons'. He charges my friend, who owned up, and who had the joint in his hand when the cop came, with a possession of a usable amount of marijuana drug related offense. I got charged with possession of paraphernalia. The second I saw that I was charged with something I asked "What for?" My friend owned up to the weed, the joint was all we had (thank god). So he whips out the test tube and says that this is paraphernalia and because I owned up to owning the tube, he charged me with paraphernalia when he himself was the one who made it paraphernalia in the first place, because he used it to store the joint. This is what I am going to have to do now. My court date is November 18th, 2010, and I was charged on September 30th, 2010. I want to plead innocence because I am being charged with something that I own that the cop made paraphernalia, on the spot, because he used it to store the joint in it (so he could bring it 'safely' back to the station). He even used gloves and physically put it (the joint) in the tube, that I said was mine. Back to before I signed the summons, I asked to see the paraphernalia I was being charged with owning and he whips out the tube. That tube has never been used to store joints, blunts or weed of any kind before, just a Backwoods cigar that I smoked 4 days prior to this charge and forgot that I left it in my pocket of the pants I was wearing. Do I have a case that I can appeal and fight, guys? I am currently a Sophomore at a Public University, and am working towards a Business Management degree. This is also my FIRST offense, ever, ever. Why should I do Grasscity.com? And if I can't appeal this that what penalties/obstructions will I face in my life from now on? Can I get this taken off my record if I am found guilty?
stupid cops figures he would put the roach in with the tube. this upsets me. he pretty much planted it on you. he "assumed" which was the wrong thing to do. he should have looked at the situation differently. whats next? hes gonna shoot someone and plant the gun on him/her to say it was suicide
Depending on what state you are in, your laws can differ from someone who doesn't live in your state. I suggest calling around to Lawyers and see if any will give you a free consult or something.
Das said exactly what i was gonna lol. Call around, see if they think they can do something about it, then talk money. No sense in hiring someone not worth a damn.
get a lawyer thats bullshitter how i cop would do that all the cops here just take your stash and leave you alone, lol
i would get a lawyer, its simple. search google for marijuana lawyers then ur zip code. i got arrested in june, so i just went to court [ only for a fucking continuance again]. heres why, u get in and out quicker with a real lawyer and they look more professional. aka if it was a fuckin cigar tube, the judge will prolly drop that shit cuz thats whack. real lawyers arent that pricey, maybe 300-500. my guy only wants my bail bond $ so it may be less for u. my last words, its not as bad as it may seem lol. TRUST ME. its a slap on the wrist ur first time.
Guys, I can't thank you enough to see these responses when I come home from a long day of making calls pertaining to this particular incident. Waking up this morning was like "whaaaaa...just happened last night?" I woke up to my ticket sitting on my desk next to my laptop, only after having 4 hours of sleep because I was so telle'd up from the experience. Thank you everyone. I think i'm going to fight it.
You can most definitely fight this and win, cigar tubes are just that, cigar tubes and nothing more. Storage cannot be considered para., as long as there is no weed residue. Take your friend with ou to court and fight that shit, if the cop says that there was residue say it's impossible because you rolled the joint on site/ carried it in your hand. He obciously is at fault, don't let them win! FIGHT THE POWER!
Was the cop campus police or city/county? That could make a world of difference. You say the incident occurred near the dorm, but you also say you were issued a summons for court, that's leaving me a little confused. I got busted on-campus back in the day by campus cops, and the procedure was totally different than it would have been with a "regular" police officer. Campus substance-abuse violations (at least in North Carolina) are handled by the university and don't require you to make an appearance at the county courthouse. I had to schedule a meeting with a staffer at the dean's office and at that point tell him if I was pleading guilty/not guilty. If you plead not guilty the matter goes before student court, which unfortunately is almost never going to overturn anything. It was my first violation so I was able to get off with paying a $150 fee for three substance-abuse counseling sessions and then had to behave for the next two semesters before the entire thing was expunged from my record. The reason I mention that is because if you got charged by the city/county then it's a totally different story, but I'm still not sure you'd necessarily want to pay what it's going to take to fight this case. I got popped for a simple possession (less than 1/2 oz) misdemeanor last year at a traffic stop and since it was my first violation (the campus incident never made it into the "real" world) I petitioned for a "prayer for judgement" and got a slap on the wrist. If the prayer for judgement is an option in your state you might want to consider that. If it's your first charge the judge usually gives you a path to getting it expunged from the record, with the caveat that if you are caught in the future it would reappear and "double up" your penalty at that time. I ended up paying court fees, $125, paid for a 15-hour substance-abuse course, $150, and then it was expunged. So no big deal really. Hope that helps.