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What should I do?

Discussion in 'Seasoned Marijuana Users' started by ResinBall, Jan 20, 2004.

  1. #1 ResinBall, Jan 20, 2004
    Hi I'm kind of new to the forums I've read a few post but never really posted any thing myself before.

    Here is the thing, A couple weeks ago i was driving to my freinds house like i had done a hundred times before. About a mile away from his house I gave a stop sign the quick 1,2 GO aproach. as I turn I notice that the car about a block down the road is a cop and he probably saw me go through the stop sign pretty quick. Sure enough he turns around and follows me to my friends house and pulls be over in the parking lot outside of his apartments. I wasnt really that worried i had gotten a number of tickets before and was even joking about it with my buddy in the passenger side. The cop comes up and gives me the same line I had heard before flashes me in the eyes with his light and looks around my car , which was a mess, i give him my liscence and he goes to right a ticket. After a couple minutes I started to get worried it was taking to long for him to write the ticket, and I become very aware of the fact that I hate my pipe in my pocket and start to think about hiding it somewhere , but deside not to because if the cop would do see anything i was done for sure(i hadnt smoked all day so figured it wouldnt come up anyway).

    I turned around to see what was taking the cop so long and notice another sqad car pull up and put his spotlight on my car.....HOLYSHIT I thought what is going on I've had my share of tickets and NEVER had it taken two cops to do the job. I brought this fact up to my friend , but he trys to calm me down by telling me that the other cop was prolly in the neighborhood and just thought he would help.

    The officer approaches my car and deside that the spotlight isnt enough and shoots his maglight in my eye "could you step out of the car" he says. "What the hell is going on! all i did was run a stop sign " I think. this was getting real , the cop pushes me up against the car "do you have any sharp objects on you sir!" he shouts. Alittle shaken and nervious I went through my options at this point, knowning that I was going to get searched, I give in there was nothing I could do I tell the officer that I had a pipe in my pocket. He takes it out and ask if there was anything else ....i tell him that there was some green powder on a tray on the floor in the back seat. he didnt seem to be satisfied he asked me " What about the beer in the backseat". I was puzzled , my mind was goin a mile a minute " beer?! i hadnt drank in weeks" i thought. and then it hits me, a couple weeks ago a friend had gave me a beerlight, it was about 4inches wide and 6 inches tall and had fosters written across it. I left it in the car because it was flat and perfect for cleaning weed. I explain to the officer "Its a light there is no beer in the car".


    After he searched my car he found another piece that someone had left in my arm rest. By then I was already in the squad car waiting to go to jail. I got charged with possession and parophanalia and go to court on thursday 1/22 at 800 am.

    Here is way need some help , I'm 19 years old but live with my parents. My parents hate drugs and dont even drink and used to tell me as a kid that if I ever started doing drugs they would kick me out. But I live in a fairly small town and word travels. I dont want to tell them but fear they will find out anyway. What do you guys and gals think? how should i approach this? And is there anyway i can keep this hole thing as quiet as possible?
     
  2. #2 IndianaToker, Jan 20, 2004

    This was a mistake. Under no circumstances do you ever consent to a search without your lawyer present. Reserve your 4th amendment right. Here is some information on the subject from Norml's website. I've bolded some text that is important for you to know. Please go and read this link. You need to be aware of your rights and your power to exercise them.

    http://www.norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=3405

    Never Consent
    Many individuals arrested on marijuana charges could have avoided that arrest by exercising their Fourth Amendment rights. If a law enforcement officer asks for your permission to search, it is usually because: (1) there is not enough evidence to obtain a search warrant; or (2) the officer does not feel like going through the hassle of obtaining a warrant. Law enforcement officers are trained to intimidate people into consenting to searches. If you do consent, you waive your constitutional protection and the officers may search and seize items without further authorization. If officers find contraband, they will arrest you.

    If you do not consent to a search, the officer must either release you or detain you and attempt to get a warrant. The fact that you refuse to consent does not give the officer grounds to obtain a warrant or further detain you.

    An officer can obtain a search warrant only from a judge or magistrate and only upon a showing of "probable cause." Probable cause requires an officer to articulate information that would cause a reasonable person to believe that a crime has been or is being committed and that evidence of that involvement can be found within the object of the search.

    There are exceptions to the search warrant requirement which permit an officer to search an area without a warrant or consent under certain circumstances. The important thing for you to remember is never to consent to a search or talk with an officer if you want to preserve your rights.

    If an officer asks to search you or an area belonging to you or over which you are authorized to control, you should respond:

    "I do not consent to a search of my [person, baggage, purse, luggage, vehicle, house, blood, etc.] I do not consent to this contact and do not want to answer any questions. If I am not under arrest, I would like to go now (or be left alone)."
     
  3. #3 ToKeN NiNja, Jan 20, 2004

    i wish i knew that!...thats how i got busted he asked if he could search me...
     
  4. #4 RMJL, Jan 20, 2004
    You should have put your pipe in your glove compartment and locked it. They can't look in there without a search warrant.



    That doesn't help you now.


    Since you live with them, I don't see how you'll be able to keep it from them, especially since it's a small town. They probably know people who work at the court house. What about a lawyer? What are you going to do about that?

    How did you get charged with possession? The green powder? Geez!


    Are you close with your parents or is it one of those relationships where you all just kind of leave each other be? If you're close with them, then I'd just fess up. If not, try to go it alone. I'm just concerned about what will end up on your record without a lawyer involved. Sometimes they can get things dropped to a lesser charge or completely, if it's a first offense. I didn't see what state you are from...NORML has a list of lawyers who can help in certain states.


    The part about your parents saying they will kick you out if you do drugs is probably just a technique to keep you from doing them. If they are serious, then it's probably better that you be on your own anyway.



    Too many people are getting busted lately. I'm hating that for all of you. I wish that I could wave a magic wand and just change the laws right now but I can't.

    Good luck with it. I'll try to find out some info that might help you in court. It seems you are more worried about your parents though.
     
  5. #5 RMJL, Jan 20, 2004
    I'm glad you posted that info, Indy! The thing that sucks is that when the officer asked him out of the car and he turned over the pipe...that was their probable cause to search...without it, they wouldn't have had probable cause. If they can visually see something in the car or they find something on you while outside of the car, that's the exception to the warrant rule.
     
  6. #6 IndianaToker, Jan 20, 2004
    I understand what you're saying, I was implying that he should not have given him the pipe. It never ceases to amaze me how many people are unaware of their own rights. People are afraid of getting in "more" trouble by not being cooperative. Thinking if they go along with things there will be less trouble for them in the long run. As any decent lawyer could tell you, that's simply horseshit. In fact, I firmly believe that every person that regularly smokes or grows marijunana should have a lawyer on retainer. You don't want to be in that situation and not have a lawyer you can trust when you need him. I understand that not everyone could afford to do that, but save up if you have to people. The cost of a retainer for a good lawyer will pay for itself in peace of mind even if you don't ever need their services.

    Edit: Here's the link to the attorney listings of the NORML Legal Committee. Everyone should take note of a lawyer in your area.

    http://www.norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=3445
     
  7. #7 RMJL, Jan 20, 2004
    Yeah...I personally think that people should keep a print out of the 4th amendment in their car and by their front door so that they can quote it when necessary. Cops appear stunned when people actually know their rights.
     
  8. #8 Doobie-Doo!, Jan 20, 2004
    "That's some fucked up repugnant shit"
     
  9. #9 ResinBall, Jan 20, 2004
    Wow I wish I would have known that I could just tell him he couldnt search me. They had me against the car and they never really asked me if they could do anything.... I guess they used fear alot more than anything. they kept there hands on there guns and would start yelling WHOA WHOA everthime i tried to move.

    As far as my parents go , we have an ok relationship everytime i see them we joke with each other but i only talk to them about an hour a day ,even though we live in the same house. My dad always drops hints that he knows i smoke weed but my mom is clueless. I know they will find out , but i dont know if they will actually confront me about the issue. My parents play mind games more than anything.

    I already kind of know what I will get as a judgment because i have friends that have had similiar run ins with the law. they got 6 months probation and a fine.

    thanks for the info indiana and your response reform.

    Looking back at the hole thing i know there was a number of points where i could have changed the outcome , but what is done is done i guess. Do you think it would be better to try to get my own lawyer? would it change the outcome....anyone know how much it would cost?
     
  10. #10 IndianaToker, Jan 20, 2004

    Don't be too hard on yourself ResinBall. The important thing is that you've learned a valueable leason from all of this.

    I would at least call around to a few different lawyers, explain the situation and see what they could do to help. I agree with Jilly about this. I'd be concerned about what would end up on your record without a lawyer. Expect to pay somewhere around $100 an hour, give or take.
     
  11. #11 ResinBall, Jan 20, 2004
    Thanks again for all the help. I sent a Email to a Thomas J. O'Flaherty, he's a lawyer in my area and I got his name off of the norml website. I hope he can help and I did learn alot from this experience.
     
  12. #12 RMJL, Jan 20, 2004
    Good deal. I hope he gets back to you asap. The 22nd isn't that far away.


    We all make mistakes and most of us learn from them. I'm just glad that you came here and talked about it. Hopefully, some of the info provided will benefit you.


    Good luck and keep us updated! :)
     
  13. #13 IndianaToker, Jan 20, 2004
    I'm glad you've learned a few things along the way ResinBall. I recognize the name of that lawyer. Used to hail from the same state as you, lived in Waterloo. Pretty small world after all! :)

    Please do keep us updated!
     
  14. #14 ResinBall, Jan 20, 2004
    thats good to hear , i currently live in waterloo, ia. I was hoping he would be from iowa but i never thought he would come from the loo.
     
  15. #15 ResinBall, Jan 20, 2004
    hmmm......I've gotten some bad news from the lawyer. He sent me a responce but he's going to charge 2000$ that amount is impossible for me to pay :(
     
  16. #16 IndianaToker, Jan 20, 2004

    LOL, I meant that I used to live in Waterloo. :D



    My best advice to you is to "shop around" then. Find out what he was going to do for $2000 and ask a few other lawyers what they would charge for the same thing. Lawyer prices vary widely, but so does the quality of the lawyer. He might be a bit higher because he's on NORML's legal committee. But by the same token, he probably knows the most about the issue at hand since he's a member of NORML.
     
  17. #17 ResinBall, Jan 20, 2004
    AWESOME you used to live in waterloo it is a small world.
     

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