shouldnt have said anything, period......i dont say anything to cops....except i want to call my lawyer
Yea, been there, done that. Thing is, here in Atlanta, most cops aren't worried about a measly 7 gram bag. I've taken the honesty route before here, and it's worked like a charm. What I didn't take into account is I was in Gwinnett County, which I guess is famous for it's crackdown on drugs...obviously not famous enough if I didn't know about it, now I do. lol I've had my doubts about did I do the right thing, and the way I figure it, I could have flexed my rights, but then he wouldve flexed his asshole muscle, he would've called the dog (he was in the drug/robbery task force), and I'd had to have bonded out and fought a felony Intent to Distribute due to the scale I had on me (totally untrue, but he could have). I acted correctly with the cards I was given. Some shitty ass cards...
I haven't gotten my hands on the report yet, but will here tomorrow. I'm afraid of that as well, but from what I know, David Clark is the best Search and Seizure lawyer in the area, and has an amazing track record. Also being the executive director of GA NORML adds a lil personal touch to the case for him. I should be ok, but I want to reserve my judgement until after I check that police report.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqMjMPlXzdA"]YouTube - BUSTED: The Citizen's Guide to Surviving Police Encounters[/ame]
How was that cop a douchebag? The dude openly admitted to have a quarter ounce. What do you expect a cop to do? "Oh, thanks for the honesty you can go." Not going to happen unless that cop is having one hell of a good day. It's illegal, of course he's going to get arrested. Also, it's his job to search the car completely in a situation like that; cops typically do that when they arrest someone with a controlled substance. I'm not saying I agree with what the cop did, I personally would have let him go. But that also means my job would have been on the line; not all people are willing to take that risk. Take the perspective of the cops. He finds you with possession of marijuana, a scale, and $600 cash. What do you think he's going to believe? You CAN be polite and still exercise your rights. I've done it several times and I haven't got in trouble yet.
Man, whether you believe it or not, cops here do let you go for 7 grams, I've been let go on 4 and heard of people let go on quarters. I made the correct decision, sucks still, but correct nonetheless.
how do you know it was 'correct'? because some lawyer told you so? lawyers know the law, true, but if you had exercised your rights and had not said that you had anything (provided he had no probable cause i.e. no smell or paraphernalia out) and had not consented to a search, you probably would have been let go. i don't see how incriminating yourself is the 'correct' choice, but i do see that lying to police is not wise either. but if there was no probable cause (nervousness is NOT probable cause) for a search, you would have gotten off with a traffic ticket or a warning. if there was probable cause though, you would be kind of screwed. just don't forget that cops, in a court of law, (theoretically) are not above it.
I can't believe you just told him you had that on you. Not only that, but once you saw the cop follow you guys out of that parking lot.. and you knew you were going to get pulled over, you definitely should have removed the weed from your pocket and stashed it before Mr.Officer reached your car.
This is what I plan on doing. I want to use this as a learning experience, I've already learned alot. While no, he did not have probable cause to search me, he would have definitely called a K9 over (he was in the drug/robbery task force and a general asshole cop). I'm just really surprised so many people think it's that easy to just flex your rights and the cops go running away with their tail between their legs. lol. Throughout my 10 years of experience being in and out of trouble, jail bids, felony and misdemeanor cases alike, I've learned cops are tools that will often use every tool availible to them. While yes, calling a K9 creates more paperwork for cops, this particular cop was one to trust his instincts and he would have called the dog, the dog would have hit, and I would have been fighting a felony Intent to Distribute case instead of a petty Under an Ounce possession case. With a probationary state-issued professional license in limbo because of this case, having a felony instead of a misdemeanor would have been shitty. And as I said, most cops here in Atlanta are not worried about small amounts of marijuana. I've been let go before on having small amounts here just by being honest, so it does pay off to be honest about pot a lot of the time here. Now if I had some pills or coke in my pocket, absolutely not, you've got no choice but to flex your rights, but for a petty little marijuana charge, the honesty card is a good card to play here. Just unfortunately not in Gwinnett County as I've learned lol
i still maintain that it wasn't smart. you incriminated yourself. he had no probable cause to search the car. loud music (where i live) is not a reason to pull someone over and especially not a reason to make someone step out of the car. but it happened. so now you just have to deal with the consequences. good luck.
Well actually Loud Music is a reason to pull someone over in the state of GA, only that our music wasn't loud at all. He didn't have a right to ask me out of the car in the first place, so the seizure was illegal anyways, and by being honest I escaped the felony charge, which would have been expensive as hell. I'm happy with the way I acted Even if some of you say I "incriminated myself", I could have been fighting a felony charge, and the cop was going to find the bud anyways when the dogs came, so how could you even think I hurt myself by being honest? lol just not making sense to me.
Why did you give up your rights the first second he asked you a question..? That sucks, but you probably might of got away with it.. Trust, if it's dick cop or nice cop, I've been through different situations using my rights and got away.
The "War on Drugs" makes it all ok! They bring it in, sell it, source it, then send their armies into the streets to steal it back along w any monies held by that person(s) & place the person(s) into slave labor in privatized prisons. The "War on Drugs" keeps supply controlled, prices astronomical, competition minimal, & the jails filled. Just another day in Babylon
I just read the first page of this but all I can say is, welcome to the club. Waaaaayyy too many people get arrested and charged with possession of marijuana every day. Many of these people are just like you, they have lives, jobs, careers, etc. Many of these people have never been arrested before and maybe have never even committed a crime before except minor traffic laws, and of course smoking. Marijuana laws are stupid, injust, and unconstitutional but there is nothing any of us can do. Marijuana laws ruin MANY more lives than marijuana itself ever could and although it's not what our forefathers had in mind, it is the America we know today. Smoking is illegal and there is nothing we can do about it.
You could have said you had nothing on you and got back into your car. They have no right to search you without reason and no right to search your car without a warrant.
420FLAsmoka, you got lucky if all you got was a misdemeanor cannabis charge. I highly doubt you have anything to worry about. The bottom line is that the cops are gonna do what they want, when they want, where they want, to who they want. If I was you I'd just be happy with the current outcome.
God, i "strongly dislike" cops that just go out of there damn way to give us users a hard time. And thats just fucked up when it comes to your buddy being searched up twice. Hella greezy imo
Damn, I remember being called out of my gym class with a 1/4 of sour diesel wreaking out of my pocket and sitting in the principal's office asking me if I do drugs. I look like I do because of my eyes and my hair. He even said that's why he asked, because I looked like I did drugs. What a douche lol. I didn't get caught and I'm surprised too cause that bud was so skunky.