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Offlinemindspin
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Registered: 10/23/07
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Hey, need some help/advice concerning possession charges
    #10243952 - 04/27/09 04:35 PM (15 years, 25 days ago)

Recently just got my first criminal charge ever, a misdemeanor with 1 count of possession of marijuana and 3 counts of possession of paraphernalia. In the state of Maryland. I checked out the norml site, http://norml.org/pdf_files/state_penalties/NORML_MD_State_Penalties.pdf, am I likely to experience these charges in full? When I spoke with the cop, he was very insistent on me giving someone up, which even if I did know someone, wouldn't be able to do that based on my own moral compass. He said himself it's not that big of a deal and that I probably wouldn't serve time, but do I really need to hire a lawyer, and is there any possibility that they would come into my house between now and then?

Just to give the lowdown, I was at a campus apartment on a thursday night, and there was a party next door. Someone opened the door as soon as cops were downstairs, and they came in, nabbed my stuff (a volcano, grinder and my friend's pipe) as well as my herb which I didn't have more than 2g of. I took the heat for everything, told them everything was mine and they took down our names. I just got the court summons in the mail today, I was never arrested or booked or anything like that. It doesn't feel like it's all that serious, but what would you guys recommend that I do?

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InvisibleDontPlay
Yeah Science!
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Registered: 12/13/07
Posts: 750
Loc: On Land most of the time....
Re: Hey, need some help/advice concerning possession charges [Re: mindspin]
    #10243971 - 04/27/09 04:39 PM (15 years, 25 days ago)

It doesn't seem serious because it happens so much. Most towns law enforcement is so busy they don't have time to arrest everyone just so they can be released a day later.

As far as hiring a lawyer that seems like a personal opinion. You already admitted to it all being yours and you sound like your just going to plead guilty. So you might as well let them appoint you one. Save your money to pay all the fines they are likely to rape you with.

Also no you probably won't do any jail time, community service, fines out the ass...is your likely punishment. Also a criminal record now!


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OfflineAlan RockefellerM
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Registered: 03/10/07
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Re: Hey, need some help/advice concerning possession charges [Re: mindspin]
    #10244212 - 04/27/09 05:13 PM (15 years, 25 days ago)

Quote:

am I likely to experience these charges in full?




No, they aren't going to send you to jail for a year.

I'd start saving up for the fines though, it sounds like they are going to try to pickpocket you.

If the search was completely legal and there are no problems with the case (i.e. you were doing something stupid) then I would just plead guilty and let the chips fall where they may.

But that will not look good when applying for jobs so if there is any chance you can get the evidence suppressed you should fight it.

Hiring a lawyer may be overkill, all you really want to do is draft a reasonable motion to suppress and file that, if it succeeds you are out of there, if it fails you plead guilty and pay the damn fine.

Maybe you can pay a lawyer a couple hundred to help you out with the motion.

The first thing you need to do is get the arrest report from the county clerk.  Just call them and ask how to do that.  Once you have it you can start thinking about legal defense strategies based on what it says.  Once you get the docs you should schedule a free consultation with a lawyer, tell him everything and ask what he would do.  Then go do it yourself.

How did you come to their attention and what statements did you already make?

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Offlinemindspin
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Registered: 10/23/07
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Last seen: 12 years, 5 months
Re: Hey, need some help/advice concerning possession charges [Re: Alan Rockefeller]
    #10244324 - 04/27/09 05:30 PM (15 years, 25 days ago)

Thanks for posting guys. As I said I was at a friend's apartment, the cops were campus police, who I believe are off-duty county cops. Originally I was told to leave because I didn't live there, but I told them that everything was mine, because my best friend who lives there doesn't even smoke and I couldn't let him get the rag for it. I didn't make any "official statements" as I wasn't booked, but I was honest, compliant and answered whatever questions they asked (none seemed intrusive) and I also had a small friendly debate with the officers regarding the war on drugs. I received a court summons with all of the information, is the arrest report something different, Alan? Thanks for the advice!

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Invisiblefastfred
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Re: Hey, need some help/advice concerning possession charges [Re: mindspin]
    #10248501 - 04/28/09 10:22 AM (15 years, 24 days ago)

With respect to the NORML link... They have just listed the misdemeanor sentencing limits  e.g. up to $1000 fine and/or up to 1 year in jail.

That's just the definition of a misdemeanor crime.  You won't get anywhere near that.  Almost every judge has a standard sentence for MJ possession.  They usually see several every day.

In my locale it's a ~$600 fine.  No jail time, no probation.  In another state I used to live in it's a $110 ticket, and you don't have to go to jail.  It's actually less than a MIP ticket.


A standard plea bargain is to drop the paraphernalia charges for a guilty plea to the possession.

Unfortunately you really kind of fucked yourself by confessing to the crime right off the bat.  Never, ever make ANY statement to the police under ANY circumstances.

While what you did was honorable you easily could have fucked over yourself and your friend.  They could have charged you both!  You confessed and he's in possession.  In fact, he still might get charged if the prosecutor is an asshole.

In a lot of states there's laws such as association and frequenting laws that allow them to charge anyone that was there.

Anyhow, you should have kept your mouth shut.  You can always sort things out later.  It wasn't your fault you got busted.  It was the person who let the cops in and your buddies fault for not maintaining a secure place and/or letting that other guy in his house.

You shouldn't have to take the rap for someone else's mistake.


-FF

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OfflineAlan RockefellerM
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Re: Hey, need some help/advice concerning possession charges [Re: mindspin]
    #10249379 - 04/28/09 01:09 PM (15 years, 24 days ago)

Quote:

I received a court summons with all of the information, is the arrest report something different, Alan?




Yea the arrest report is the document that they write everything up in, the thing that they give you after they process you is more like a receipt.

It was nice of you to speak up and take the rap for your friend but your admission means that you won't be able to successfully fight the charge.

It would be nice if they could drop some charges in exchange for pleading guilty to others, I am not sure how you would go about making a deal like that.  Possibly by talking to the prosecutor.

No worries in any case, they are just going to fine you.  Perhaps you'll be able to apply to have the charges expunged so you won't have to list it on job applications.


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Offlinemindspin
Heirophant


Registered: 10/23/07
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Re: Hey, need some help/advice concerning possession charges [Re: Alan Rockefeller]
    #10252806 - 04/28/09 10:18 PM (15 years, 24 days ago)

Thanks for all the replies. In retrospect, I know that under all/most circumstances you should keep your mouth shut and say nothing, but it goes further than that. I can definitely say in this circumstance, it took the heat off of my friend who had stuff going on in his bedroom, and by stuff, I mean stuff related to this website. In any case, I think my actions justify the outcome, one getting busted instead of 4, and a misdemeanor vs. a felony. What's done is done though, and there's no use mucking about what happened in the past, I just need to sort out what I'm going to do.

It sounds like the best thing in this case would be to just go with the public defender, gathering from what you guys are telling me. If I admitted to it on the spot, there's not really any way to fight it. I'll be respectful, courteous and honest, and hopefully that will net me some points with the judge.

I appreciate all the replies, but I do have one more question that wasn't clearly addressed. What exactly are the laws concerning a misdemeanor, specifically possession, and any follow up investigations? Am I likely to be someone that's going to be investigated by the police in the near future, or would you say this is too frequent of a case for anyone to specifically pay attention to me? I live in a pretty intense area, a lot of stuff happens in the county I live in and this is my first criminal charge, ever. Would any of you say that it's likely for them to try to get into my place?

Thanks in advance!

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InvisibleLe_Canard
The Duk Abides


Registered: 05/16/03
Posts: 94,392
Loc: Earthfarm 1 Flag
Re: Hey, need some help/advice concerning possession charges [Re: mindspin]
    #10252974 - 04/28/09 10:39 PM (15 years, 24 days ago)

Losing that Volcano must've hurt. I can sympathize with losing good gear to the piggies.

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Invisiblejohnm214
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Re: Hey, need some help/advice concerning possession charges [Re: Le_Canard]
    #10253373 - 04/28/09 11:48 PM (15 years, 24 days ago)

well whatever man, but fast fred is completely right.


As far as taking the heat off, there is no reason two people can't posses those things and there is no reason why you couldn' have testified at trial if that's what you wanted to do.  Instead you admitted everything for no reason whatsoever legally.  Whatever the other factors, you no better than us.


What state are you in and what are the paraphanalia charges concerning?  Maybe there's some case law that will demonstrate these are excessive charges.


How did they get in?  Your explanation in your original post is unclear.  What did they do to get in?  What was said to them?  Did anyone consent or in any way aide their entrance?


In the future: don't consent, don't talk, and certainly don't confess.



I also disagree with alan.  While you'll likely plead guilty in the end (which alan may be refering to) plead not guilty.  You have the right to an attorney, use it, and see what kinda deal you can get.  You plead guilty you'll usually be sentenced right their.  You plead not guilty you may be offered treatment for your marijuana addiction or classes on how to help with marijuana withdrawal and coping strategies in addition to expungment/dismissal.



The problem with you confessing is depending upon what exactly happened, the fact that you confessed may still be used against you even if the entry was ruled illegal.  Don't talk to the police

Plead not guilty, ask for an attorney, see if the attorney will cost you anything, and see if you can get soem deal.  Being convicted has much more of an effect beyond the sentence.

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Offlinemindspin
Heirophant


Registered: 10/23/07
Posts: 96
Last seen: 12 years, 5 months
Re: Hey, need some help/advice concerning possession charges [Re: johnm214]
    #10253822 - 04/29/09 01:45 AM (15 years, 24 days ago)

To be honest, I don't know how they got in. I was sitting at a table playing some cards and I couldn't see the door. I heard "Whose smoking weed?" and that was that. My friend's roommate was letting her friend out of the building (it's a garden apartment) and I guess they walked in to bust the party that was across the hall. My guess is they took a look at her and saw her red eyes, or smelled it from the hallway. I'm in Maryland, and what was confiscated was my vaporizer, a grinder and a friend's piece.

I don't think anyone actually let them in, though who knows.

Argh. I guess I'm going to have to shop around for an attorney, thanks for the help again, guys.

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Invisiblefastfred
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Re: Hey, need some help/advice concerning possession charges [Re: mindspin]
    #10297392 - 05/06/09 03:12 PM (15 years, 16 days ago)

I wouldn't bother with anything other than a public defender.  Based on your description I don't think there's any way you could get off.

Plead not guilty, then you'll have a pre-trial hearing at a future date.  This is when you ask for a deal.  Usually they will make small deals on the spot with no problem.  It's pretty standard to drop paraphernalia charges for a guilty plea on the possession.  I've seen it happen a couple times without the defendant even asking for it.

Chances are that you will just get the standard sentence.  They see a lot of these cases so they almost always hand out standard fines.

It's probably not worth trying to get treatment or a withheld judgment.  You only get one withheld judgment and it's not worth wasting on such a minor charge.  Treatment is also going to waste a ton of your time and cost a fortune.

And either one of those routes will end up with you on probation.  Probation is usually just giving you enough rope to hang yourself.  I know people that choose to stay in prison rather than take probation.


So just pay your fine and be done with it.  If you get some community service or probation it shouldn't be much.


-FF

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Offline79towncar
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Re: Hey, need some help/advice concerning possession charges [Re: fastfred]
    #10313257 - 05/09/09 03:05 PM (15 years, 13 days ago)

Yea this is just simple possession. Hire an attorney and maybe take a plea of probation. Then be where you gotta be, pee when you gotta pee and in 18 months you'll probably be free hehe.

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Invisiblefastfred
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Re: Hey, need some help/advice concerning possession charges [Re: 79towncar]
    #10314910 - 05/09/09 10:18 PM (15 years, 13 days ago)

Quote:

79towncar said:
Yea this is just simple possession. Hire an attorney and maybe take a plea of probation. Then be where you gotta be, pee when you gotta pee and in 18 months you'll probably be free hehe.




That would be a really shitty deal.  What he should be looking at is a $150-600 fine with no probation.  If he gets any probation at all that would really be getting fucked on a simple possession charge.


-FF

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