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lasttime
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what the hell? cops charging kid at my school with "hypothetical" felony
#12523312 - 05/07/10 05:09 PM (14 years, 15 days ago) |
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So there is this underclassmen who got busted earlier this year
all they found on him were a bunch of bags with weed resin in them
in va, distribution is only a felony if its over 14 grams
however, he has been charged with a felony. i talked to him on the phone today, and he said, he admitted that him and a friend would "go in" on 2gs a week and split it. so therefore, the cops took that figure and hypothetically multiplied it by 7 weeks to get to the felony amount!!
and he was convicted!! with a good lawyer!!!!!!!!!!!!
Can anyone explain how this works?
they also got a warrant to search his text transcripts. I have read in a lot of places that verizon holds texts for 5 days max before deleting them. but then again, I saw an article where they brought up relevant texts from months ago. does anyone know how long they actually store texts? if they decide to get a subpoena to sarch my texts and they indeed go back several months I am so so fucked, considering all the trouble this kid is getting in for based on "hypothetical" evidence. the cops here are really trying to crack down...but this sounds like some 1984 shit
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c1dh3d
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Re: what the hell? cops charging kid at my school with "hypothetical" felony [Re: lasttime]
#12523352 - 05/07/10 05:17 PM (14 years, 15 days ago) |
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I'm guessing the text history is what got him, as has been discussed on here two people planning something makes a conspiracy, which after admitting to it verbally would have been what got the judge to issue the subpeona. They need evidence of some sort to justify a subpeona, and a verbal admission of guilt will work.
Do not ever, ever say anything regarding criminal activity unless you are saying it to the above mentioned good lawyer.
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illuminati
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Re: what the hell? cops charging kid at my school with "hypothetical" felony [Re: c1dh3d]
#12523643 - 05/07/10 06:37 PM (14 years, 15 days ago) |
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Holy crap. Man, you should educate this kid (especially if he's your friend) that one should never talk to the police if they are under investigation. I, personally, make it a habit to never talk to police no matter what.
-------------------- I didn't get turned on I just got turned I wasn't as aroused as I was concerned for each one of 'em I've hurt and every time I've been burned I've got a lot to teach but even more to learn
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lasttime
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Re: what the hell? cops charging kid at my school with "hypothetical" felony [Re: illuminati]
#12523879 - 05/07/10 07:18 PM (14 years, 15 days ago) |
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I still dont understand how they can nab him like that without actually confiscating the buds? Don't they have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt?
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c1dh3d
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Re: what the hell? cops charging kid at my school with "hypothetical" felony [Re: lasttime]
#12523922 - 05/07/10 07:26 PM (14 years, 15 days ago) |
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He admitted to a crime.
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NizzyJones
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Re: what the hell? cops charging kid at my school with "hypothetical" felony [Re: lasttime]
#12532520 - 05/09/10 04:01 PM (14 years, 13 days ago) |
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It may also be that they're construing the admission of 'splitting' two grams with a friend to mean 'I bought two grams and sold my friend one'.
-------------------- Wildflower seed on the sand and stone, may the four winds blow you safely home Curriculum vapidum (dry herb vapes)
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fastfred
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Re: what the hell? cops charging kid at my school with "hypothetical" felony [Re: NizzyJones]
#12532967 - 05/09/10 05:37 PM (14 years, 13 days ago) |
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> They need evidence of some sort to justify a subpeona,
No they don't. Text records and phone records are not protected by the 4th amendment. They're "business records" and don't require anything but a subpoena to get. Since it's extremely easy to get a subpoena for almost any reason, most places won't bother making them get one.
Usually business records have to be kept for 6 years.
-FF
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Alan Rockefeller
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Re: what the hell? cops charging kid at my school with "hypothetical" felony [Re: lasttime]
#12533204 - 05/09/10 06:16 PM (14 years, 13 days ago) |
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Quote:
lasttime said:
however, he has been charged with a felony. i talked to him on the phone today, and he said, he admitted that him and a friend would "go in" on 2gs a week and split it. so therefore, the cops took that figure and hypothetically multiplied it by 7 weeks to get to the felony amount!!
and he was convicted!! with a good lawyer!!!!!!!!!!!!
Can anyone explain how this works?
He admitted to marijuana distribution, there is nothing any lawyer can do to avoid conviction at that point.
He should not have agreed to speak with the police.
Quote:
if they decide to get a subpoena to sarch my texts and they indeed go back several months I am so so fucked, considering all the trouble this kid is getting in for based on "hypothetical" evidence.
Never send anything incriminating over text message. Its much worse than talking on the cell phone. Ask the people who you sent these incriminating text messages to delete them from their inbox so if they get pulled over and busted with weed or something, the cops won't find them when they search the phone.
The phone company saves text messages for a very long time, but usually the cops are tipped off to their existence from the phones of people that they arrest.
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lasttime
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Re: what the hell? cops charging kid at my school with "hypothetical" felony [Re: Alan Rockefeller]
#12533244 - 05/09/10 06:21 PM (14 years, 13 days ago) |
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well i didnt send any incriminating texts for several weeks prior to getting arrested. hopefully they wont file for a subpoena. ill keep u guys updated and admit NOTHING, although unfortunately i already admitted i ate shrooms when the cops were arresting me. and , as part of the sheriffs release program i admitted to smoking bud regularly (which i no longer do). it was part of the paperwork to be eligble and i couldnt really be dishonest considering they had already seized my bud and glass collection (not that i would be dishonest anyway)
Edited by lasttime (05/09/10 06:22 PM)
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lasttime
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Re: what the hell? cops charging kid at my school with "hypothetical" felony [Re: lasttime]
#12533313 - 05/09/10 06:32 PM (14 years, 13 days ago) |
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thanks alan, your answer was quite illuminating. It's still incredibly hard for me to believe this is possible in the U S and A though. what if he "admitted" to something he didnt do? they dont need any additional evidence to support this? hypothetically they could have just kept multiplying that 2g's for a whole year and bumped him up to the next level!
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Alan Rockefeller
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Re: what the hell? cops charging kid at my school with "hypothetical" felony [Re: lasttime]
#12533464 - 05/09/10 06:56 PM (14 years, 13 days ago) |
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Quote:
lasttime said: thanks alan, your answer was quite illuminating. It's still incredibly hard for me to believe this is possible in the U S and A though. what if he "admitted" to something he didnt do? they dont need any additional evidence to support this? hypothetically they could have just kept multiplying that 2g's for a whole year and bumped him up to the next level!
People admit to things they didn't do pretty often. They get convicted unless they can prove that they were lying. Often they can use security camera footage, ATM or credit card records to prove that they could not have committed the crime they were accused of.
If you admit to selling weed many times over the course of a few years, it can be a serious charge indeed.
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lasttime
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Re: what the hell? cops charging kid at my school with "hypothetical" felony [Re: Alan Rockefeller]
#12533559 - 05/09/10 07:11 PM (14 years, 13 days ago) |
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so basically they NEED the admission to prove it beyond reasonable doubt? thats what it sounds like to me, especially when all the evidence is long gone?
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c1dh3d
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Re: what the hell? cops charging kid at my school with "hypothetical" felony [Re: lasttime]
#12533716 - 05/09/10 07:42 PM (14 years, 13 days ago) |
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After they have an admission of guilt, it then becomes the defendants responsibility to prove their innocence.
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illuminati
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Re: what the hell? cops charging kid at my school with "hypothetical" felony [Re: c1dh3d]
#12534362 - 05/09/10 09:55 PM (14 years, 13 days ago) |
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Quote:
c1dh3d said: After they have an admission of guilt, it then becomes the defendants responsibility to prove their innocence.
That's typically the case from the beginning anyway.
-------------------- I didn't get turned on I just got turned I wasn't as aroused as I was concerned for each one of 'em I've hurt and every time I've been burned I've got a lot to teach but even more to learn
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fastfred
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Re: what the hell? cops charging kid at my school with "hypothetical" felony [Re: illuminati]
#12536091 - 05/10/10 09:50 AM (14 years, 12 days ago) |
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You generally can't be convicted solely on your own confession. It happens fairly frequently, but it's not legal. A good lawyer can get you off if that's the case.
The problem is that it's usually not hard to come up with some sort of evidence. With a confession all they need is any sort of bullshit corroborating evidence, even testimony from a cop who thinks the guy was guilty based on his "experience".
It sounds like he wasn't convicted solely on his confession. Seems like they had bags with weed resin, cell phone texts, a confession, and a friend that could testify against him. That's hardly a conviction solely on a confession. They probably wouldn't even need the confession in that case since they had plenty of evidence.
-FF
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