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Alan Rockefeller
Mycologist

Registered: 03/10/07
Posts: 48,266
Last seen: 11 hours, 49 minutes
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I don't see any reason to bring his parents into this. Since the driver admitted there might be weed and they used a drug dog, I don't think the evidence will get tossed even with a high priced private attorney. If the evidence doesn't get tossed, the chance of getting off is about 0%.
Pleading guilty is the right thing to do in a case like this - ask the PD to negotiate a good plea that involves drug court / deferred adjudication so it isn't a drug conviction on your record.
You don't plead guilty right off the bat, you plead innocent and work on a plea deal.
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Anonymous #28
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Quote:
cannabinated said: Last night I was busted for less than a gram of MDMA. It was around 2:30 AM, I was a passenger in my friends car and he was pulled over for going the wrong way down a one way street. They suspected that he was inebriated, however, he passed the field test. They were pressing to know if there was any weed in the car and my friend said " No, but there might be crumbs". At that point they claimed that they were going to bring a K9 unit. They brought us out of the car and sat us on the end of the cop car that had pulled behind us. They claimed that the K9 gave a positive alert, however, throughout the process we never saw a K9 unit or a dog sniff out the car. After they they claimed they had a positive alert, they searched the car and searched our bodies. I had stashed the little baggie of MDMA in my sweater cuff and I almost passed the pat down, however my sleeve was slowly slipping down while my hands were on my head and the bag fell on the ground as they finished searching.
They took me to central booking and I was charged with possession of a schedule 1 substance as well as "possession with intent to use drug paraphernalia". They claimed that the bag that the MDMA was in was paraphernalia that was used to store a dangerous substance.
I need to know what the proper course of action is. I don't have the money to hire a private attorney unless my parents were to get involved, which I would hate to have happen. They are going through their own turmoil right now and I'm scared about introducing them to my situation. My family has access to good lawyers and I know they would help me out, but it would make life at home a living hell.
This is my first offense, I'm a 20 year old college student in the state of Maryland. Also, my court date is in 8 weeks and I have no idea what the scope of the penalties could be.
Any advice would be tremendously appreciated.
"No, but there might be crumbs."
^ This got them arrested. Watch yourselves guys. (Also don't drive the wrong way down a one way, or being inebriated.)
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Enlil
OTD God-King




Registered: 08/16/03
Posts: 65,471
Loc: Uncanny Valley
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Quote:
cannabinated said: Last night I was busted for less than a gram of MDMA. It was around 2:30 AM, I was a passenger in my friends car and he was pulled over for going the wrong way down a one way street. They suspected that he was inebriated, however, he passed the field test. They were pressing to know if there was any weed in the car and my friend said " No, but there might be crumbs". At that point they claimed that they were going to bring a K9 unit. They brought us out of the car and sat us on the end of the cop car that had pulled behind us. They claimed that the K9 gave a positive alert, however, throughout the process we never saw a K9 unit or a dog sniff out the car. After they they claimed they had a positive alert, they searched the car and searched our bodies. I had stashed the little baggie of MDMA in my sweater cuff and I almost passed the pat down, however my sleeve was slowly slipping down while my hands were on my head and the bag fell on the ground as they finished searching.
They took me to central booking and I was charged with possession of a schedule 1 substance as well as "possession with intent to use drug paraphernalia". They claimed that the bag that the MDMA was in was paraphernalia that was used to store a dangerous substance.
I need to know what the proper course of action is. I don't have the money to hire a private attorney unless my parents were to get involved, which I would hate to have happen. They are going through their own turmoil right now and I'm scared about introducing them to my situation. My family has access to good lawyers and I know they would help me out, but it would make life at home a living hell.
This is my first offense, I'm a 20 year old college student in the state of Maryland. Also, my court date is in 8 weeks and I have no idea what the scope of the penalties could be.
Any advice would be tremendously appreciated.
The search sounds good, so you're probably stuck with a plea deal. I'd suggest asking your public defender to seek a diversion so that you can keep your record clean.
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Enlil
OTD God-King




Registered: 08/16/03
Posts: 65,471
Loc: Uncanny Valley
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Quote:
Mr.GuessWork said: Or you could a good lawyer, not get thousands of dollars in fines and better avoid getting drug charges on your permanent record. Not all of the penalties are simply about money. I've heard of lots of public defenders simply telling their clients to plead guilty. When a paid lawyer tells you that, you can fire him and then look for a good lawyer who can actually help you. You don't need a lawyer to walk into court and plead guilty. Any idiot can do that. Furthermore, Your parents probably have more experience with lawyers, and they can probably help get you a good one. You shouldn't walk into a court without help when you're new to the experience. You want people looking out for you so you don't make naive mistakes. The judge or prosecution (or whoever is arguing to punish you) will take advantage of any weakness they can find, and from the way the police search went down, it sounds like you've got exploitable weaknesses, and you would benefit from experienced help. You want all the help you can get.
I think your priorities are wrong. Not getting in trouble with the law is a lot more important than not getting in trouble with you parents. Your parents actually love you and care about what happens to you. The legal system just wants to eat you. Don't feed the pigs, man.
You have a strange view of public defenders. over 80% of all criminal cases end in a guilty plea, so a private attorney would do the same most of the time. There isn't really a good way to attach this case, and the sooner he cuts a deal, the better deal he's going to get.
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Anonymous #91
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Re: Ask a defense attorney [Re: Enlil]
#21436885 - 03/20/15 06:22 PM (8 years, 10 months ago) |
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So we've touched on this before but I'd like clarification. My uncle is crazy, and I fear for my life living around him. At any given moment I fear he may get drunk and kick down my door and try to harm me. (He has tried to kill me before, but I managed to escape, no police report because I was too afraid to come back to the house and file the complaint at the time)
Under Texas law, so I've read, I don't have to make an attempt to run or escape. I am authorized to use deadly force. Is this true? My doors stay locked and he does not have any permission what so ever to even so much step foot on my property. So if he did kick down the door and tried to attack me, is deadly force justified?
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fuzzysig
user

Registered: 10/21/11
Posts: 422
Last seen: 3 years, 3 months
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can I take seller to small claims court when he claims a working item in his ad and then it turns out to need a lot more repairs than I thought. I inspected it best I could but it was impossible to check it internally without taking it apart at the time of sale
it appeared to be in working order but it wasn't.and he claimed it was in perfect working order
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Mr.GuessWork
Stranger

Registered: 03/30/13
Posts: 4,563
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Re: Ask an attorney [Re: Enlil]
#21438702 - 03/21/15 08:54 AM (8 years, 10 months ago) |
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Quote:
Enlil said:
Quote:
Mr.GuessWork said: Or you could a good lawyer, not get thousands of dollars in fines and better avoid getting drug charges on your permanent record. Not all of the penalties are simply about money. I've heard of lots of public defenders simply telling their clients to plead guilty. When a paid lawyer tells you that, you can fire him and then look for a good lawyer who can actually help you. You don't need a lawyer to walk into court and plead guilty. Any idiot can do that. Furthermore, Your parents probably have more experience with lawyers, and they can probably help get you a good one. You shouldn't walk into a court without help when you're new to the experience. You want people looking out for you so you don't make naive mistakes. The judge or prosecution (or whoever is arguing to punish you) will take advantage of any weakness they can find, and from the way the police search went down, it sounds like you've got exploitable weaknesses, and you would benefit from experienced help. You want all the help you can get.
I think your priorities are wrong. Not getting in trouble with the law is a lot more important than not getting in trouble with you parents. Your parents actually love you and care about what happens to you. The legal system just wants to eat you. Don't feed the pigs, man.
You have a strange view of public defenders. over 80% of all criminal cases end in a guilty plea, so a private attorney would do the same most of the time. There isn't really a good way to attach this case, and the sooner he cuts a deal, the better deal he's going to get.
I wasn't trying to say that public defenders are any worse than normal lawyers, though I see how it might have come off that way. I've certainly heard of many private attorneys giving that same lame advice right off the bat, but they're more replaceable since the person paying them generally has the money to do a bit of shopping around. There are a couple reasons why I think he shouldn't just rely on a public defender here:
1) You're sort of stuck with what you get with a public defender. If you don't like the one you've got, then it's harder to get another one. Public defenders are for people who can't pay for their own defense. This guy is thinking about opting into that category.
2) Public defenders tend to have higher caseloads than private lawyers, so even if you get a good one, he's probably going to have less time to thoroughly work through your problems. If a private lawyer does that, he can more easily be replaced.
3) He's using the public defender option to avoid getting his parents involved when he could be taking advantage of their experience and resources. If he can get help shopping for a good lawyer, then he should take it. This kind of decision making is partly why 20 year olds are vulnerable to the legal system, and they should seek help when they can.
Getting a good lawyer relies on experience with the legal system. I'm assuming his parents have a lot more of that than he does, and they have the resources to follow through with their advice. You, for example, having been around and intimately involved in the legal system, can probably pick out a bad lawyer after talking to one for a couple minutes. This guy is probably just going to accept whatever deal gets handed to him because he doesn't know any better.
I think he should at least talk to his parents and maybe get a few different legal opinions if they're available before he commits to getting a public defender and paying fines. The first deal is not always the best deal with this stuff, and it's always good to have more options. I've seen a lawyer-change shift the case outcome from pleading guilty and taking the hit to getting off scot-free. That might not be possible in this situation, but it's worth looking into, especially if he has the resources to do it.
EDIT: I probably shouldn't have used the word scot-free where I did. I just meant "free of any consequences". I didn't mean to imply that any punishment was deserved.
Edited by Mr.GuessWork (03/21/15 08:58 AM)
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PogoTheMonkey
Stranger
Registered: 03/21/15
Posts: 38
Last seen: 8 years, 8 months
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Fuck you Shroomery! You censor me because you dont like what I have to say, then Ill replace all my posts with this one. Fuck it, who cares if someone suffers because helpful information is now gone.
Edited by PogoTheMonkey (05/17/15 11:00 PM)
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Alan Rockefeller
Mycologist

Registered: 03/10/07
Posts: 48,266
Last seen: 11 hours, 49 minutes
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Quote:
PogoTheMonkey said: EVERYONE BE WARNED, This guy is not a lawyer or a very bad one.
I am convinced he is a lawyer, and a pretty good one. This is obvious if you read his posts.
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trippinballs420
Samall Johnson



Registered: 09/17/12
Posts: 11,903
Loc: CO
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you just signed up here today, he has been a member for over 10 years. he answers randomly when he gets time and answers multiple peoples answers at once to catch up.
all of the legal advice ive seen him post has been solid and i have no reason to take your word over his
Mod Edit: While I appreciate your support, flaming is not allowed in this forum.
-------------------- ModestMouse said: "Much love for all of the regs here that's all I got to say
"
Edited by Enlil (03/22/15 09:28 AM)
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Mr.GuessWork
Stranger

Registered: 03/30/13
Posts: 4,563
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Even Enlil's haters give him credit for this thread because it's great.
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Enlil
OTD God-King




Registered: 08/16/03
Posts: 65,471
Loc: Uncanny Valley
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Quote:
Anonymous said: So we've touched on this before but I'd like clarification. My uncle is crazy, and I fear for my life living around him. At any given moment I fear he may get drunk and kick down my door and try to harm me. (He has tried to kill me before, but I managed to escape, no police report because I was too afraid to come back to the house and file the complaint at the time)
Under Texas law, so I've read, I don't have to make an attempt to run or escape. I am authorized to use deadly force. Is this true? My doors stay locked and he does not have any permission what so ever to even so much step foot on my property. So if he did kick down the door and tried to attack me, is deadly force justified?
This is not something I would count on. Texas does use "Castle Doctrine", but that only creates a presumption that deadly force was justified. That presumption is rebuttable, however, and when the victim is a family member of the defendant, it is not uncommon for a jury to find that the defendant had enough time to identify the victim, thus rebutting that presumption. Then you're left with a basic self-defense claim wherein you have to prove that you were in reasonable fear of imminent death or serious bodily harm.
TL;DR: It may or may not be justified, depending on the facts.
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Enlil
OTD God-King




Registered: 08/16/03
Posts: 65,471
Loc: Uncanny Valley
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Re: Ask an attorney [Re: fuzzysig]
#21442356 - 03/22/15 09:25 AM (8 years, 10 months ago) |
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Quote:
fuzzysig said: can I take seller to small claims court when he claims a working item in his ad and then it turns out to need a lot more repairs than I thought. I inspected it best I could but it was impossible to check it internally without taking it apart at the time of sale
it appeared to be in working order but it wasn't.and he claimed it was in perfect working order
This is going to depend on the exact terms of the deal, which I assume are unwritten. Sure, you can take him to small claims court. The judge will initially assume this is a sale of used goods and apply Caveat Emptor, so you'd have the burden of proving that the guy guaranteed the quality of the item. If the judge believes you, you win. If not, you lose.
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Enlil
OTD God-King




Registered: 08/16/03
Posts: 65,471
Loc: Uncanny Valley
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Quote:
PogoTheMonkey said: EVERYONE BE WARNED, This guy is not a lawyer or a very bad one.
While I've never been asked to do so, I'd be glad to let Ythan or Geokills verify my license.Quote:
I am adding you to my ignore list.
Excellent, one more for my collection.
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leschampignons
Biochemistry + Mycology



Registered: 08/30/13
Posts: 1,583
Loc: NY/NJ/ME
Last seen: 2 days, 7 hours
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Quote:
cannabinated said: I was charged with possession of a schedule 1 substance as well as "possession with intent to use drug paraphernalia". They claimed that the bag that the MDMA was in was paraphernalia that was used to store a dangerous substance.
Is that even legal? like wtf?
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leschampignons
Biochemistry + Mycology



Registered: 08/30/13
Posts: 1,583
Loc: NY/NJ/ME
Last seen: 2 days, 7 hours
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Quote:
Anonymous said: My doors stay locked and he does not have any permission what so ever to even so much step foot on my property. So if he did kick down the door and tried to attack me, is deadly force justified?
When you say this do you mean you have a restraining order against him? If not it sounds like you should get one.
Perhaps you there are other non-lethal measures you could consider as well to defend yourself?
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Anonymous #91
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If a verbal threat of violence is made although not specific in what action the violence might be, how long after the report is filed would it take for the police to follow up? Would it be immediate? Or could it take days?
I guess I should also ask what the process from the point of filing the report would be like.
Edited by Anonymous (03/23/15 06:38 PM)
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Enlil
OTD God-King




Registered: 08/16/03
Posts: 65,471
Loc: Uncanny Valley
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The police may never follow up. There's no telling. Not every threat of violence is a crime.
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Anonymous #91
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Re: Ask a defense attorney [Re: Enlil]
#21448603 - 03/23/15 08:02 PM (8 years, 10 months ago) |
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What if the threat involves a gun, but not said in a flat out "I'm going to shoot so and so" sort of way? Would that make it more likely for some kind of follow up, or does that not really alter your answer any?
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Enlil
OTD God-King




Registered: 08/16/03
Posts: 65,471
Loc: Uncanny Valley
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It completely depends on the exact words and the circumstances.
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