Criminal Possession of Mari"huana" in the Fifth Degree

loc: NY
age: 19

I was smoking marijuana in a park yesterday with two friends when a cop drove by. He turned around and pulled next to my car, where we were smoking. He walked up to the passenger door, which my friend opened and handed him a marijuana pipe. The police officer removed us all from the car, cuffed us and put us in the back of his patrol car. My friend had less then a gram of weed in his pocket, which he told the officer about. He took that as well.

He then searched my car. He found some fireworks in it, which we were not charged with. He also found my brother's id (hes 22) in my wallet, which I was not charged for.

Next, he took us to the station to be booked. We got our prints and mug shots taken, and were released with an appearance letter. We were charged with criminal possession of marijuana in the fifth degree because we were smoking in a public place.

My question is, what should I do next? One officer at the station told me that the judge would tell us whether or not we need a lawyer at the time of our appearance. Is this good advice, or should I consult with one now? Is it likely that the charge will be reduced to unlawful possession? This is the first time any of us have been arrested. Can the other things found in my car be brought up in court even though I wasn't charged with them? Is there any way I could get the charges dropped since neither the pipe or weed were found directly on me? I'm assuming this won't be the case.

^^its all proper bc i posted this in a legal forum first. but yea, thats my story. it sucks. i hate that weed is illegal. can anyone with a similar experience shed some light on what is going to happen?

 

Get a lawyer

 

yea man get a lawyer. as soon as the prosecuter see's a lawyer they immediately start handing out plea deals. if u dont have a lawyer they will be horrible to you IME. its amazing wat the presence of a lawyer can do for you.

 

ok. thanks a lot for the responses. does anyone know what will take place during the appearance? do i have to make a plea at this time?

 

A lawyer will know all you need, and will give you better answers then anything you get from random dudes on the internet.

 

Get a lawyer if you can afford it. The good thing, as you mentioned, is that you haven't been arrested before. If your record is clean & you show that this is a one time fuck up & you have a cool judge they should go a lot easier on you than someone whose been in front of the court before. And if you talk to the judge directly be as polite as possible.

 

ok thanks. thats the problem, i cant afford a lawyer. my parents could, but im really scared to tell them. its not like they would be mad or ground me or anything, but i dont want to dissapoint them. ive been in trouble with them enough, and i would rather handle this on my own. ill keep you guys posted on the outcome.

 

Suck it up and tell your parents. This kind of thing can have long term repercutions that aren't immeitatly apperent, like denial of federal student loans or problems getting licenced in certin professions, this is why it is essential that you have someone knowlegeable about the process and laws in your area. Your parents will proboly find about this eventualy anyway.

 

thanks for the advice. i really doubt they will find out. im gonna go to the appearance first and see what the judge says. ill tell my parents then if need be.

someone has to know what happens at the appearance. if i understand correctly, every person that gets arrested has to go to one. can someone please tell me what happens there? thanks.

 

If you walk in there without a lawyer in tow, they will likely ream you.

Bite the bullet, tell the 'rents, and be prepared by the time the hearing comes about...

Trust me... If you're a minor, your parents WILL find out about that.
No doubt about it. Okay, so I see you're not a minor...
Anyway, get a damn lawyer. You're going to want one.

 

In personal experience, what usually happens is you go to court and they go over your case, hear your side of the story, then decide what you are being charged for. You decide whether or not you feel guilty, or not guilty, and then set up a date to appear in court again. I really suggest fighting it, as it will most likely be lowered. But the items in the car cannot be brought up as it's not written as evidence, and you weren't charged for it.

 

I would say plead not guilty as the same exact thing happened to me. On my next court date I called up the city's prosecuting attorney for my case and she dropped 3 of the 4 charges and kept the possession of paraphernalia which consisted of a $400 dollar fine. I then accepted community service and they reduced it to a $100 dollar fine and 40 hours community service. Pretty sweet deal when I originally had a $2500 bail when I got arrested. Still lost my roor and zong tho, but atleast I didn't have to pay a lawyer $1000. I suggest you plea not gulity and ask see who the prosecuting attorney is, tell them this is your first time in trouble ever, your job status, and that your like a student living on minimum amount of money without a car and the prosecuting attorney will probably make a good deall with you. end of discussion.

 

thanks somebody for finally answering that question haha. my arraignment was a week ago. the judge showed up an hour and a half late, i had to wait another hour and a half, then he asked me a few questions and gave me a trial date. he told me i needed a lawyer, and i said that i could afford one. i talked to one guy who said he would do it for $500 for me and my two friends, considering the charges were so minor.

this is by far the best advice ive gotten yet. ive even posted this on some legal forum and got a bunch of unhelpful bullshit responses. i didnt even know you could negotiate with the prosecutor outside of the court room. the judge didnt even ask me to make a plea, so idk what that means. basically that whole day was a complete waste of time. they could have just mailed me a trial date in the mail. anyways, i will contact the prosecutor and post back as to how it works out. there were two friends involved and were all being tried together so that might make things a little more complicated, but hopefully we can work something out. thanks stoned away.