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CreativeUnderclass

Hey guys,

been reading these forums for the past few months, and excited to finally join the community. I had an incident so to speak while driving through maryland on my way to bonnaroo and just wanted to see if anyone had a guess as to what my punishment may be.

I was caught with approx 5 grams of weed in a ziplock bag, and also charged with para. (the paraphernalia in question was the bag the marijuana was in).

This is my first offense, and it was noted in the report that I was polite and cooperative and took accountability for the weed in my bag immediately.

I have a consultation with a lawyer next week and am going to determine if it makes more sense to hire a lawyer or go the public defender route. I am hoping my attorney thinks the para. charge is something I can get dropped off the bat since it's a ziplock bag and nothing more, but we'll see.

the maximum penalties are listed as:
up to $1,000 fine or 1 year in jail for the posession
up to $500 for the para.

really hope I don't get probation...is that likely?

I would be more than happy to give further details and quote portions of my summons if that would make this easier to determine...

thanks!

 

blondie0420

You have to have a demonstrated financial need to qualify for the services of a public defender. You can't just "choose" one because you don't want to pay for a lawyer. There are certain income levels that you have to fall below in order to get a public defender and they are very low. If you live with your parents, it will be based on their income.

If it's your first offense, you probably don't have much to worry about.

The paraphernalia charge sounds like bullshit. If the state's attorney has half a brain, he will probably drop it. On your summons, do you have the number of the state statute that you are accused of breaking? If so, you can easily look up the law in Maryland as to what qualifies as paraphernalia by just taking that number and finding the corresponding statute. It should say something like "42-250a Possession of Drug Paraphernalia" or something like that.


Edit:

Here, I looked up the definition of paraphernalia according to the State of Maryland:

Soooo....apparently a plastic bag is drug paraphernalia. The charge might still be dropped though. Someone from Maryland can probably provide additional insight.

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Andrew87

A likely scenario is that the ADA taking care of the case will have you plead to one of the charges (most likely the formal possession) and drop the other. I'd say that it is overwhelmingly likely you will get probation - whether or not community service, random drug testing, etcetera will be added as a stipulation is a toss up.

Also, what Blondie wrote is spot-on.

__________________
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CreativeUnderclass

Sorry to be unclear before:

My job is off the books, and according to what the state requires to demonstrate need for a public defender, a simple letter stating my weekly wages will suffice, and my employer is happy to put whatever number I'd like on there, so I'm not too concerned about being able to qualify. I do not live with my family, and am 21.

Thanks for the help.

Darque Pervert

I'm willing to bet that a decent lawyer could successfully argue that a ziploc bag is not designed or intended to be a drug container. It is meant to be a food storage container.
In my mind, the charge of paraphernalia for a ziploc bag is a weak one, particularly by the MD legal definition you posted....

Now, those tiny little zipper bags that you get a gram in would certainly qualify, methinks, although the argument against it being paraphernalia is still valid. I've gotten small parts in those sorts of bags with electronics and whatnot.
Now if the little baggie has pot leafs printed on it, you're probably screwed.


[quote]
Wow. I read the law you posted more clearly, particularly the last portion about smoking devices... I never thought I'd see "chillum" and "bong" in an official legal definition.

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Life is always a spiral. It's the choices of the individual as to whether that spiral is aimed up or down.

 

blondie0420

Eh...I don't know about that. If your job is off the books, you're not paying taxes and the government doesn't know you're making money because they presume you don't have a job. You really want to hand them a piece of paper that says you do, in fact, have a job and an income that you've just not been reporting? Theoretically, you could get both yourself and your employer in trouble. Of course, whether or not the state actually puts the pieces together and figures that out is questionable. Still, I wouldn't do it.

The intent is not on the manufacturer, but rather the person using the container/bag/whatever to hold their illicit substance. It was his intent to use the bag to store his weed, it's not like it just fell into the bag or walked in there by itself. (Had he been using something else that he had altered in any way in order to use it for storing his pot, then it would've been a situation where the storage container was "designed" for use as a storage device for an illicit substance.)

I only bolded definition ix, but you should look at the one below it too:

(x) a container or other object used, intended for use, or designed for use in storing or concealing a controlled dangerous substance;

Under that definition, you're still looking at a paraphernalia charge with the plastic bag. And, actually, I think that one is even more clear.

Although, despite all of this "is it or isn't it" talk, I still think the prosecuting attorney will be inclined to drop this. I mean...why waste his time when he's got a bonafide possession charge to deal with? That's really what they're after; the paraphernalia charge is just superfluous.