Marijuana.com

renegade14

Alright last night my friend "bob" and I got caught in our dorm with about 2.5 grams and 2 glass pipes. The RA of our hall could smell it from bob's room and then he knocked and questioned us and told us that if we cooperate he wont bring the police into it so we cooperated and he called the cops anyway.

The cops came and since we are in Ohio we got citations. bob got a citation for possesion of Marijuana and paraphernalia. I got possession of paraphernalia. Supposedly Ohio is one of the most lenient states for getting caught with weed.

My court date is thursday. The big question here is what will happen if i plead guilty or not. I need advice from anyone who has been in this situation or knows what might happen. This is my first offense. I would rather plead guilty and just pay a fine but i am worried about having to go to jail. I also dont wanna plead not guilty because i will have to get a lawyer and go to more court appearances and my time is limited enough being a college student. Plus if i got a lawyer i would prob have to ask my parents to help me in paying for it and i dont really want to have to let my parents know about this. Thanks ahead of time for any help.

 

Closet Pigs

If the pipe was obviously yours, just plead guilty. You're lucky you only got a citation. As always, get a good lawyer.

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renegade14

I heard that if i plead guilty i will get maximum charges though which could be jail time.

IceFire

Hmm,

Go to Norml.com

They have the info on the state by state laws.

It appears that in Ohio you cannot face any jail time for your arrest.

Less than 100 grams is only a civil citation, not even a misdeamor.

Paraphanelia is only a misdeamenor with a fine.

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I do not grow marijuana or produce other illicit drugs. I do not consume or possess marijuana or other illicit drugs in any shape or form. Any information, statements or questions posted by me on this message board are not to be considered truthful or factual. Furthermore, I am not liable, in any way, shape or form, for any reason, any action that comes about from any information, statement or question I post on this message board.

troublemaker_42

To me, that just doesn't make sense.....you are saving their time (therefore money) by pleading guilty. I really doubt you would get the maximum penalty by pleading guilty, especially for a first offense. When its obvious you are guilty, getting a lawyer for such a petty case is redundant. I got a lawyer for a simple misdeamenor possession case 2 years ago. I wound up getting the exact same penalty i would have without a lawyer, along with a $1000 bill from her. I plad guilty, and got a significant fine ($600 for possession and for paraphenilia combined), but my lawyer didnt help me out in any way shape or form, and just added to my expenses for this little lesson. Go to court, plead guilty, pay your fine, and be on your way.

(BTW...I am not just talking outta my butt here...I am educated on both sides of this issue, as I have a bachelors degree in criminal justice....which doesnt do jack for me now that I have a record with a drug offense on it....but it DOES lend me a bit of credibility when dispensing advice such as this....lol)

 

renegade14

Troublemaker, thats what i was thinking but a lot of people told me different so i think i will just plead guilty and cooperate as much as i can in court and hope the judge isnt too harsh. Thanks for the advice

WNB

http://www.norml.org/index.cfm?wtm_view=&Group_ID=4557

So the Marijuana is a civil citation, paraphernalia is a misdemeanor with a possible sentence of 30 days. If your record is clean, there's no way you'll get jail time. Ohio also has conditional release, which means you can plead guilty, do probation, than get off with a clean record. You'll need a lawyer for that, probably. Realistically, if you don't have a lawyer, you could possibly get anywhere from conditional release and probation to a weekend in jail. You'll also have your drivers liscense suspended for six months if you don't get conditional release.

Conditional release usually ends up in six months of probation, possibly supervised or unsupervised, depending on where you live. Supervised means drug testing, community service, and a ****load of fees (which you'll end up paying anyway, because they charge for conditional release). Unsupervised is the "don't let me see you for six months" type of thing.

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sawinc

you may want to look into it. my x g/f got busted with about an 1/8th they charged her with possetion, but her big deal was that she could loose her student loans/grants/all financial aid. so you may wanna look into that before you make your decision. She did get a lawyer and got out of it, had to do some community service crap. but thats it. was in Missouri fyi

PsYcHoLoGiCaL

You’re a fool if you walk into court without talking to a lawyer, get a public defender if you have to, but this isn’t the type of thing that you should just do on the fly.

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Buzzby

Strangely, the paraphernalia charge is potentially much worse than a possession charge: up to 30 days in jail, up to $750 fine, and a misdemeanor drug charge on your record. If you're getting federal financial aid that could kill it.

I'd get a lawyer and see if he can plead you out to a lesser charge that doesn't carry the stigma of a drug conviction. Having one of those on your record can be a problem. I know. I plead guilty to Marijuana possession in 1970. After I was done with probation I hired a lawyer to get my record expunged. Apparently that wasn't enough because this year I applied for a concealed carry license and was turned down because of that 35 year old conviction.

From now on, don't carry a pipe. Cigarette papers are kosher, especially if you also have a bag of loose tobacco.

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