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used2moke

hi,

i was recently in a car that was stopped by a cop (one week ago). i was passed out in the back seat until the officer told me to get out. the two people in the front both had weed and pipes on them. i had nothing on me. while searching the trunk of the car, the officers found a pipe in my backpack that i did not realize was in there, and denied ownership or knowledge of it as i quit smoking a while ago. the officers did not arrest us or write us tickets (this is totally normal, i've checked), claiming that the weed needed to go through a lab for confirmation before an indictment could be served.

i am currently awaiting the indictment in the mail. i had one posession charge on my record from 5 years ago, which i met the terms of and the charge was expunged. while i do not know for sure if i will get charged for paraph., i am assuming it will happen.

i am supposed to move to boston for school in december. i am graduating with my associate's degree with honors about that same time (i have about a 3.8).

what does everyone think my chances are of being allowed to move? if i do receive the indictment, i plan on taking a drug test which will come up negative and having it notarized by the court that same day. furthermore, one of the other passengers has said that they will admit to putting the pipe in my bag and that it was their's, but i don't know if the court will allow either of these.

i absolutely need to be able to move and keep my financial aid (well, at least move). what does everyone think my chances are of this happening????

thanks so much.
-used2smoke

ps - i plan on talking to a lawyer tomorrow, but there is no guaruntee that they will know anything about my chances. i'm hoping someone here has been down a similar path, and can share their story!

pps - this happened in southern/central michigan

 

Lolo69

You need to get an attorney. Any judge will require that you get one anyway, and you need to do this tomorrow before you leave for school.

Your hearings will probably be continued for six months at least, or up to a year. Your attorney may be able to speed things up with your friends admitting that they put the pipe in your backpack or get you off on a misdeamonor, but be prepared to pay. I've had friends get arrested for DUI and possession of pot, and in both situations, my friends' pot charges were dropped. Lawyers aren't cheap and being a college student, you may have to fess up to your parents and ask for some financial assistance.

Meanwhile, go to your doctor tomorrow and take a drug test. If you wait any longer, the state's attorney could say that the THC left your body through your abstinance. If you were busted a week or so ago, the negative ua result, provided you have quit "a while ago" (please define "a while" - 30 days, several months, a year?) may help prove that the pipe isn't yours. Show the report to your new attorney if the result is negative.

I was in traffic court a few years ago after the holidays, when parents showed up for their kids' absences because they were back in school. In all instances, the judge continued their cases and required the students to show up themselves a month or so later.

You're lucky that you weren't busted for public drunkeness or disorderly conduct, which is usually what happens to inebriated passengers (you said you were passed out so I'm just assuming you guys were out partying) when drivers get pulled over for DUI.

Hopefully, if your going to school in state, it won't be too much of an inconvenience for you to make your court appearances. An attorney might be able to knock your continuances down or plea bargain on your behalf so you'll only have to come back from school for your court appearances a couple times.

An attorney or other legal professionals perusing this site, may also be able to advise you.

JackBauer

You should be able to move. If you have to post a bond and you use a bondsman as long as the bondsman knows where you are there shouldn't be a problem. It can always be added as a condition of your bond. Most judges aren't going to stop someone from going to grad school over a pipe. If you have to make court appearances and you have a lawyer or not you should be able to work around that in many different ways. At first when I read this I thought that you were going to say something about probation and moving. If that happens you can transfer probation from one state to the next in most cases. Let's not go down that road yet though. You will get to go to school so concentrate on trying to keep your record free of charges from the public eye.

used2moke

it seems to me that you think there was a lot more going on than there actually was.

a few things

- i am not a kid, i am 23. my family knows nothing about this. i can afford my own lawyer.

- the other people who were in the car have spoken to lawyers and the lawyers said there is nothing that can be done until the indictment arrives in the mail, which is why i was waiting on taking a test

- i was passed out because i was tired. nobody had been drinking. it was late and we were on our way home from chicago. the reason we were stopped is because the idiot driver was doing 95.

- "dropped to a misdemeanor" since when is posession of weed or paraph. a felony? i have never EVER heard about that unless it is enough to qualify for intent to sell.

- when you say hearings....do you mean probation meetings or actual hearings leading up to sentencing? i have never heard of having to go to court more than two/three times (once for arraignment, one for trial, and then sentencing if convicted) please explain...

- as i said, i am moving to boston in december. i am currently living in michigan. do you think the fact that i am such a good student will have any weight on the situation? obviously getting to court would be more than difficult. do you think i could have it reduced to non-reporting"

thanks for the response, and i look forward to another one

Hookahs

I find it very interesting they didn't give you ticket. I take it no bondsman then right? How much did you have on you ? Did they bust you with the pipe?
I was in a similar situation a few yrs. back. I was sitting in the back seat of a Eagle Talon with my friend driving and girlfriend in the passenger seat. We just passed a little town on the way to the next little town. On a two-lane country road. This was pretty late at night, we were just getting ready to light one up ( it was awhile since blazed last). All of asudden we hit something and the car actually flew through the air like some 50 ft., I thought the officer said. I thought for sure that was going to flip. We landed and there are sparks fying on both sides of the car. In the middle of this not so traveled road theres about three cars passing us going in the opposite direction. My friend manged to keep the car in our lane (thankfully). We finally stop and my friend's girl is knocked out. He is yelling at her to get out of the cause the car gonna blow up (the sparks). It dosen't, but we get her out and in the cars that were passing were off duty paramedics (cool).

__________________
I smoke 2 joints in the morning, I smoke 2 joints at night. I smoke 2 joints in the, afternoon it makes me feel allright.I smoke 2 joints in time of peace and 2 in time of war.I smoke 2 joints before I smoke 2 joints then I smoke 2 more.
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Lolo69

Hey, sorry to misjudge you. I mean court hearings. I've been up since 5:30 a.m. and have had four hours of sleep.

I just assume when people say there were passed out, they mean passed out loaded. Shows you where my head is at.

If your attorneys say to wait until an indictement comes in, that's all you can do. You have until December to you go to school, so hopefully they can straighten it out by then.

I'm just speaking on experience from friends who've had DUIs for alcohol. Some of them kept going to court hearing for up to a year or more.

If your court hearings aren't resolved by December, you will probably have to fly in for them.

Still, get that drug test asap. A friend of mine was busted for a DUI for driving 25mph on the Kennedy at 4 a.m. Because she took care of her elderly mom, did a lot of children's theater for developmentally disabled kids and generally proved to the judge that she wasn't a drunken swine, she was able to keep her license and do classes.

My brother was busted for pot possession (a pound back in the 1970s) out of state, and he was able to move back to Chi-town and transfer to a local probation officer. He had a fantastic lawyer who got the charges knocked down to a lesser pot offense because of an unlawful car search, so he didn't end up in prison as some guy named Bubba's b*tch.

I think you'll be okay. These attorneys who specialize in DUIs and weed possessions know how to work the angles. If anything, it will be more of a pain in the ass. Since your record from your first offense as a minor, I suspect, has been expunged, this recent bust will show up as a first- time offense.

If worse comes to worse and you are charged, convicted, and put on probation for a year or so, I'm sure they will be able to transfer your court supervision to someone in Boston. Your attorney can work it out.

Just let Dog Bounty Hunter know where you're at in the meantime.

Lolo69

Oh, one more thing that should comfort you. A very wise criminal defense attorney once told me that "cops don't know the law." Cops will try to scare the crap out of you, give you a worst-case scenario, and make a mountain out of a molehill, in other words, charge you with a felony when you should have been charged with a misdem.

I wasn't busted for paraph or drug possession, just a bunch of unpaid parking tickets where some cop hauled me into the district station. I had to bail myself out, but at least they let me sit in the lobby instead of throwing me into the lockup.

I paid my tickets, got my license reinstated, and the judge yelled at the cop during my hearing for wasting his and my time, when there were a bunch of guys in there on like their fifth DUI offense.

(Sorry to digress off topic.)

Hookahs

(opps hit a wrong key there).
Anyway the cops and on the on-duty paramedics came. The girl was fine, but they took her to the hospital anyway, and of course he went her. I stayed for the tow-truck driver. The funny thing what we hit was a dead cow!! Somebody originaly hit it, left it there in the middle of the road, and decided to drive to next town (some 50 miles away) instead go back to the town they just left. Total hit run. No alcohol or any reason to think that we were in the wrong. Eventually the paramedices and ohters started to leave, the tow-truck came. All of a sudden just before he took it way, the cop says "oh I need to search the vehicle " Mind you it was quite a bit of time since everything happened. I thought if there was anything in the car my friend would of tossed. While i'm thinking of this I dawns on me I didn't toss what little I had on me ( 2 joints) The cop finds a couple of roachs in the ashtray. I get arrested and taken down to jail get charged with possesion (should be a petty offense here). I had to bond out ($100).
The other drag was that the cop drove to the other town ( that is where my friend was at-hospital). They searched him (had a little on him too) and arrested him also ( bonded him out too).
Sorry about the story to get to my point. I don't know the laws where you live (norml's site lists them), But what we got was 16 hrs. community service a little fine and that was it. We did not have a lawyer. He might have helped a little bit but at what cost$$$$ I don't think it will be that big of a deal as a having a PO, but if it did I sure it would not be a problem switching it to another town.
I got into a little more trouble becase of this (even (much) longer and (much) more stupid story-damnstupid kids,lol). Eventually I had a po in thisa town, some 150 miles away. I saw him the first time and asked him if I could move it to the town where I live. He said it was no problem.
So, If don't mind having it our record, I don't think it will be that big of a deal. Goodluck