childofjane

So, I just got arrested for my first time a week ago. I got pulled over for a headlight and the officer smelled the stench of some hydro that I had smoked hours before on the way to a concert. He told me that gave him reason to search the car. Of course he told me that if I told him now that he's go easier on me, I was nervous and told him I didn't know and that its my sisters car(which it was). I did in fact know that there was a roach in the ashtray, and a cellophane bag with a about a gram left of the dank in the center cupholder. He told me to step out of the car, asked me if I had anything on me, I flipped out my pockets, then he walked me to the back seat of his car. 3 cars pulled up and he asked me again if there was anything in the car. I knew they were trying to scare me and it was definitely working. I proceeded to tell them that a friend might have left something in the cupholder and that said friend tried to smoke in the car ealier that day. They search the car found said small amount of weed in the cupholder, came back and told me I was being arrested of possesion of marijuana less than a oz(which I was told is a misdemeanor) and having a headlight out. I was stoned having smoked a blunt of dank before taking my friend home (going home from his house, I got pulled over) so I'm not sure, but I don't remember him reading my miranda rights. I was polite the whole time though and I think it paid off because I was released on whatever a Standing O/R bond is. My court date was Jan 14, but they moved it to the 19th, which Im told might be a good sign. Anyways, long story short, I just need to know what I need to do. Like I said in the title this is my first time being arrested for anything. I never even got in trouble in high school. I'm only 19 so this kind of sucks.

HTAM

'I proceeded to tell them that a friend might have left something in the cupholder and that said friend tried to smoke in the car ealier that day.'

The cop doesn't have to mirandize you until you are formally arrested on charges.

Once you acknowledged that you thought there might be something in the car, you opened the door to be charged. You'd of been better off not saying anything at all. It would be much easier to argue that another occupant, was responsible for the contraband. The police probably would of confiscated it, given you some shit about how it's your sisters car and you should be more careful about who you hang around with, and sent you on your way.

You're done. You'll probably get an offer of reduced charges when you talk to the DA. I bet they will reduce or throw out the headlight charge.

Sorry, dude. Not trying to be a dick about it, just telling you how it is.
If the Police ask questions, don't say anything. You can always talk later if your Lawyer tells you to. You can't take it back once you've said it, though.

SmokeaJoint

Lesson 1: If they don't have a warrant, don't give them permission. Let your lawyer argue whether they had probable cause.

Lesson 2: Especially if you're guilty, plead the 5th. You don't have to tell them anything, but anything you DO tell them can be used against you. Nothing you say can be used IN your favor.

Lesson 3: This is why you shouldn't smoke out a car. Too risky, easier to get caught. Let this be your lesson in that regard. And NEVER bring any more than what you plan to smoke with you. You can always toss a roach, but tossing a bag is bad, easier to see, and you waste weed.

If they didn't read you the Miranda rights, then they can't arrest you. I'm not sure if that means they have to drop charges though. I was never arrested for possession, but they gave me a ticket, which means they didn't need to mirandize me since there was no arrest.

If this is your first offence, heres what I suggest. When you go to court, pretend like this was your first time ever smoking weed. Pretend like you are really sorry and you were scarred out of ever smoking weed again. get a hair cut, clean your face, try to look as far from "stoner" as possible. Request a differed probation. What this is, they give you a probationary term. They drug test you, assign a PO, etc. BUT! if you can meet the terms of the probation, they differ the charges and it wont go down on your record. If you could care less about your criminal record, plead guilty to misdemeanor possession, get probation anyways, maybe exchange that for a few days in county jail.

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The police are lazy and shiftless, they want you to do all the work of hanging yourself and they expect to stand by and get credit for keeping another dangerous drug user off the roads, don't let them bully you.

Say nothing. If you have trouble saying nothing, then say 'my lawyer says always shut up.' This is an indication to the police officer that someone has told you what I said up there ^^ and to indeed, shut up.

The police will look in your car, they'll give you some bullshit about probable cause and crime scenes and impound and all that shit but know they'll look, you'll get some bullshit about reasonable expectations of privacy or plain sight or some shit like that. Who cares, your fight isn't here on the street, it will be in the court. If you are not sure if it's okay for them to search your car if they ask, don't answer. Stare blankly at them and keep your liability to a minimum. It really is better to be silent and thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt.

Since you have made every single move so far wrong (not really your fault, cops count on being seen as the good guy so you trust them not to fuck you, don't. Ever.) I might suggest seeking out a lawyer who deals with pot, you don't want this on your record so don't deal with a DA, his conviction rate is his interest not making your life easy.

You are a number and they don't give a fuck about you. Remember that, always.

If you feel the need to plead guilty to make it go away, have your lawyer get something else to plead to that isn't going to require diversions or piss tests and most important a conviction for controlled substance. When it's on your record, it doesn't matter if you got popped with two of moms Motrin or a kilo of Columbian marching powder, an employer sees possession of a controlled substance and you are waaaaaay down the list of candidates. You don't need a life sentence in the public eye for tokin' a bit of weed.

Good luck, next time, walk around the car and think like a prick cop before you go out holding.

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childofjane

Yes it was dumb of me to smoke in the car. It was dumb of me to be riding around on a Sunday night at 1 o clock in the morning. Trust me, if he would've asked me permission I would have told them no. But i wasn't given that option. And I was arrested. I spent a total of 3 hours in jail and then they tell me I've been approved for an O/R bond, I can get out of jail for free all I have to do is get someone to get me. I've never been in a situation like this. I did tell the officer in my nervous rantings when they asked me If i had smoked recently, I told them I quit after getting my job but had recently smoked after I got in a bad car accident. I claimed some shake I had in my purse was from that day. They never found the joint in the ashtray. lol. I've been told that pleading No lo is the best bet.

tedkennedy

what state is cobb county in? if you are just being charged with a misdemeanor its basically just a slap on the wrist. you go to court, as long as you dont have a record already you will prolly just be put on probation for a while and the charges will disapear as long as you stay out of trouble. maybe a fine also.

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DwayneTheRock

This is absolutely correct! I'm currently caught up in the legal system on my first charge, and it's two felonies. I can only speak for the court system over here and what I've heard from people, but you don't have to worry about anything as a first offender and the minimal amount of weed in your possession. I'm shooting for 2 years of drug offender probation, withholding adjudication for possession of 107g, a scale, and paraphernalia. Even what I'm going through is easily handled under our first offense, so I wouldn't worry, unless it's cause of how your family may feel about the situation.

childofjane

Cobb county is in georgia btw

mrprobation420

i got arrested for poss. when i was 17. i had an 8er on me up at a elementry school basketball court. i rolled the whole 8th in a blunt and with the stupid ass addict thinking i have come to develope, i figured id save a bowl for later when i was coming down. now mind you some might think ya id do that too but the 8th was from the oz. i had just picked up hours earlier which was safely at home... so i saved bout qrt. of a gram when i had just about a whole oz. at my house...

someone saw me rolling it though and snitched. i got to smoke it with my friends i was playing basketball with by the time 5-0 rolled up. i had the roach still lit tossed it he never smelled it or saw that. he bullshited with us for bout 15 minutes then ran our pockets. when he was about to do that i remembered i saved the bag and new i was fucked so i just handed it to him and claimed it. so that got me a one way ticket to the donut shop i mean station. he held me for bout an hour then had to do all the bs to get me into the system as it was my first offense. oh yea and i was so polite he actually drove me from the station to where he arrested me and i went and grabbed the roach which i thought was funny. they tried to get me to talk to the narcs and buy weed for the cops i was like nahhh i was actually quite a bit of a smart ass to those fuckin pricks but ya

i went to court my mom said i was on my own for being a dumbass pothead. so i didnt want to fight it and get charged for some dumbass court appointed lawyer. so i did the stupid thing and pled guilty and got sentenced to one year probation with drugs tests and had to do 8 weeks of hour long classes. it was a total joke i actually started selling drugs to pay for the probation and started to use harder shit that i could get out of my system quicker when i couldnt smoke..

so you are gonna get charged with a misdemeaner. i dont think if i fought it, the outcome would of differed at all because i just admitted it was mine. you might be able to but only you know what you said if you said a friend left it you might be able to work with that talk to a lawyer. most likely you will get a year probation mabye just advisement which is non-reporting. i know that in michigan we have the drugged driving law if they know your high and you get pulled over its 6 month suspension of drivers license i dont know if georgia has that. so its really no big deal id suggest being able to pass a drug test if your going with first time smoking and never doing it again because i had to drop for a p.o. right after court. that will make them believe you even if the judge doesnt. good luck its no big deal id just make sure your working because its your money they want now...

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Dezzy

it doesnt matter that he didnt read you your rights the judge will see you as the stoner and him as an officer of the law not trying to be a dick bro

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