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[Marker89]

Jurisdiction/Place: USA - Michigan

last night, in westland michigan (wayne county) i was riding in the passenger seat of a car with two of my friends, and got pulled over, because the driver was speeding. the officer stepped up to the car, asked the driver for his license and registration, then he asked us for our licenses. i did not have ID on me. the officer asked me to step out of the car. i had maybe 2 grams of pot on me, a grinder, two glass smoking pipes, and a vicodin. i stepped around the back of the car, the officer asked me to put my hands on my head, and started asking me what was in my coat pockets. i started to relax my hands and he told me to put them back on my head. he searched me, found the marijuana, two pipes, grinder, and vicodin. i was arrested and taken to jail and charged with VPHC (marijuana and vicodin) and PNP. both misdemeanors. i've had previous charges in another county with drinking and driving, plus a possession of marijuana charge. i think VPHC means (violation of public health code?) and PNP (possesion of narcotics paraphanelia?) i'm not on probation and haven't caught any new cases in the last 18 months. what should/could i expect when i go to court? thank you in advance for your help, it's duly appreciated.

Sincerely,
SG

[jharris352]

Expect it to get worse and worse until you learn to stop using drugs. You aren't really very concerned or you would stop.

[Marker89]

why, yes i am quite concerned. i smoke a negligible amount of marijuana every day, just so i have an appetite to eat, without it, i eat a small amount of food maybe once a day, and it's damn near impossible to fall asleep at night. "stop using drugs" isn't exactly the advice i was looking for, that's a given. anybody could tell me that. i'm wondering what these charges mean, and what i can do to minimize them. i was never asked to be searched, i was never informed of my rights, and my arraignment is more than 14 days away from the date of the offense, when it clearly says on the ticket that "appearance date no sooner than 3 days and no later than 14 days @8:30am", and my arraignment is 17 days past the point of the offense.

[jharris352]

I'm really sorry you don't like my answer. It has nothing to do with being conservative or liberal. If you have medical problems see a doctor, get legal drugs. In the mean time I wouldn't try that excuse on the Judge.

My advice is to stop breaking the law if you are truly afraid of the consequences. If not, what can I say?

The cops have to dead to rights. You might get into some diversion program to help minimize the damage of your actions to yourself. But if you think you did nothing wrong it isn't going to help. There will always be a next time.

Stop doing illegal drugs or expect to suffer consequences. Sorry if you don't like that, but it's life.

[raskalnikov]

I don't know who your Judge is, but it's likely you lucked out, somewhat, that it's Wayne County, and they have much worse crimes to deal with.

I think you should get an attorney. Odds are you may have to take drug tests fairly often, and Marijuana, as you probably know, stays in your system a very long time.

There may be a question of cause, I don't think your lack of ID justfies a search, and it doesn't sound like you gave consent.

Good Luck.

[Marker89]

right, that's what i was thinking. i did not give consent for a search. the driver got a ticket and was allowed to drive away. he was obviously stoned, and the cop didn't even search his car. @jharris, i know i've no valid excuses for using illegal drugs, and wouldn't dare tell a judge that i don't think i've done anything wrong, i know i've "broken the law" and there'll be consequences. the help i was looking for was the "Violation Of Public Health Code", and PNP, the charges specifically, and what typical sentences they carry...

[jharris352]

Did they give you any specific code section so I can look it up?

[Marker89]

yeah, the ticket is barely legible. i was able to determine the acronyms in the first 2 charges by the bail reciept. charge 1: VPHC (marijuana and vicodin) (charge 2: PNP) the first charge is either 61-337 or 62-337 MCL Cite/PACC Code/Ordinance. and the second charge is 67-344. both are misdemeanors. i talked to somebody today who said it was likely that they'd give me a plea agreement, since there's two charges, to plead guilty to one of them, and get 6 months to a year probation, and that i could get the other charge dropped (to make it seem like i'm getting away with something while the county keeps me in the system and still gets their money, i guess?) any help or insight you could give me is, once again, greatly appreciated.

[jharris352]

That sounds likely, the 6 months probation to one charge. I'll do some research and see what I can find. BTW I wasn't trying to be as condescending as I sounded about the drugs, I've done it at one time. I just really get irritated when I see people who do things and then go on and on about how they just CAN'T suffer the consequences. I believe you should be able to do what you want without hurting others. Unfortunately they didn't ask me. So if we play, sometimes we pay. I like your attitude much more now that I understand it. Forgive me for assuming. I'll get back to you on the codes. I doubt there is much of a penalty. Usually when you just get a ticket its pretty minor.

[Gail in Georgia]

You know, after reading several of these postings I have to say that if folks carrying illegal substances simply DROVE better (no speeding, no weaving over yellow lines, no running of stop signs) they'd be far less likely to get stopped and end up in the pickle this fellow is in.

I'm always amazed at the number of folks who carry illegal substances and then drive (or ride with drivers) like they're asking to be pulled over.

Gail