Drug Crimes, Substance Abuse Any advice appreciated

[jgarza27]

Week before last at around 9:30 p.m. I went to my buddies house to drink a brew or two and play some cards. At ten o clock I got a call from my mom saying that someone had tried to break into my house and had assaulted her. I rushed home to find my front yard turned into a circus of police officers and EMS. When I went inside my mom was laying on the floor with a rather nasty cut in her side(18 stitches), a broken hand, and a bunch of bruises on her face. I am the primary lease holder at my house and I let my mom move in with me last year when she lost everything after she was raped and suffered a breakdown. Well the door to my room was locked (as it always is when I am away from the house). However while I was following my mom to be put into the ambulance the police officers forced their way into my room and saw my measly one gram bag of chronic sitting next to my computer. They did not have permission to enter my room and they responded to a B&E call to our house. When I walked back inside I instantly knew that they had went into my room because my cat was out(she stays in my room) and I had not been in there since I had left. Well after that they commenced to question me about my herb for a solid thirty minutes(while my mom is on the way to the hospital bleeding) and then wrote me a ticket for possession of up to a 1/2 ounce. Now I understand the repercussions of smoking marijuana and I accept the consequences for doing so(although I do not agree with them). Someone please tell me if I am wrong here to be a little bit pissed off. I feel as if the police officers were more concerned with my herb(because they can make that stick) then the fact that my mom was assaulted and my house was broken into(still no advancements in the case and there will not be any). I know that if there is an immediate threat to the public that the police officers have every right to enter anywhere they **** well please to quell the threat. However if the threat was that immediate, why did they not enter the room until I walked outside? Why wait almost an hour to do so? Wouldn't that have been the first thing they should have done with arrival on the scene? Now I have an upcoming court date and a round of legal fees to pay for and I feel as if my rights were pretty much crapped on. I am a good guy. I do not take any kind of medicine whatsoever and I drink on a very rare occasion. I volunteer at my local spca and public library on a weekly basis. I study hard in school and I take care of my mother because that is the right thing to do. But like what the hell? Any advice that any of you can give me or any comments would be greatly appreciated. I am going to try to fight this in court, not because I do not want to get charged. But because I feel as if my fourth amendment right was stepped on and I believe that the only way our country can move forward is for people to stand up to unjust laws. The problem is that number of people decreases everyday. I thank you for taking your time to read this and I hope that someone out there may be able to help me out. One Love.

 

[army judge]

You are innocent until proven guilty. From what you describe, the search may have exceeded legal bounds. That is for the court to decide. Make sure your lawyer knows how this went down. Good luck.

 

[mightymoose]

Having responded to a burglary call the police would have wanted to check every room of the house to ensure that the suspect was not hiding inside, and that there were no other victims besides your mother. Their entry into the house and subsequently into your locked room would be legitimate given the circumstances and exigency at the time- however timing is a major factor here.
If the police responded and brought in medical personnel to deal with your injured mom, and the did who knows what else for nearly an hour before forcing entry into your bedroom, you could certainly argue that there was no longer any exigent circumstances that warranted their action- especially if you were present and had the ability to give or deny consent.
Had the police done this immediately upon arrival to secure the residence and ensure the safety of those present then it would be more legitimate.
I suspect if you aregue these points with an attorney you may have some luck making this matter go away. From what you say here, it does seem that the police in this case went a little to far, especially since you were present- they had no need to force entry into that room when you could have unlocked it.