Drug Crimes, Substance Abuse How can I beat a simple marijuana charge or get it reduced?

[Serenity01]

My boyfriend had dropped me off at a friend's house and went to the library to use their WiFi. He called me and said he had a dead battery, so my friend took me to him. After not being able to jump it off, we had to call a tow truck. While attempting to jump it off the first time, I found a small container on the ground. I went to show my boyfriend what I found on the ground. He said it was marijuana. Literally right after I showed him, I saw a police officer turning around, so I went to toss it in the bushes. The officers(there were two in the car) asked us why we were at the library so late and what I had tossed into the bushes. He put us both in handcuffs and separated us. I denied tossing into the bushes anything because I didn't think he would truly believe that I had just found it and didn't know what it was. He said he could fingerprint it and if I admitted it, he would let me go. I didn't want to go to jail and knew that my fingerprints were on it since I had just touched it, so I just said it was mine. He wrote me a ticket for simple possession (only 1 gram...not sure how much that is, but it wasn't much at all!) and let me go. He never read me my rights, but then again, he never officially said I was under arrest. I have never smoked marijuana in my life and do not have any drug charges on my record. I have never done drugs in my life! I know I can't do PTI because I have already done it for a bad check I wrote when I was 18. I am about to graduate from nursing school and simply cannot have this on my record. If I tell the truth, I seriously doubt they will believe me. I can only afford a public defender and she isn't being very helpful. I know he doesn't have me on camera tossing it because it was to the left of him and the patrol car camera wouldn't have been pointing that way. I never should've admitted to it, bu I didn't want to go to jail and knew my fingerprints were on it. The police report says I adamantly denied it, but could they have a recording of me saying it was mine? How can I beat this and prove it wasn't mine? I am worried sick! I have invested so much time and money into nursing school and canot afford to have it ruined by this! I am desperate for advice and to know what my defenses are. Thanks in advance for your time and help!!

 

[Michael Wechsler]

Hi there - don't worry too much. I'm very sorry you had such a bad experience with a marijuana possession charge. I'll be honest with you - it sounds incredibly suspicious and it really doesn't sound very credible that you just happened to find a container on the ground, it had marijuana and that just then a police officer arrived so you threw it away. I'm sure a judge would roll his or her eyes and wonder just how a container of marijuana just happened to be lying there in the street where your car just happened to break down. I don't know how much was in the container but the more of it there is the less likely that it just fell down fortuitously near your car. One has to wonder whether the marijuana was owned by someone showing up at the scene.

Question - did the police officer actually find the container? Was it taken into evidence? What crime were you charged with violating?

Looking up the law in South Carolina, if you possessed 1 ounce or less you'd be charged only with a misdemeanor. A first time offense would be a maximum jail time of 30 days (and almost certainly no jail time at all - I doubt that would happen.) It's possible you could qualify for alternative sentencing or deferred adjudication, where if you complete a probationary period, all charges would be dropped and you wouldn't have any criminal conviction on your record, misdemeanor or otherwise. The case would simply be dismissed and much the same effect as if you were found not guilty. But I don't think you want to go this route. You'd prefer to have the charges dropped altogether - but your admission was unfortunately your undoing. Perhaps credibility issues might change if you took a drug test which reveals no trace of THC (Tetrahydrocannabinol) in your system. But I'm afraid to ask whether it's possible that you enjoy lighting up every once in a while (which would mean you'd probably know it's marijuana too.) But we're getting way ahead of ourselves

I think you need the services of an attorney. You must use the public defender if you can't afford an attorney but you may be better off trying to retain your own attorney of choice, even if expensive. It's possible the charges might be dropped altogether, although technically you did have possession of the container by picking it up and unfortunately admitting to the officer that it was your own. This is what makes the case complicated. But I wouldn't worry just yet. It's possible you may be able to avoid the worst, especially if you have no prior arrests.

My boyfriend had dropped me off at a friend's house and went to the library to use their wifi. He called me and said he had a dead battery, so my friend took me to him. After not being able to jump it off, we had to call a tow truck. While attempting to jump it off the first time, I found a small container on the ground. I went to show my boyfriend. He said it was marijuana. At the same time, I saw a police officer turning around and went to toss it in the bushes. The officer asked us why we were at the library so late and what I had tossed into the bushes. I denied tossing anything because I didn't think he would believe that I had just found it and didn't know what it was. He said he could fingerprint it and if I admitted it, he would let me go. I didn't want to go to jail, so I just said it was mine. I am about to graduate from nursing and cannot have this on my record. If I tell the truth, I doubt they will believe me. I can only afford a public defender and she isn't being very helpful. How can I beat this?

 

[army judge]

Never, ever, if under interrogation by law enforcement, admit, confess, or deny anything.
You have the right to remain silent.
You simply answer any and all questions about your name, date of birth, address, etc...
Under no circumstances admit, or deny anything, or discuss any aspect of anything in which you are implicated.
You politely INVOKE.
You say, "Sorry, officer, agent, trooper (INSERT TITLE OF AUTHORITY FIGURE) I respectfully invoke, request an attorney, and refuse to discuss anything about this matter under my Miranda Right to remain silent and my fifth amendment privilege."

They'll try many tricks to get you to blab, but keep repeating the simple mantra I've revealed to you.
Remember, never admit, deny, or discuss anything but name, age, address, and other pertinent personal particulars.

As to your current case, you aren't required to prove anything, say anything, testify to anything.
So, your lawyer isn't doing anything incorrectly.
The state must PROVE what they've charged.
You aren't required to disprove it.
So, simply dress professionally, be attentive, be respectful in court, and be SILENT.
You do, however, have a witness.
That's your male friend.
He could testify that he saw you do nothing, throw nothing, etc...
Forget fingerprints, that is an old trick used to scare people.
Unless you've signed a confession, no need to worry about what the cop said you said.
Why?
You claim the police report indicates you ADAMANTLY DENIED throwing or possessing the old devil weed filled container.

Relax, nothing you can do now, anyway.
This is one of the many times LESS, is indeed, MORE!!!!

My boyfriend had dropped me off at a friend's house and went to the library to use their WiFi. He called me and said he had a dead battery, so my friend took me to him. After not being able to jump it off, we had to call a tow truck. While attempting to jump it off the first time, I found a small container on the ground. I went to show my boyfriend what I found on the ground. He said it was marijuana. Literally right after I showed him, I saw a police officer turning around, so I went to toss it in the bushes. The officers(there were two in the car) asked us why we were at the library so late and what I had tossed into the bushes. He put us both in handcuffs and separated us. I denied tossing into the bushes anything because I didn't think he would truly believe that I had just found it and didn't know what it was. He said he could fingerprint it and if I admitted it, he would let me go. I didn't want to go to jail and knew that my fingerprints were on it since I had just touched it, so I just said it was mine. He wrote me a ticket for simple possession (only 1 gram...not sure how much that is, but it wasn't much at all!) and let me go. He never read me my rights, but then again, he never officially said I was under arrest. I have never smoked marijuana in my life and do not have any drug charges on my record. I have never done drugs in my life! I know I can't do PTI because I have already done it for a bad check I wrote when I was 18. I am about to graduate from nursing school and simply cannot have this on my record. If I tell the truth, I seriously doubt they will believe me. I can only afford a public defender and she isn't being very helpful. I know he doesn't have me on camera tossing it because it was to the left of him and the patrol car camera wouldn't have been pointing that way. I never should've admitted to it, bu I didn't want to go to jail and knew my fingerprints were on it. The police report says I adamantly denied it, but could they have a recording of me saying it was mine? How can I beat this and prove it wasn't mine? I am worried sick! I have invested so much time and money into nursing school and canot afford to have it ruined by this! I am desperate for advice and to know what my defenses are. Thanks in advance for your time and help!!