Drug Crimes, Substance Abuse possesion of marijuana first timer

[rock4ahead]

so last week my and my buddy got busted. he only had some seeds but i had a bag of like 5grams i think they weighed it out to. my parents are freaking saying that i need a lawyer, but wont that make me seem even more guilty and get a harsher punishment? because obviously i am guilty

 

[irish223]

so last week my and my buddy got busted. he only had some seeds but i had a bag of like 5grams i think they weighed it out to. my parents are freaking saying that i need a lawyer, but wont that make me seem even more guilty and get a harsher punishment? because obviously i am guilty

Do as your parents say. Get a lawyer.

 

[IsaYazd]

This is a late response, but a bit of legal advice.

First of all, do not waste your time with a lawyer in this type of situation. If you were charged or you know you had roughly 5 grams of pot on you, your more than in the clear.

Colorado Marijuana Laws
Code Section - 18-18-101, et seq., 18-18-406
Possession - Under 1 oz.: Class 2 petty offense, $100 fine
1-8 oz.: Class 1 misdemeanor or Class 5 felony with prior conviction
Over 8 oz.: Class 5 felony or Class 4 felony with prior conviction
Public use: Class 2 petty offense, $100 fine and 15 days

So your charges should not exceed a $100 fine and generally, you may more than likely, need to complete 24 hours of community service and/or a drug and alcohol class.

-(Avoid the classes. Their nothing but useless time spent in a crime school, essentially. If a judge mandates you to go, simply make this statement to him. Tell him you've heard from legal advice that classes are not in your interest, because you do not want to be exposed to an environment that passively promotes drug and alcohol use; quite like tobacco and alcohol banners, posters, signs, billboards, etc.) I advise our whole entire generation to stay out of the classes, and to allow the parents to expose their kids to this poorly represented subject. Use the Mexican cartels as an example, and that you simply do not wish to be exposed to their type of lifestyle where you hear about worse drugs and addictions. Further leading to these types of lifestyles. -(THAT IS ACTUALLY A FACT)

Decriminalization: The state has decriminalized marijuana to some degree. Typically, decriminalization means no prison time or criminal record for first-time possession of a small amount for personal consumption. The conduct is treated like a minor traffic violation.

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Here is my legal standpoint. As soon as you walk into the courthouse, make sure to have your parents stop the District Attorney. Let them see you, say hello to them, and honestly give them your regards when talking to them. "Never be scared of the district attorney or the judge." They give the kids who don't talk much or the ones who may seem/look like trouble a harder time. Go in with a smile. Wear a tie. And relax. Nothing bad will happen in court. All your doing is going in there to have a conversation. That's all. There is NO JAIL TIME in this situation.

Now from here, I would work with the District Attorney when they call your name. Again, nicely but assertively tell your family to be firm on these demands. Explain that you want to see the charges dropped off of your record, in exchange for a higher penalty or for community service. If they do not comply, then firmly state that you you wish for the marijuana charges to be dropped down to "Possession of Paraphernalia" charges. DO NOT LEAVE THE COURT ROOM WITHOUT LEAVING WITH ONE OF THESE TWO DEMANDS.

If the District Attorney just so happens to give you a hard time, and refuses to drop the charges to one of your two demands, simply walk out the door, after signing the waiver in pleading non-guilty to the charges. After some time, you will have a new court date scheduled. The beautiful thing about this scenario, is that when you plead non guilty, you will more than likely face a different District Attorney next time.

If the second District Attorney doesn't drop the charges for you, don't panic. Never let the District Attorney see you bleed mercy or emotions to them. Just plead not-guilty again, and it will surpass to a third trial, where you would confess to the courtroom that you are non-guilty (even though you are). More than 75% of the time, an officer DOES NOT show up to court to speak against you. If the judge does not, I'll repeat that again, IF A JUDGE DOES NOT HAVE ANY WITNESSES TO SUPPORT THE STATE OF COLORADO vs. THE OPPOSITION-(IE~You) then the judge has no material evidence from a witness to claim you are guilty. If you do have an officer there, then it's fine. At that point, very casually admit to the judge your situation. That you just wanted to have the charges removed, and you were willing to do more to get more out of the deal. More than likely, he will reason with you and just give up the charges. It doesn't make a bit of a difference to the courthouse. You honestly are worth less than a speeding ticket to them. But it's their job to yank your tail, and to piss you off.

To make this all easier, find out in advance, your court date, court room, retrieve a record of the statement the officer made against you when he pulled you over, so you know what he is saying and what the court house has against you-(you can retrieve a copy from the local sheriff's office in the county you were pulled over in.)

Mail a letter to the judge, after you find out his name, and send in your negotiation. At all times, this is better to do, because the judge does not actually see you, and he actually is outside of the courtroom atmosphere which intensifies a judges rule of law. Outside of the courtroom, judges are quite like you and me. Take advantage of this to reflect your charges, your negotiation, and what you would like to see happen as soon as possible after you've received your ticket from the officer. You must be certain, that you know you pay these people their paychecks. You are not to be afraid of them, but you are to respect them. The court system is very easy to get through when the judge calls upon the next case, and the defendant rises with a smile, somehow gets the judge to smile, and leave it at that. Never piss a judge off. I'm in politics. And if anybody gets in my way or hits me, I hit them 20 times harder with a rebuttal to their statement I disagree with.

I tried to put this in simplest terms. I hope it helped. I know a lot about the Colorado law. So if you have any other questions, send me an email. Colorado had an expansion in power 2-3 years ago. It's time to take that expansion of power, and dwindle it down, right back to the basic purposes of an officer. Which is to protect and serve. You have a right to defend yourself. Always remember this. Law and order is not about what is right and what is wrong in these cases. It's about who has the stronger argument.

These are stupid money making cases for the government to use in order to lure cash into the state. And politicians are working very hard to legalize because their realistically is no ground-work to say it is any worse than cigarettes or alcohol. Actually marijuana has several beneficial effects, and has NEVER KILLED A SINGLE HUMAN SOUL. You would have to smoke a joint about the size of your whole body before you could even come close to overdosing. As I said before, it's related to the expansion of powers a government has over the people. It's always been a fight, who has more power. The President, the Federal government, or the people. This is just a taste of my life for you if you're ever interested in law or politics. Good luck future lawyers and problem solvers! Hope the best with your further encounters with the police! REMEMBER!!! You have a right to not let the police search your car unless they state probable cause during the ACTUAL traffic stop. They cannot use assumptions to search your car, and if they apsolutely need to search your car, they will need a warrant or a dog to sniff your car. Be polite to your police though. Say, "hello, how are you doing today officer." They tend to treat you nicer.

 

[CdwJava]

First of all, do not waste your time with a lawyer in this type of situation. If you were charged or you know you had roughly 5 grams of pot on you, your more than in the clear.

Colorado Marijuana Laws
Code Section - 18-18-101, et seq., 18-18-406
Possession - Under 1 oz.: Class 2 petty offense, $100 fine
1-8 oz.: Class 1 misdemeanor or Class 5 felony with prior conviction
Over 8 oz.: Class 5 felony or Class 4 felony with prior conviction
Public use: Class 2 petty offense, $100 fine and 15 days

Where did you find that the original poster might live in Colorado? If not in Colorado, their laws are completely irrelevant.

-(Avoid the classes. Their nothing but useless time spent in a crime school, essentially. If a judge mandates you to go, simply make this statement to him. Tell him you've heard from legal advice that classes are not in your interest, because you do not want to be exposed to an environment that passively promotes drug and alcohol use

Ah! Brilliant! In other words, your advice is: "Your honor, I'd rather have this remain ON my criminal record than have it removed. Thank you."

All your doing is going in there to have a conversation. That's all. There is NO JAIL TIME in this situation.

Unless the poster lives in one of the states where they DO allow jail time for marijuana possession, or states such as Nevada where it can be a felony.

DO NOT LEAVE THE COURT ROOM WITHOUT LEAVING WITH ONE OF THESE TWO DEMANDS.

Do you REALLY think the DA has to cave? They might give in to one or the other through diversion, but it almost certainly will include the classes.

After reading your "advice" on this topic it is clear that you're not an attorney. if this bizarre circumstance worked for you, well, you got lucky and woe be the DA and the court system in your county in Colorado. But, this is not the situation in most the rest of the nation.

Mail a letter to the judge, after you find out his name, and send in your negotiation.

That is an ex parte communication, usually quite verboten. The judge will usually circular file such communications, and if he doesn't he will be required to share the letter with the prosecution if he wishes to even consider it in his deliberation.

Actually marijuana has several beneficial effects, and has NEVER KILLED A SINGLE HUMAN SOUL.

True, I suppose ... though marijuana smoking is a contributory factor in illnesses and impairment related deaths in much the same way as cigarettes can be. So while a fatal marijuana overdose is unlikely, it can still contribute to other forms of death and per SAMSHA it contributes to more than 215,000 emergency room visits each year.

Note that there are not any cigarette overdoses, either.

REMEMBER!!! You have a right to not let the police search your car unless they state probable cause during the ACTUAL traffic stop.

Yes and no. They need probable cause (or some other exception such as consent, an impound inventory, a 4th amendment waiver due to probation or parole), but they do not generally have to articulate it to the suspect at the scene.

- Carl

 

[charm101]

Who won't be freaked out on being busted for a marijuana seeds only. Seems this is a rare case. It is my first time to hear this and really it is in your possession of an illegal drug. Lawyers could give you answer for this and it is really needed to seek for their help.

 

[JustWantJustice]

I agree with Charm One. Get an attorney. And no, you cannot go into court and dictate to the DA what they are going to do with you. No, it does not work in there. They are there to win cases, not to let people tell them what to do.

I was also wondering where the info came from that the OP was in Colorado. If so, then there's probably not much to worry about since mj has been decriminalized to a pretty good extent in that state. And in my state, I doubt you'd have much to worry about, either, since four grams is legal. But there are other states where possessing even just a few seeds is goign to get you into a lot, a lot of trouble.

And as for stating that you will not complete any classes? Uh, good luck. And really, if that is what would it would take to get criminal charges dropped, you'd be nuts to take that advice. Attend a few classes, pay the fees, and be done with it.

Whatever the case, you've got criminal charges pending against you. If you can, get an attorney asap. You need one.

ONe more thing, on edit: That's simply not true that 75% of the time arresting officers are not there. There's a reason that arresting officers give you a certain date: that's their next date in court. They want their arrests to result in convictions just as much as the DA does. Never count on an officer not being in court. They're there. And if they are not, your case will simply be continued. And court is full of continuances. Do not count on this advice.

The person who made that long post did have a good point about searches, though, and most people are just not aware of this, plus they let officers intimidate them. If your car or home is to be searched, they almost always need warrants. You do not have to consent to a voluntary search, and you never should. Be polite, of course, but don't consent to voluntary searches. Even if it's your home or your car, you don't know what someone else may have left behind. No voluntary searches.

And cops do show up for court. They like convictions.