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17-Year-Old Caught With Marijuana and Paraphernalia

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  • 11-25-2011, 07:11 AM
    stevo9720
    17-Year-Old Caught With Marijuana and Paraphernalia
    My question involves criminal law for the state of: Florida

    Hi, a couple days ago i was pulled over for going 69 in a 45 (amazing, i know). The second the officer came to my window he said he smelled marijuana and i said what because i honestly couldn't smell it at all. 5 seconds later i realize that i forgot to take my stuff from the trunk and put it in my house. He said he could smell it coming from the window, so he asked me if there is anything in the car he should no about and told me that he has probable cause to search it either way. Pretty much intimidating me because he said another few things to scare me so of course i let him search the front anyways. He searched the front of the car and found baggies/weed crumbs and thought it was suspicious/called for backup and asked me one more time saying that if i tell him where it is hell be nice on me or whatever so i was just scared so i told him it was in the back but i lied and told him that a friend who went to the beach last night wanted me to hold on to it until today because at that point i was really worried about being charged with intent so i didn't want them to think any of the stuff was mine. I knew that i was already going to be charged with possesing the pharaphenala/weed. I told him I didnt even know the code to get in. He then proceeded to bust the lock of my trunk open but i just told him where the pull up thing for it in my car was. So he opens the trunk and there is a small 3 digit safe that was unlocked (which I thought was locked anyways (faulty safe). There was around 4 grams, a scale, a grinder and a gar splitter. They arrested me and took me to a police station and went through my stuff. the officer had a safe, the ziploc container, the bud , the scale, the grinder and the gar splitter (which he just called a small red tube). he informed me that he was going to be nice and give me 1 possesion charge under 20 grams and also said that since the scale, grinder, splitter, safe etc. could all be considered separate pharaphenilia so he gave me a break and just put all of them in 1. At that point I was happy that he didnt confiscate the baggies and that he just listed the scale as paraphernalia. In the police report he never mentioned the baggies, just the weed crumbs on the floorboard and that i had a safe,ziploc conatiner with bud in it, a scale, a grinder and the splitter. Nothing was in the police report about me distributing, so that's good. So i had to sit in a cell for a couple hours then this guy from juevnile justice came to ask me questions and told me that I was going to try for diversion rather than probation by to going to classes, etc.

    My mom is a good person and is trying very hard to help me out of this but said that we really have no money for an attorney and believes that since its my first time offence I should be Ok after the proper classes are taken and that by time im 18 i should be able to expunge it. I have court on January 3rd, and today is the first day starting my drug classes.

    I have a couple questions:

    I have A's and B's at school and have never been in trouble before. If I go to drug classes until court and stay clean, What are my chances of getting diversion? What would my worst sentence be for these 2 charges? Should I get a lawyer to negotiate with the judge or should I trust my mom to talk to the judge and represent me? I also would like to know a couple common sentences I could get.

    Basically im just scared and i know I shouldn't have been mixed up with that kind of trouble because I really am A good kid, the only drug I have ever done was pot, even alcohol Ive only tried once or twice.

    Any advice would be great or any general idea on what will happen on the 3rd is appreciated also.

    Steve
  • 11-25-2011, 09:52 AM
    PandorasBox
    Re: 17yrs Caught with Possesion Under 20 Grams / Pharaphenalia First Time Offender
    Your family needs to be talking to a Criminal Defense Attorney for you. If not, then plead Not Guilty, ask for a public defender, but understand there is still a fee for this.

    Your school grades do not matter. In fact, I think it makes it worse when someone says "I'm a straight A/B student and yet still broke the law, even though I am smart and should have known better".

    Be grateful you do not have Intent to Deal on your record. Baggies, scales = intent to sell drugs.

    Hopefully the drug class will mean something, and not just a "go through the motions so I can avoid a harsher sentence" thing.
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