Misdemeanor Possession of Marijuana in Georgia

My question involves criminal law for the state of: Georgia

One night out at the club the police walked up to a van that had me and two other people in it. One guy had lit a marijuana roach about 10-15 minutes earlier. I thought he threw it out but apparently placed it inside the van in an area that has equal access by everyone. We all got charged with misdemeanor possession of marijuana. This is all of our first time being charged with everything and we all have a clean record. I am a recent college graduate with hopes (well had hopes) of joining the military soon. If the guy who lit the weed never admits it was his I was wondering what do you think the result will be for me? It honestly wasn't my marijuana but I have a feeling the guy is going to blame it on me or the other person since it was our vehicle.

I would hire a lawyer,you can probably get in to a diversion program but maybe with a good lawyer you can get the charge dismissed . You can still join the military but probably need a waiver,one misdemeanor shouldn't ruin that but some branches are more strict then others. The things is the military background check is deep,be totally honest with recruiter. They have 1st time offender program that dismiss and expunge your record but the military is still gonna see what happened with your case.

Step one get a lawyer and go to a reutier office ask them what the best outcome is. A dismal is the best if not then a dismal thru a diversion program or maybe the charge can be reduced to something non drug related. Some branchs of the military should be willing to work with you since got a degree,its looks bad that you got arrested but at least it's just a misdemeanor and you haven't been convicted yet. The penalty is probably at worse a small fine and a drug class but you need a lawyer help limit the damage career wise.

Quote:

---

Quoting tc498

---

I would hire a lawyer,you can probably get in to a diversion program but maybe with a good lawyer you can get the charge dismissed . You can still join the military but probably need a waiver,one misdemeanor shouldn't ruin that but some branches are more strict then others. The things is the military background check is deep,be totally honest with recruiter. They have 1st time offender program that dismiss and expunge your record but the military is still gonna see what happened with your case.

Step one get a lawyer and go to a reutier office ask them what the best outcome is. A dismal is the best if not then a dismal thru a diversion program or maybe the charge can be reduced to something non drug related. Some branchs of the military should be willing to work with you since got a degree,its looks bad that you got arrested but at least it's just a misdemeanor and you haven't been convicted yet. The penalty is probably at worse a small fine and a drug class but you need a lawyer help limit the damage career wise.

---

Is there a great discrepancy between a hired lawyer and a public defender? Because I am a recent college graduate I REALLY can not afford to hire a lawyer. I've been researching a pretrial diversion program and if I am able to get into one before my trial I'm assuming it will look better for my case? The branch of the military I was hoping to join was the Air Force and they have strict guidelines. If I go to court and am found not guilty or it is expunged will it still show up to my recruiter?

You are saying best case scenario that I get a dismissal? Will a dismissal still show up on my record? And you were saying worse case scenario it paying a small fine and taking a drug class without jail time right? I really don't want to go to jail. Thanks for all of your help.

You won't go to jail,a public defender is still a qualified a lawyer,sometimes having a paid lawyer helps more. I would talk to an air force recruiter and discuss what results would still let you join the air force.

If your public defender cant get you out of that one . . .

- - - Updated - - -

what branch of the military are you going to join?

Quote:

---

Quoting JackSparks

---

If your public defender cant get you out of that one . . .

Hopefully.he.can
- - - Updated - - -

what branch of the military are you going to join?

---

Airforce