Charged for Drug Paraphernalia My Son Left in My Vehicle

My question involves criminal law for the state of: Georgia.
I am a truck driver, I made a wrong turn and corrected it as fast as I could without causing damage to any person place or thing,
An officer put his lights on me and I stopped.
He accuse me of driving under the influence.

Subsequently issue in mi5 citations yes 5, he then climbed into my truck and found paraphernalia my son had left they're setting in at the night before.

I believe my son when he tells me there were no illegal substances and that so-called paraphernalia or pipe, and believe me I had no idea it was in my tractor or I would not have permitted to be there.

I went to an arraignment in April the incident happen in March.
I was arrested in March as well.

Doing the arraignment with my last name being pretty much last on the docket I watched the police officer step up to the judge and with Whisper into his ear with every case that came before the judge this made me uneasy.

I requested a jury trial. I've been asked how long it would be before the transfer to Superior Court.
I was told I would be notified by mail and that he didn't want to hear the case anyway and to get out of his courtroom by the setting judge. So of course without haste I left his courtroom.


While under arrest I was given blood and urine samples of which came back negative to my favor in my opinion that should have got rid of the driving under the influence I now find out that is the case.

( forgive my jumping around I know it is annoying however I am not computer savvy)


Too months had passed and I call the clerk in the city where this incident took place and weather court was originally held, I had asked her what was going on with my case, I was then told they had lost the paperwork and that she would do something refer to me as the Sunshine Act and had three days to comply, I was told to call her back in 4 days.

On the 4th day I made a call left a message on their answering machine never to get a reply, by then began calling twice sometimes three times a day only to get the same as string machine,, this was very confusing and irritating.

I am now unemployed because of this incident and cannot afford an attorney I have made two phone calls to the public defender's office in their town basically to get a run around..

After 3 months of the same runaround from the clerk's office and the Public defender's office I looked online and found an attorney with great cloud on or in the same town where this incident took place.

I called the attorney told him my story he put me on hold for approximately 3 minutes and he himself made the phone call to the clerks of For me which I greatly appreciated.

This attorney came back on the phone and told me they had told him a new clerk was in there and had misplaced the paperwork they had fam They had found the paperwork and would deliver it the next day by hand.

I call the DA's office three weeks later to find out when the case would be held or heard, they informed me they never received the case and they could not do nothing until it was transferred.
( I will try to shorten the story for bleeding eyes)

In December 2013 after calling every other day or every week like clockwork a girlfriend of mine called the mayors office, the mayor said he would look into it four days later he called her back and told her it was being transferred.

January 13th or 14th I called the DA's to see if the transfer had taken place just to find out that yes they had gotten it .
Now instead of the five say it Asians which I was more than ready to defend I am told there are only two and they are criminal charges one is reckless Reckless driving the other is possession of less than 1 ounce of marijuana.


When the officer arrested me he took it upon himself to use my personal telephone and get phone numbers from it He called my girlfriend asking her private questions he also took it upon himself to call my company and now so I have been arrested for DWI or DUI before the talks ology reports come back my company had terminated my lease on my tractor of which I had close to 60 3000 dollars invested in and they took it back
Being a lease operator I did not qualify for any unemployment.

This whole situation and length of time is caused me so much damage losing my job I had to sell my automobile to help pay back the bond borrowed and including my residence I had nowhere to live
I was forced to move into a garage of a friends which is 40 miles from the closest town
Needless to say no automobile no way to look for work and no money for food.

The middle of January I was told I should we don't see a letter telling me when to show up for a hearing to this date night has come.

I had no idea the paraphernalia that was in my truck was there nor do I believe it contained marijuana or any illegal substances. The turn down the one way road was a mistake in fact it was a total accident I corrected it as soon as possible.
I do not understand the justice system but I understand right from wrong and I believe that this system has treated me unfairly and has caused me undo harm in my personal life.
Is there a statute of limitations claim here??
In desperate need for sound advice I thank you in advance Michael.

When you do not understand the justice system (or frankly any time you are facing criminal charges), you need a lawyer.

Driving the wrong way is plenty of cause to stop you (even if it was a mistake and you are sober).
The officer's subjective analysis of your intoxication can be probable cause for an arrest even without any lab test (though it's harder to prosecute).

"It isn't mine" isn't a defense to possession.
Don't believe for a second your son's arguments that his paraphernalia wasn't used.
Paraphernalia doesn't need to be "dirty" to be guilty.

The police and DA are not on your side.

If you are truly indigent, ask for a public defender at the first court appearance. There are possibly some irregularities here with regard to the search of your vehicle and the cell phone. However a lawyer will have to independently dig into the facts to see if some of the evidence found is suppressible.

Thank you for your reply on my ad the citations had different weather conditions and in the red box it said check if in a commercial vehicle those were not checked either.
. And I still have a question about the timeliness to prosecute or at least get me in the court As it is now 30 day sha of one year since the incident.

Address that with your lawyer. That drug charge is bad.

Thank you for your reply,
I've asked via telephone the district attorney's office for all evidence against me they told me I would we see that the day I show up for the hearing.

They then told me I would have a chance to seek legal attention from a public defender at that time also.

I made the turn down a one way road by mistake I had just bought a GPS which had me confused.
Knowing full well it was against the law for me to back a semi truck with a trailer at an intersection I had to make a u-turn when I made a wrong turn down the.
I was not even aware you're aware it was a one way road until another truck driver address my situation be at the CB radio.
He held back traffic so that I could make my turn around safely.
This was a very controlled situation do you turn that is.
At no time was public property or myself in danger.

The pipe my kid left in my truck had to back on it I smelt of it when the officer had handed it to me to look at.
I think this is a sham I believe that the officer because he couldn't make none of this dick held us up in the little bitty court on purpose I made numerous calls to try and get this move forward so I could get on with my life.( the Chargers are possession of less than 1 ounce of marijuana and reckless driving)

I do not write well and I do not have legal assistance I live in a foreign state I do not live in Georgia so my help.

I raise two children alone never asking for help from the state government or family and did just fine I am honestly a good law abiding man these charges have absolutely turn my life completely upside down.

I have also read online that I'm I asked to see a statement or I believe it was called a verified statement.
Is this process allowed in Georgia a verified statement that is in a mistermeaner criminal charge.

I am attempting to get all the help I can so that when I do have the opportunity to speak into to an attorney I'm a POS these questions and halfway know what I'm asking.

In advance I thank you kindly for any suggestions and help I might receive on this site.

Again, the DA is not your friend on this. You need to get a hold of a lawyer in Georgia. Try calling the public defender office there and see if you can get someone to help. Again POSSESSION does not require ownership. The "it isn't mine" defense isn't going to fly. You're guilty of possessing paraphernalia for sure. Depending on what the local custom is, dirty paraphernalia may be drug possession. The drug charges are way more serious than the traffic charge.

The statute of limitations ceased to matter when you were charged. As for speedy trial rights, if two terms of the court (roughly a year) go by without your trial coming to court, you can move for dismissal. HOWEVER, you likely waived the time rights at some point by not being in the state. I would NOT get my hopes up on getting this thrown out on a technicality.

This is GOING to take a lawyer.

I thank you very much for your advice and input.
Seems I will just have to ride it out until I have an opportunity to speak with the competent attorney.
However my gut tells me this is all very unfair.
Just the same once again I thank you very much.


It may seem silly to ask these questions I guess I was looking for a silver bullet.

God bless.