Can You Be Charged With Drug Possession Based on a Picture
My question involves criminal law for the state of: North Carolina
This is going to be a question about North Carolina Marijuana laws. One of my friends' (over 18) parents recently received a call from the sheriff's department. Apparently sometime coming up, there was to be a drug raid at a local high school where multiple people were going to be arrested. Anyways, in this call, the deputy stated and showed images of the friend smoking marijuana. There was a picture of a bong, joint, and actual marijuana. In one of the pictures, a marijuana grinder can be seen as well.
The deputy stated that the friend would be arrested coming up on this basis. The charges apparently pending were two paraphernalia charges (one for the grinder and one for the bong), a possession charge, and an intent to distribute charged based on the amount that could be seen in one of the pictures (although it was actually not above the limit to be charged with this).
My question is, would he be able to be charged just based on the pictures? What would be the best way to go about this and cause the least amount of legal trouble and possibly get out of this? If he were to deny that this was even marijuana and did not have anything in possession, is there still basis to charge him? When he is taken in this drug bust, would he be better off to cooperate and tell the truth, ask for a lawyer, or just deny the claims? He is very unsure of what is the right thing to do in order to receive the best outcome possible. Thanks for any help in advance!
Re: Can You Be Charged With Drug Possession Based on a Picture
The police don't call up the parents of high school students suspected of drug activity and warn them that their children's high schools will soon be raided.
A photograph of somebody in possession of what appear to be illegal drugs, or using what appear to be illegal drugs, along with other facts, may help support an application for a search warrant. However, absent a confession, the picture alone is not sufficient to support a conviction.