Possession

Eleven months ago, my son was stopped for a traffic violation. At this time, the officer asked to search his car, and subsequently found an ounce of marijuana. The officer impounded the car and threw my son in jail. I paid the bail and had him released immediately. He is 22 years old, this is his first offense and we live in Michigan.

Today (eleven months later), my son received Notice to Appear in the mail from the local courts. This notice states it is for Arraignment & Pretrial and charges are listed as Controlled Substance – Possession of Marijuana. This is the first and only notice we have received from the court system.

My questions are:
1) What should we expect at this Arraignment?
2) Should he plead guilty or not guilty?
3) Should we get a lawyer?
4) Is he looking at fines, probation, jail time and/or a criminal record?

what is the number of the violation(s)

Quote:

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http://www.legislature.mi.gov/(S(vyh...e=mcl-333-7403

333.7403 Knowingly or intentionally possessing controlled substance, controlled substance analogue, or prescription form; violations; penalties; discharge from lifetime probation.

Sec. 7403.

(1) A person shall not knowingly or intentionally possess a controlled substance, a controlled substance analogue, or a prescription form unless the controlled substance, controlled substance analogue, or prescription form was obtained directly from, or pursuant to, a valid prescription or order of a practitioner while acting in the course of the practitioner's professional practice, or except as otherwise authorized by this article.

(2) A person who violates this section as to:
................................................
(d) Marihuana is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment for not more than 1 year or a fine of not more than
$2,000.00, or both.

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That's the statute...

This is probably the better news:

Quote:

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"Conditional release: The state allows conditional release or alternative or diversion sentencing for people facing their first prosecutions. Usually, conditional release lets a person opt for probation rather than trial. After successfully completing probation, the individual's criminal record does not reflect the charge." http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=4544

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