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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Dec 2010
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    1

    Default Possession of Marijuana, Petty Misdemeanor Charge

    My question involves criminal records for the state of: Minnesota

    *edit* rereading this after writing, it seems some of the questions dont quite apply to this forum section. Sorry! Im new to this site.

    There is a rather long backstory to this, but essentially what happened is this: I was in a friends car with 4 other friends, driving home from a cabin about an hour away from the Twin Cities. We were pulled over for speeding, and the officer claimed he could smell alcohol in the car. I'm 18, 2 others were 19, and the last 2 in the car were 17, and we had been drinking the day before (we were all completely sober, or so we believed). I blew a .00 but a friend blew a .015, and got a minor consumption. The cops proceeded to search the car, and in my backpack in the trunk they found 2 bags of weed, totalling maybe 4 grams. MN is a decriminalized state, so I received a petty misdemeanor ticket of up to $200. I have never been in trouble with the police before, not even pulled over while driving, so I have a few questions:

    1) The officer said the ticket would be sent in the mail within a week. Once I receive it, is there any reason I would have to go back to the county it was issued in, for payment etc? The police officer led me to believe that I wouldn't get a court date.

    2) I realize that even though its just a misdemeanor ticket, its still a crime and will most likely go onto my criminal record. How likely is it to turn up on basic job applications? Im a freshman in college so the places I am applying are not exactly the most prestigious places, with fairly low criteria for hiring.

    3) A friend told me I can get a misdemeanor removed from my record after a certain amount of time, is this true?

    Sorry for all the questions, this is the first time Ive had to deal with something like this and I am completely lost. I tried researching other places on the internet, but this website seemed to provide more reliable answers. Also, and general tips that relate to this would be really appreciated. Thanks!

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
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    98,846

    Default Re: Possession of Marijuana, Petty Misdemeanor Charge

    I would not be surprised if you can pay the fine for a petty misdemeanor by mail, and avoid a court appearance, as a "petty misdemeanor" is not a criminal offense. See Minn Statutes, Sec. 609.02(4a). I can't rule out the possibility that a petty misdemeanor conviction won't show up in a thorough enough background check, but it's not likely to do so absent a job that requires a security clearance or significant background investigation. As a petty misdemeanor is not a criminal charge it doesn't fit well under Minnesota's expungement statute, so I won't promise what a court might do in the future.

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