My question involves criminal law for the state of: S. Dakota
My daughter, aged 21, traveled to S. Dakota to visit some friends. She went with two males that she knows. One male was driving his mother's car. When they were leaving Rapid City they were pulled over for following too close. One of the young men had dreds, although he's a pale white guy with icy blue eyes. The cops found some marijuana and a pipe in his jacket -- they questioned my daughter about this. She said she didn't use, it's not her car, she doesn't smoke, it's not her jacket they found the stuff in, the stuff does not belong to her. She is being charged with a paraphanalia charge, and says the police told her if she fought it they would charge her with two felony charges -- and that by looking at her body language they could tell that she knows about the marijuana and the pipe.
She is far away from home, her boyfriend is in jail right not, they have scheduled her court for January 15 (but she doesn't need to go if she pleads guilty and pays a fine of about $300). The other guy in the car lives overseas and is an engineer. He was let go with no charges because the police said they could tell he knew nothing about this.
My daughter talked with a lawyer relative of the engineer who said it was no big thing and she should just pay the fine.
I know I'm getting this through my daughter's eyes -- but this just seems crazy. If she's being accurate, is she in jeopardy? Is this lawyer right? Is this no big thing that she should just pay and forget?
She has a minor consuming charge from when she was 17 (alcohol), and a jaywalking ticket from last year and that's it. She's a good kid, doesn't like or trust the police much which makes me very sad.
Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

