My question involves criminal law for the state of: Florida
Im 20 years old. And this if my First offense
Well my story starts off like this...
Me and a group of my friends (some i didnt know) went to the bowling alley.
We ended up drinking and having fun.Once everyone got bored we decided to go.A couple people had left early,so it was down to just me and 3 other people.
Well being a little tipsy, we walked a crossed the parking lot heading to the car.
Someone(out of the people i was with) decided to hand me the rest of the really small roach.At first i thought to myself "nah,im good." i even actually said it out loud.But then for some dumb reason i changed my mind,and took it.
I took a couple hits off of it and kept walking.
Then a state marshall,who was waiting for a armed robbery deal, saw me.He got out and grabbed the back of my jacket(i instantly dropped the roach.)
and hand cuffed me and the rest of my friends.
he didnt read me my miranda.all he said was sit down and be quiet.So i did.5 minutes later he came back,picked me up and searched me.I had nothing on me whatsoever.(Neither did anyone else).
So he made me sit back down.After sitting there in the cold for about an hour or so,watching the 9 cops joke around,laugh, and listen to Bob Marley while saying " want some reefer man!?"; he eventually let everyone else out of there cuffs.
After about 10-20 more minutes he uncuffed me and asked if this loud mouthed girl i was with,who just made things worse, was my gf.She wasnt of course.But the dumb girl tried everything.Flirted,bitched and screamed, and just acted totally obnoxious to the cops.
Anyway,they started talking to me while he was writing the paper with my court date.he told me that since its my FIRST offense,it would probably just be a slap on the wrist.He then let me go home.
My Questions are:
Should i get a lawyer?and if so,ive talked to 2 already.
1 seems cool and laid back,hes charging $2000.
The other seems to really know what hes doing.he already planned this whole thing out,and has 2 alternatives,depending on how the court goes.
He seems very trustworthy,and hes been doing this for more than 20 years.
His price:$5000
What should i plead if i dont get a lawyer?
Should i use a public defender?
i really dont have much money.
Also what can i expect from this case?Probation? Fines? community service?case being dropped?
This is my first offense and im trying to keep my cool and handle things,but its beginning to seem overwhelming at times.
Please help me.

