I Am Not A Lawyer, and not qualified to give legal advice.
Do you really have to list petty weed charges on job applications? If so, for how long?
They should have given you a citation with instructions, or told you to expect one in the mail. If it’s a big court hearing/trail, you’ll go in at least once to talk to them and they’ll assign you a public defender if you want/need one, and a trial date. In that situation, since it’s a first offense, you might be able to get ARD (first offender program), which will usually lower your fines and expunge your record. If you don’t get ARD it will go on your record.
If it’s a citation for a local magistrate, you usually go there and see a judge. You can offer explanations, fight the charges, ask for lieniency, etc. If you don’t fight it you can just pay a fine and be on your way. Sometimes you can just mail the fine and not appear in person at all. Lawyers usually aren’t involved at this level, but I think the magistrate can hold the case for trial.
Well that is what i am not really sure of. i do not know if this is a big enough deal to get a lawyer involved. if i go there and i have to pay a small fine and maybe some community service i would be happy with that as long as it stays off my record. Luckily the i was in was not moving. the only offense on the ticket is the minor possession charge. people around me have been telling me that i should be fine just by the mere fact that i was not arrested or fingerprinted by the cops, but how valid is that??
would it be likely all 3 of us go up to the stand at the same time? since we were all there doing the same crime?or would we all be going up separately?
Not necessarily. In some jurisdictions, it is possible to have the record of a misdemeanor conviction for simple possession expunged (records sealed, person no longer required to report conviction, etc) after a certain amount of time if the person has no other charges and satisfies certain other conditions which vary by jurisdiction.
For the OP, first of all, stop posting any details about what happened in a public forum such as this one. Second, get a lawyer. There may be technical defects in the citation that could be used to support a dismissal, or there may be alternatives to adjudication for first time offenders in your jurisdiction.
You don’t necessarily need a lawyer to come to court with you, which could be VERY expensive. But you should at least consult with one to learn more about the seriousness of the charge and what your options are.
Get a lawyer. I’m a lawyer and I’d get one if I were in your shoes. At the very least, the lawyer will give you a reasonable assessment of your case and the best and worst case outcomes for free (or cheaply). Your state bar association has a lawyer referral service and you would do well to use it.
And for fuck’s sake, if you are going to smoke weed stop doing it in public. Do it at home, or do it at a friend’s house if you can’t do it at home for some reason.
Drug crimes are a bit different from property and violent crimes. Evidence is more likely to be suppressed or otherwise held inadmissible in drug cases for various reasons that are probably beyond the scope of this thread.
yeah i feel like an idiot. what sucks is i had quit smoking for about 6 months. and the 1 time i go out to smoke. i get busted for this stuff. guess i wont be able to enlist for the military either.
Usually the car doesn’t have to be moving to be charged for operating a vehicle while under the influence. You just have to have ‘physical control’ meaning you are in the driver’s seat and the keys are in the ignition.
What I’ve seen with traffic violations is you pay the lawyer $500, the lawyer contacts the judge, asks him about his granddaughter’s gymnastics competition, laughs at his jokes, then tells him she’s got a client and what can she do? and the judge gives his buddy the lightest possible sentence, and the lawyer thanks him and tells the client about the deal. (At least I assume that’s how it happens; I’ve only seen things from the client end).
It ain’t how the system SHOULD work, but IME it’s how the system DOES work. For traffic violations at least, and I suspect it works similarly for small drug violations.
Not only that but when I was on the Big Island people were smoking it openly in parks and on the beaches. I can’t believe simple possession is much of a big deal there. Talk to a lawyer, but I would bet that you pay a fine and complete some kind of penance it won’t even go on your record.
