4th admendment & book bag left in room at college

[rastmm]

What is the name of your state?Hey, we live in NC. My son is 21 and attends a community college. He is in a welding program there. His instructor told the student if they wanted they could leave their book bags in the shop on their desk for the weekend. He did. He had several of those tiny bags in his bag one which had about 4 seeds in it. The campus police went into this room and search the bags. Found this in my sons and wrote a warrant for his arrest. On Monday he had an appointment and would not attend till the afternoon. A friend text him about the police looking for him. He called the head of campus police since he was not close to the school. He was told there was a warrant for marijuana and paraphernalia. He went to the local magistrate and took care of it. He was also told by the officer he was banded from school. He had an appeal of that today. The officer said there was only his bag in the room and he thought it was lost so he had to look in it. He also said my son was prepared to start dealing. When asked he said no to there was no suspicion on him prior to this. That no person had told him my son was dealing. Now under the law 4th amendment considering this is a public school and we can prove the officer knew this bag was not abandoned can he open it then arrest him.

 

[CdwJava]

A bag left in a room can be considered discarded property and the police and anyone can search it for identification or even contraband.

Your son needs an attorney.

- Carl

 

[rastmm]

Carl

And that what the officer is saying it was a lost bag. With that said i read the 4th amendment over and over and it was not an easy read and the only part the gave him the right to search it was the discarded thing. No suspicion, danger and of that. Now I feel and of course I want to get him out of this because of is Pell Grant, future etc I believe this officer knew it was not abandoned. Even if it was how can he prove it is my sons bags and 4 seeds. Even if he admits it is his bag but not stuff how can they prove it if it was so called lost. Thanks You think you should have a Lawyer for school also. PS I am not very happy with my son either!!!!

 

[rastmm]

carl

i just read what i wrote i must be tired sorry hope u understood me

 

[CdwJava]

And that what the officer is saying it was a lost bag. With that said i read the 4th amendment over and over and it was not an easy read and the only part the gave him the right to search it was the discarded thing. No suspicion, danger and of that. Now I feel and of course I want to get him out of this because of is Pell Grant, future etc I believe this officer knew it was not abandoned. Even if it was how can he prove it is my sons bags and 4 seeds. Even if he admits it is his bag but not stuff how can they prove it if it was so called lost. Thanks You think you should have a Lawyer for school also. PS I am not very happy with my son either!!!!

It doesn't matter a whole lot if he believed it was abandoned or not. The fact it was left unattended in the classroom could be sufficient to warrant the seizure and the search. There is no expectation of privacy for property left on the grounds of a school.

He needs an attorney. And its possible they could plead this down, but I doubt they will have much look on 4th Amendment grounds.

- Carl

 

[CdwJava]

i just read what i wrote i must be tired sorry hope u understood me

I think I got it.

- carl

 

[rastmm]

ok then

The 4th amendment reads abandoned and your right its up to a judge to decide if it was because it was unattended. Even though his instructor allowed them to leave them there. I went to the same school took computers and i left my very heavy bag and most my classes were in the same room and I left my bag in there many times but the door was locked. I think his was too. I'm rambling. But can you charge a person for whats in that bag if you never saw them with it even if it has your name on tablets and such. After this I'll leave you alone. Hey were you making fun of me! ha Oh today this officer told the appeals board the 4 seeds were prime for planting I thought to myself what?????

 

[CdwJava]

Whether it will ultimately be permitted in as a good search depends on the status of case law in your state and the circumstances of the discovery. It could go either way depending on the circumstances.


- Carl

 

[rastmm]

just noticed you are a cop

Ya know the magistrate here told us that this kind of charge normally gets a ticket. If you never had any in the past. Of course if he had more than seeds I suppose you would go to jail and get a bond. Ashley, i',m tired of saying my son, has none. I know you guys have a job to do but sometimes you have to make a decission is this worth this guy losing his Pell Grant. I mean you and I know Don't smoke pot. Ok I dont understand this guy its like he wants to be seen as the great cop who caught an actual drug dealer. Just crazy. I think he should go work for the city or county and arrest all those crack dealers down on fourth street. I grew up in DC and I swear the drug problem is worse here. I would hope going to court and paying a hefty fine and getting on probation would be such a pain in the butt he might think twice about pot. Good Grief. Well we will keep fighting this keep your fingers crossed. Im off to bed and thanks again this helped a lot. nite