Simple posession, rights not read

[pizzamilitia]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Mississippi

I wasn't sure whether to post in this section or the drug section but this area seemed more relevant to my issue.

I was at a concert last night, the two guys sitting in front of me lit up a joint and passed it around. I didn't know the guys, but I took a hit and sent the joint on its way, not thinking anything of it.

Apparently, a plain clothes security guard for the venue had been watching the whole process. He called it in and five additional un-uniformed guards with badges around their necks confronted myself, the two guys in front of me, and three friends I was with who also took hits of the joint. We were detained in the security office for the venue, along with about sixty other unfortunate individuals, and searched. After determining that we had no marijuana or paraphernalia on us, we were escorted to the back of the room where we met an actual officer, a lieutenant of our city's police force.

A little background on my state's marijuana law: Possession of less than 30 grams is punishable by no jail time and up to $250 fine for first offenses. It is classified as a misdemeanor arrest enforceable by summons. This is what we were charged with.

The lieutenant filled out the paperwork for our court summons, gave us our copies of the arrest form, and had us escorted off the premises. However, at no point during the entire process were any of us read our Miranda rights or even asked if we understood what our rights were.

My questions:
A.) Would it be grounds for dismissal of evidence if we were not read our rights for a misdemeanor?

B.) Does the burden of proof fall on the defendant (us) or the municipality to prove whether or not we were advised of our rights? And in such a case, would a police officer's testimony outweigh the average citizen's?

C.) How would I go about asserting in court that I was not advised of my rights at any point? Would it be cost effective to get a lawyer? Am I entitled to have a lawyer appointed to me?

D.) Assuming that the police have not done anything wrong by not reading us our rights, and assuming that the venue has no additional evidence against us, would their case against us hold up in court? Is a security guard's assertion that we were smoking pot with absolutely no material evidence considered hearsay? If he doesn't show up for court to testify, would there be a case against me at all?

Thanks for your time.

[FlyingRon]

First off you are confused about both Miranda and hearsay.

Miranda rights are read when people are taken into custody to warn them of their rights before they are questioned. If they didn't question you after your arrest, Miranda doesn't apply (and they do not need to advise you of your rights). Since it appears they wrote you up and told you get out, it wasn't required. Even it was required, all it would do is make any subsequent questioning and things arrising from that inadmissible. It's not an automatic "get out of jail free" card.

The testimony of the guard that you were smoking pot is NOT hearsay. It's called being an witness and will be plenty to convict you. Hearsay is when a witness testify about what another person witnessed. Here he had first hand knowledge.

Don't feel bad, about half the people with criminal issues who show up here get the above two principals wrong. We ought to have a FAQ or something.

[justalayman]

so, at what point did the police take the alleged marijuana into possession so it could be held for evidence or testing?

[pizzamilitia]

Originally Posted by justalayman

so, at what point did the police take the alleged marijuana into possession so it could be held for evidence or testing?

The guy who originally had it flicked the roach into the crowd below. Like I said, the only thing they really have against us is what a security guard saw in the upper seating of a very dark arena.

[LSCAP]

The security guard saw you smoking? Shame on you. Don’t you know cigarettes can, (definitely can) kill you?

[Indiana Filer]

Originally Posted by LSCAP

The security guard saw you smoking? Shame on you. Don’t you know cigarettes can, (definitely can) kill you?

Not to mention how gross it is to put the joint to your mouth after some stranger's mouth had been on it. Yech!