Arizona Marijuana Charge

[This Guy]

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

From doing various searches on these forums, my problem seems pretty rudimentary and has mostly been addressed, but I have some pretty specific questions.

I got busted on the highway driving through Yuma today. I had a few grams, some papers and a half smoked joint in a bag. The federal officer seemed to take well to my cooperation and even let me choose my court date from a list of available one's. He said most bands that tour through the area from California he busts are *******s, but we're nice so he didn't seem to want to totally screw me. I was the only one with the stuff, he let the rest of the guys off. I know I need a lawyer and obviously have to show up for the court dates. I'm a Maryland resident.

It's my first offense in Arizona or anywhere. I chose a court date on Nov 17.

Here's my real concern with the situation. I have a (thankfully flexible and date-changeable) flight to Thailand for a 3 month stay, leaving on Nov 10th, coming back Jan 25th. My girlfriend's been there for 6 months, so I'm going to see her. After that, I have a 2 week break, then I'm scheduled to tour Europe with my band for a month. Then I'm going to straight into a 2 week or so US tour after that. I have a few months free after that. So, in the next 5 months I basically have 2 weeks to take care of this. Is there anyway to get it taken care of in that window?

Too sum up, here are my questions:

-Am I looking at a felony or misdemeanor on my record?

-Does the fact that we seemed to get along and I played nice etc. help me in any way?

-What sort of control can I have over the court dates?

-Can I fit everything into that 2 week window? I'm guessing probably not, but I'm not sure how the schedules work in these types of proceedings.

-Since a federal officer arrested me, does that change things significantly?

Thank you all SO much.

[HighwayMan]

What kind of federal officer arrested you? What was the reason the federal officer stopped you on the highway?

And what were you charged with? Federal statutes or state?

[This Guy]

It looks like, even though it was a federal officer, it was filed under the Yuma county sheriffs dept. I think the officer said he was both a fed and local officer. At the top of my ticket it says "Yuma county sheriffs dept/Arizona traffic ticket and complaint".

I was stopped at one of those checkpoints on I-8 where they make every car stop and they have a quick chat with driver, ask how many people, if everyone is a citizen etc. We were talking, then the dogs the were walking around started barking like crazy and that was that. Seems damn unconstitutional to me, seeing as that it was basically a random search and siezure.

[The Occultist]

Originally Posted by This Guy

Seems damn unconstitutional to me, seeing as that it was basically a random search and siezure.

RANDOM searches are constitutional. Also, it has been deemed that letting the dog walk around the car is also not against the constitution as it is not actually a search.

[This Guy]

Ok fine, smartypants. My crankiness about the situation obviously overrode my logic. Can you perhaps offer any advice though?

[dave33]

It depends if you want to fight this or not. A dog barking is suspicion and under most circumstances does not constitute probable cause. Although an exingency circumstance did exist. That being said he should have at least asked your permission. Although I am not familiar with your states specific laws, here's my take. I would say mjost likely a misdemeanor unless it was in several different bags and he also charged you with intent to deliver.You need to know the exact statute you were charged with. The fact that you were nice, helped you in no way. All the questions he asked you was part of his investigation.Your statement is most likely what gave him the added p.c. to search your car. Talking with the police while being investigated is a foolish thing to do. Most likely your statement is why (among other things) you got arrested.Simple. Do not cooperate or talk to police w/out your attorney. They are not you bud and are there to put you in jail, and they find it easier to get incriminating evidence from people if they act nicely. If you want any control over your court date than get a lawyer and see what he can do. Otherwise you have to be there when the ticket indicates. Although he may have been a fed, it seems he was operating in a state capacity and do not believe that has any relevance. goodluck.

[HighwayMan]

A drug detection dog alerting on a lawfully stopped vehicle IS probable cause and could lead to a legal search of a motor vehicle under the auto exception. As long as the vehicle is not held an unreasonable amount of time, and it sounds like the dogs were there already - so you weren't stopped any longer than necessary at the checkpoint.

But were they drug dogs? Barking is not an alert behavior I have seen in police K9s. Explosives dogs are usually trained to sit, and drug dogs are usually trained to scratch at the source of the drug odor.

You don't even know who stopped you? First you say it was a federal officer then you seem to indicate you don't know. Federal officers don't enforce state laws (that I know of - maybe CBP in Arizona does).