Arizona Paraphernilia Charge

[TRUTH12]

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

So, it was myself as well as three other individuals on our way back from a road trip to Arizona. We got pulled over for having a gps too high in the drivers window, and the sheriff detected the smell of marijuana. So like 5 sheriff's showed up, they cuffed us, and they found two pipes one being mine and the other being my friends, plus two baggy's that were completely empty. They gave my friend and I a drug paraphernilia ticket. This is my first offense of any kind, and I'm freaking out. Does anybody have any advice....or any previous experience? Also, does anybody know if this will affect my financial aid (i'm a college student) please please please offer any advice or knowledge on this subject thank you very much.What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

 

[The Occultist]

If not properly taken care of, this absolutely will cause problems as far as your financial aid is concerned.

AZ tends to be QUITE lenient as far as first time offenders of non-violent crimes go, but I must confess that I'm not sure how things will go for somebody not living in the state.

Typically, assuming one lives in the state of AZ, they will go through a deferred prosecution, which usually includes some fines, a drug class, and a [very light] probation (many people never even meet their probation officer), the successful completion of which means that the charges are dropped with prejudice.

But, since you're out of state, I can't begin to imagine what sort of plea bargain may be offered to you by the DA's of Arizona. You absolutely need to show up to your court date, and then I would recommend requesting a pretrial conference; this will give you the chance to speak with the DA/ADA trying your case and attempt to negotiate some sort of plea bargain (be sure to bring up the fact that you are out of state as a probation could cause you problems if the state isn't aware of this).

You definitely should consider speaking to an attorney. A local attorney (and by "local", I mean local to the area in which the charges are being pressed) knows best what the courts want to hear, and as such present the highest potential for yielding the most favorable results. Many attorneys will offer free/cheap consultations, so you should take advantage of this and sit down with a couple to see what insight they may have to offer.