Did the officer handle this the right way??

[Mpwatts24]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? VA... The officer smelt weed coming from the car me and my buddy were in and searched me found a small bag like 1.5 grams if that. He told me I was under arrest put the handcuffs on me and threw me in the car but never read me my Miranda rights. Well after them finding maybe another gram of weed on my buddy and him passing a dui test they told him they were releasing me Into his custody but we were not allowed to leave the parking lot until 6 am that morning.. Mind you we got stopped at 3 am because we was in a parking lot we didn't realize had no loitering signs in it.. We literally were in that parking lot maybe 5 min if that when the cops showed up.. Then looking back at the ticket I got when he was copying my info off my license he wrote brown eyes and brown hair when the license clearly says blue eyes and blonde hair. I'm not sure maybe he did nothing wrong here but for some reason it just doesn't seem like he handled it the proper way. Any advice would be awesome! Thank you

 

[Silverplum]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? VA... The officer smelt weed coming from the car me and my buddy were in and searched me found a small bag like 1.5 grams if that. He told me I was under arrest put the handcuffs on me and threw me in the car but never read me my Miranda rights. Well after them finding maybe another gram of weed on my buddy and him passing a dui test they told him they were releasing me Into his custody but we were not allowed to leave the parking lot until 6 am that morning.. Mind you we got stopped at 3 am because we was in a parking lot we didn't realize had no loitering signs in it.. We literally were in that parking lot maybe 5 min if that when the cops showed up.. Then looking back at the ticket I got when he was copying my info off my license he wrote brown eyes and brown hair when the license clearly says blue eyes and blonde hair. I'm not sure maybe he did nothing wrong here but for some reason it just doesn't seem like he handled it the proper way. Any advice would be awesome! Thank you

Well, that was a sentence. It had words and a punctuation mark, but it meant absolutely nothing. Remarkable.

 

[Mpwatts24]

No need for the rude comments

Not to be rude but I don't need the smartass remarks buddy I'm just trying to get some other opinions on the whole situation. If you don't have any other advice to give other than my grammar not being correct or whatever then please don't comment. Thanks!

 

[Silverplum]

Not to be rude but I don't need the smartass remarks buddy I'm just trying to get some other opinions on the whole situation. If you don't have any other advice to give other than my grammar not being correct or whatever then please don't comment. Thanks!

What's wrong, buddy? What went wrong in your arrest?

You can't even articulate (yes, it's a real word: look it up) what is your problem with the arrest.

 

[CdwJava]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? VA... The officer smelt weed coming from the car me and my buddy were in and searched me found a small bag like 1.5 grams if that.

Unless VA declines to recognize "plain smell" as the equivalent of "plain sight" then the probable cause for the search appears good. Marijuana reeks and the odor lasts a long time. It's not hard to tell who's been smoking it or around people who have been smoking it.

He told me I was under arrest put the handcuffs on me and threw me in the car but never read me my Miranda rights.

About 9 out of 10 arrests will never require Miranda rights. These are generally only required when both custody AND interrogation takes place. You were cuffed and stuffed, not interrogated.

Well after them finding maybe another gram of weed on my buddy and him passing a dui test they told him they were releasing me Into his custody but we were not allowed to leave the parking lot until 6 am that morning.

So, you were BOTH cited for the possession??

I'd say it was a very bad call to leave you both in the parking lot with a vehicle. Had one of you gotten high(er) and drove, the police might have adopted some of the liability for any collision or other problem that occurred after that. You may want to consider yourself fortunate because I suspect they could have arrested you and maybe towed the car.

Mind you we got stopped at 3 am because we was in a parking lot we didn't realize had no loitering signs in it.. We literally were in that parking lot maybe 5 min if that when the cops showed up.

You were still someplace you had no lawful right to be.

Then looking back at the ticket I got when he was copying my info off my license he wrote brown eyes and brown hair when the license clearly says blue eyes and blonde hair. I'm not sure maybe he did nothing wrong here but for some reason it just doesn't seem like he handled it the proper way. Any advice would be awesome! Thank you

The hair and eye color is not going to cause a dismissal.

What do YOU believe was improper?

 

[Just Blue]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? VA... The officer smelt weed coming from the car me and my buddy were in and searched me found a small bag like 1.5 grams if that. He told me I was under arrest put the handcuffs on me and threw me in the car but never read me my Miranda rights. Well after them finding maybe another gram of weed on my buddy and him passing a dui test they told him they were releasing me Into his custody but we were not allowed to leave the parking lot until 6 am that morning.. Mind you we got stopped at 3 am because we was in a parking lot we didn't realize had no loitering signs in it.. We literally were in that parking lot maybe 5 min if that when the cops showed up.. Then looking back at the ticket I got when he was copying my info off my license he wrote brown eyes and brown hair when the license clearly says blue eyes and blonde hair. I'm not sure maybe he did nothing wrong here but for some reason it just doesn't seem like he handled it the proper way. Any advice would be awesome! Thank you

Uber power that officer has!!

 

[Mpwatts24]

My thoughts

Idk I was asking to get opinions! I always thought when you got arrested Miranda rights were a must that they had to be read to you! And I agree we shouldn't have been in that parking lot to begin with but if that was the whole reason they pulled up to stop us why are we ordered to stay in that parking lot to loiter for 3-4 more hours?!? Yes I did the crime and I'll happily take full responsibility for it. I've never had to go thru something like this so some things seemed a little odd to me. Especially when where I'm from has been proven to have a crooked police force and when I say proven I mean it's been proven plenty of times. But that's neither here nor there I did still have the weed on me yes but it just didn't fully seem right to me when I was questioned I was placed under arrest and thrown in the cuffs and car with no Miranda rights read again he coulda handle it properly I was just asking for opinions not some smartass answers.

 

[Just Blue]

Idk I was asking to get opinions! I always thought when you got arrested Miranda rights were a must that they had to be read to you! And I agree we shouldn't have been in that parking lot to begin with but if that was the whole reason they pulled up to stop us why are we ordered to stay in that parking lot to loiter for 3-4 more hours?!? Yes I did the crime and I'll happily take full responsibility for it. I've never had to go thru something like this so some things seemed a little odd to me. Especially when where I'm from has been proven to have a crooked police force and when I say proven I mean it's been proven plenty of times. But that's neither here nor there I did still have the weed on me yes but it just didn't fully seem right to me when I was questioned I was placed under arrest and thrown in the cuffs and car with no Miranda rights read again he coulda handle it properly I was just asking for opinions not some smartass answers.

At FreeAdvice.com The advice and smartass is free!!

 

[Mpwatts24]

...

Not to mention the parking lot we were in had another vehicle parked beside us with two people fast asleep in it all that done to them was from a distance the officer said hey guys do you mind leaving this parking lot.. No questions to them didn't even get close to the vehicle to see what they were even doing.. So its ok for them to sleep in their vehicle in the same parking lot we aren't allowed in?

 

[Silverplum]

Not to mention the parking lot we were in had another vehicle parked beside us with two people fast asleep in it all that done to them was from a distance the officer said hey guys do you mind leaving this parking lot.. No questions to them didn't even get close to the vehicle to see what they were even doing.. So its ok for them to sleep in their vehicle in the same parking lot we aren't allowed in?

Yes, it seems that it is okay.

 

[quincy]

Idk I was asking to get opinions! I always thought when you got arrested Miranda rights were a must that they had to be read to you! And I agree we shouldn't have been in that parking lot to begin with but if that was the whole reason they pulled up to stop us why are we ordered to stay in that parking lot to loiter for 3-4 more hours?!? Yes I did the crime and I'll happily take full responsibility for it. I've never had to go thru something like this so some things seemed a little odd to me. Especially when where I'm from has been proven to have a crooked police force and when I say proven I mean it's been proven plenty of times. But that's neither here nor there I did still have the weed on me yes but it just didn't fully seem right to me when I was questioned I was placed under arrest and thrown in the cuffs and car with no Miranda rights read again he coulda handle it properly I was just asking for opinions not some smartass answers.

You would be smart to consult with an attorney in your area if you were ticketed for possession of marijuana, which is a misdemeanor offense subject upon conviction to up to 30 days in jail and/or a $500 fine.

If this is your first offense, you may be eligible for a diversion program which can keep the misdemeanor off your criminal record in exchange for completing a certain number of hours in service to your community, random drug testing and drug treatment classes during a probationary period set by the court.

Here is a link to the laws, followed by a link to information published by the ACLU listing your rights when stopped by the police (and how to exercise them):

http://norml.org/laws/item/virginia-penalties-2

https://www.aclu.org/know-your-rights/when-encountering-law-enforcement-stops-and-arrests

Like the others who have responded to your thread, I am not seeing anything especially unusual or improper with the police actions - but an attorney in your area who can review the facts will be able to determine this better. And you will want the attorney to help you with the ticket.

 

[CdwJava]

Idk I was asking to get opinions! I always thought when you got arrested Miranda rights were a must that they had to be read to you!

Nope. That is an erroneous perception perpetuated by TV. Some agencies (like NYPD) have (or had) a policy that required officers to read Miranda upon arrest so that subsequent interviews by investigators required only a question of whether they wanted to speak to them, and not the potentially chilling effect of reading them to the suspect again.

And I agree we shouldn't have been in that parking lot to begin with but if that was the whole reason they pulled up to stop us why are we ordered to stay in that parking lot to loiter for 3-4 more hours?!?

Yep. Odd, and potential liability for the officers - which is why they should have arrested you. Or, at the least, cited you and told you to move along.

Especially when where I'm from has been proven to have a crooked police force and when I say proven I mean it's been proven plenty of times.

Nothing here seems to be evidence of any type of malfeasance. Unless they shook you down for a fine on the spot, the fact that someone in the department at sometime may have made headlines means nothing. And I hear that sort of statement a lot, so I sort of take such claims with a grain of salt absent some objective proof.

But that's neither here nor there I did still have the weed on me yes but it just didn't fully seem right to me when I was questioned I was placed under arrest and thrown in the cuffs and car with no Miranda rights read again he coulda handle it properly I was just asking for opinions not some smartass answers.

Well, you got both.

Nothing improper about slapping you in cuffs and then releasing you with a cite.

 

[quincy]

But again, and importantly - Just because we do not find anything improper with the police actions you describe does not mean that we have it right. We do not have all of the facts. All of the facts should be reviewed personally by an attorney in your area.

And, once again and importantly - You have been ticketed with a misdemeanor offense. Being convicted on this misdemeanor can limit your employment opportunities, your college choices, your ability to get student loans or personal loans, and your ability to travel out of the country. An attorney can assist in getting you into a diversion program so you can avoid the worst of the consequences possible with possession of marijuana - even if the attorney finds (as we suspect) that there was nothing improper with the officers' actions.

 

[Mpwatts24]

Thanks guys!

Thank you guys for all the wonderful help but I just got off the phone with an attorney around here where I am from and they agreed with me and said things didn't seem right when I told them the story. Matter of fact they actually think they have enough evidence from the talk on the phone that they said it has a good chance of being thrown out

 

[Mpwatts24]

It baffles me

It really baffles me of how many low life people come on here to talk **** and be rude to others going thru a rough time and see the fun in it.. I've been working at the same job for 7 years and have never made a late payment on my bills and never missed a day at work that wasn't excused. But because I come on here for advice when I def admitted I had 1.5g y'all think I'm a piece of **** low life lmao I love it! I'm sure half of y'all are living off welfare that my paychecks contribute to! Have a nice day tho