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Getting a charge dropped?

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ScottieB

Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? North Carolina

One night, I went through a roadblock and the officer asked to search my car, telling me that my car matched the description of a vehicle seen burglarizing local rental houses. Wishing to clear my name, I complied. So, he searched my car and found a piece of drug paraphenilia that I completely forgot about before letting him search my car.

He wrote me out a paraphenilia ticket, but on the ticket he messed up my street address. I live on a road called Sea Isle Hills Dr. and on the ticket he just put Sea Hills Dr. Is this cause enough to get the charge dropped?
 


Antigone*

Senior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? North Carolina

One night, I went through a roadblock and the officer asked to search my car, telling me that my car matched the description of a vehicle seen burglarizing local rental houses. Wishing to clear my name, I complied. So, he searched my car and found a piece of drug paraphenilia that I completely forgot about before letting him search my car.

He wrote me out a paraphenilia ticket, but on the ticket he messed up my street address. I live on a road called Sea Isle Hills Dr. and on the ticket he just put Sea Hills Dr. Is this cause enough to get the charge dropped?
No it is not. You should call the court and get the address correct.
 

lifeandthelaw

Junior Member
I have to tell you ~ there must be some crazy urban myth about non-material typographical errors on tickets because this is the second time in the past two weeks I have heard something similar to this question.

Unless the mistake the officer made calls into question your actual physical identity (he writes dark-skinned and you are as white as a ghost) or the officer's overall skills of observation (his complaint says he observed your vehicle to be a bright yellow school bus when in fact you can prove you were driving a small red sports car), an error on the ticket is quite simply that: an error, a mistake or God-forbid, a typo. It is not a good reason to allow you to continue on your criminal path without any reprecussions.

Do yourself a favor: Address the problems at hand (ie: the criminal charge and your drug addiction) and leave the "technicalities" stories to the land of urban legend.
 

j_illinois

Junior Member
There are several things you should consider:

-Statements made in a public forum like this could be used against you by a prosecutor. I'm not saying it's likely, but it's possible. So, be careful about admitting damaging facts such as your ownership of any alleged contraband.

-I strongly recommend educating yourself about the possible adverse consequences of your charge. I don't know about North Carolina, but in some jurisdictions, even ticketable drug offenses can come back to haunt you.

-If you feel that this charge is worth fighting, you still might have a chance. Regardless of whether the officer's mistake would help your case, you may have other viable defenses of which you are unaware. An good attorney could give you specific advice about this.

I wish you the best of luck.
 
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