Hi all

[Thistle]

What is the name of your state? FL

I'm sure over the ensuing days and weeks I will have a few questions. My idiot son got arrested last night for drug possession. Since he got arrested again after I told him that if it happened again I wouldn't bail him out, he's now going to sit in jail for a bit.

I hate tough love but it was his choice.

I haven't had the chance to talk to him yet. He left a message telling me where he was and I looked on the arrest section of our jails site and found him. All I know so far is he had oxycodone and it's a 3rd degree felony. He had some other substance that was a misdemeanor but is now also a 3rd degree felony after his court appearance today.

Since I won't be bailing him out he will be sitting in jail until his next court appearance on Oct 12. I will however hire an attorney for him to try and get the felony charges dropped lower if possible. He may choose to be a dick and ruin his chances at getting a job better than lawn service but I would like to help him out to some degree. (no offence to lawn service people it's just the mad mom talking)

So, my question (bet you didn't think I had one coming) is.... how serious are these charges? What are our chances of getting them lowered and how much time might he be looking at and will they offer a drug program at all and if they do is it any better than the driving programs they have for tickets?

Thanks so much to any help you offer. I've spent a fair amount of time looking around and I must say I'm impressed by what I've seen.

 

[outonbail]

What is the name of your state? FL

I'm sure over the ensuing days and weeks I will have a few questions. My idiot son got arrested last night for drug possession. Since he got arrested again after I told him that if it happened again I wouldn't bail him out, he's now going to sit in jail for a bit.

I hate tough love but it was his choice.

I haven't had the chance to talk to him yet. He left a message telling me where he was and I looked on the arrest section of our jails site and found him. All I know so far is he had oxycodone and it's a 3rd degree felony. He had some other substance that was a misdemeanor but is now also a 3rd degree felony after his court appearance today.

Since I won't be bailing him out he will be sitting in jail until his next court appearance on Oct 12. I will however hire an attorney for him to try and get the felony charges dropped lower if possible. He may choose to be a dick and ruin his chances at getting a job better than lawn service but I would like to help him out to some degree. (no offence to lawn service people it's just the mad mom talking)

What about offending all the Richards who choose to go by Dick? Let alone all the Dicks that cut grass,,,,,

So, my question (bet you didn't think I had one coming) is.... how serious are these charges?

Not as serious as a heart attack, but much worse than an overflowing toilet.

What are our chances of getting them lowered and how much time might he be looking at and will they offer a drug program at all and if they do is it any better than the driving programs they have for tickets?

That makes five questions and I believe that's the forum limit for drug cases.

Thanks so much to any help you offer. I've spent a fair amount of time looking around and I must say I'm impressed by what I've seen.

You are? Well then, you can have five more questions on the house!

OK, since your impressed, I'll stop with the smart a$$ replies, although they probably have as much value to you as what I'm about to post will, but here goes,,,

You have posted some rather common questions, as most folks are concerned with the same issues when they find themselves in a similar position. Unfortunately, these questions are not easily answered, as there are often additional factors that a judge will consider when handing down a sentence.
So how much time he may receive, will depend on the following: First, we need to know exactly what the charges are, the exact code numbers he's being charged under. Next, how much or how large of a quantity was he caught with? Does he have prior arrests, what does his criminal record look like? The more arrests and/or convictions he's had, the harsher the punishment becomes for each new arrest and conviction. Was the crime committed while he was out on bail, on parole or probation? Is he employed or attending school?
There can also be additional enhancements applied to a crime, which can and will add time to his sentence as well. Things like if he was caught with these drugs near a school or on government property, was he armed with any guns or other weapons at the time or did he travel over state lines, etc. etc.
So, as you can see, it is hard to give you anything realistic, with the limited amount of information you've provided.
Hiring him an attorney is always a good idea as this will always improve his chances of receiving a better outcome with his case(s)

As far as drug classes being better than traffic school, this is a little easier question to work with. Simply stated, it all depends on your son. Does he want to stop doing drugs or is he having too much fun partying with his friends right now?

You know the old saying about leading a horse to water,,,,, it's just a big waste of time if he doesn't want to drink.

Now a judge will many times try to help him make the right decision by hanging some time over his head if he doesn't make some changes in his life. He may sentence him to say three years for example, then suspend the sentence on the condition that he attend drug classes, submit to random drug screening, hold down a job or attend school and this type of thing. Then your son may take the matter more seriously since he will know that if he does continue to use, when he's caught, he will automatically have to serve that three years, along with whatever time is added for being arrested for drugs again.

But basically, unless a person is caught with a very large amount, the court will give them the chance to help themselves get off drugs and stay away from the whole druggie scene, as this is always the preferred outcome in drug cases. But he will only be given one or two chances to make this happen, then his punishment will get serious and he will be serving some long sentences for his stupidity. Hopefully this little stay in county jail will help him make the right choices in the future.

Now, if you can post the actual codes he's charged with, we can probably provide you with the fines and jail time associated with the crimes and this may give you a better idea of what he's facing. I'm sure the attorney you hire will have all this information at hand as well and he/she will even have access to the police report stating all the factors leading to his arrest. Once they have a chance to review this information, they will be able to provide you with a much more accurate answer as to the probable outcome with his case.

 

[Thistle]

Aw, thanks for the laughs, I needed them! And I do apoligize to all lawn service Richards, it was a terribly cause of stereotyping and I should be flogged. From now on I'll just use 'putz.'

Okie, details you want, details you'll get. He was let out of jail last night. Seems the arresting officer made some sort of mistake or they don't really have enough evidence to hold him... whether it goes further I don't know yet, but here's what we've got.

He was arresting around midnight. He had just dropped off a friend and that friend being a putz gave him 'one' oxycodone for the lift. Son just stuck it in the celophane of his ciggy pack. He went to answer his mobile and swerved and the cop stopped him saw the ciggy pack and arrested him. He hadn't been drinking or taking any drugs.

From what I've got online these are the charges:

FS893.13 .1c Possess controlled substance
FS893.13 Fel poss of controlled substance/phys control m/v

I have no idea what that last part is in the 2nd charge.

He had been listed with 2000, but went back to court yesterday and they let him out. Wish they had dropped the charges but they didn't.

So that's my story. If they drop all charges what are the chances of getting the money back from bailing out his car? Or is this one of those 'you're shafted' moments?

So again, thanks for any insight. And please throw in a huge dose of humor!

 

[outonbail]

Okie, details you want, details you'll get. He was let out of jail last night. Seems the arresting officer made some sort of mistake or they don't really have enough evidence to hold him... whether it goes further I don't know yet, but here's what we've got.

He was arresting around midnight. He had just dropped off a friend and that friend being a putz gave him 'one' oxycodone for the lift. Son just stuck it in the celophane of his ciggy pack. He went to answer his mobile and swerved and the cop stopped him saw the ciggy pack and arrested him. He hadn't been drinking or taking any drugs.

From what I've got online these are the charges:

FS893.13 .1c Possess controlled substance
FS893.13 Fel poss of controlled substance/phys control m/v

I have no idea what that last part is in the 2nd charge.

This is a charge they have filed on him for operating a vehicle while in possession of a controlled substance.

He had been listed with 2000, but went back to court yesterday and they let him out. Wish they had dropped the charges but they didn't.

So that's my story. If they drop all charges what are the chances of getting the money back from bailing out his car? Or is this one of those 'you're shafted' moments?

This is one of those special Kodak moments. A vivid color shot of your son bending over as he hands the tow company his money for the release of his vehicle. Personally, I would recommend blowing it up, framing it and attaching it to his dashboard so he doesn't forget what happens when he is in possession of drugs he shouldn't have.

The fact that he was released on his own recognizance may not have so much to do with the officer making a mistake as it does with jail overcrowding and the small amount of drugs he was in possession of when he was stopped. Who told you it was because of the officer making a mistake?

From what you've posted, it sounds like the officer made a good arrest. The fact that he was observed swerving in his vehicle at midnight is a good enough reason to stop him to see if he is driving drunk or possibly even falling asleep from fatigue.
Then if the officer could see the drug in plain sight, he had every reason to arrest him and search the car. So I don't want to pee on anyone's dreams, but I would think that hoping the prosecutor will drop charges is exactly that, a dream.

I'm not trying to play the devils advocate here, only pointing out that, going by what you've posted, it sounds like a slam dunk case for the prosecution.

If there was some sort of error on the part of the officer, your attorney would most often be the one to discover this and determine if it could be a just cause to have the case dismissed. But I can't see anyone else admitting any wrong on the part of the police or prosecution.

So while you hope for the best, make sure you're planning for the worse.

 

[Thistle]

Thanks hun, it's now a wait and see what happens sort of thing.