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I need advice on what to expect at "court" for a UPM charge

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voidofidea

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

New york.

I go to college way upstate New York, near Canada. Three friends and I drove to a place that was supposedly safe, from the police that is. A bowl was being passed around for a few minutes. When the driver was up, I saw a man with a flashlight approach the car at a fast pace. He asked the driver to lower the window and when he did, marijuana smoke went past the officer's face.

We were then asked to exit the vehicle and stand in a line. The officer asked us who had the "bag." I've been smoking marijuana for about 4 years now, I'm 19 years old. This was the first time I've ever made contact with the police and the law. Most of the time I am on foot when I smoke, or in the privacy of my own home in new york city, so I've never had an issue with the law, and I go about my daily life as anyone else normally would. And most of the time, I don't bring out my stash just in case something does happen. After this long, you could say I became careless.

So he asks us who has the bag. The others said they didn't have anything, and so did I. Unfortunately, of all nights, this had to be the one where I thought it was okay to bring out the eighth I had just purchased, which is 3.5 grams of marijuana. By the time I was in that spot, some of it had been smoked, so I estimate between 2-3 grams. It really didn't look like much either. When i saw the flashlight I freaked out. If I had time to think straight, I would have put the bag somewhere where an officer couldn't search on my body. Instead I put it inside my backpack and left it in the car.

The officer then says to us that he will be more pissed off if he searches the car and finds it, than if we tell him where it is to save him time and energy. At this point I figured it could be a lot worse so I decided to comply and gave my self up. I said I had the bag and it was in my backpack. Another unit was dispatched to the scene.

These two cops eventually took me in the car and wrote me up a ticket. I have a court date on December 2nd.

The driver also received a UPM, and has already gone to court. He said that he is going to do ACD and it will wipe the slate completely clean.

I want my slate to go back to the way it was, completely clean. I'm a good person and obey the law but I have a marijuana addiction. That's all. It's my own business really, but now it's gotten me in trouble.

What should I expect at court? how does it work? what do I do and what do I bring with me?

Thanks for the help, this is all very new to me.
 


cracker

Member
Get an attorney, if you can't afford one, ask for a court appointed attorney. If you have never been charged before, it should be the same as your friend.
 

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