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illegal car search in a heroin bust?

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yve

Junior Member
What is the name of your state? nj
Last summer I was pulled over in NJ while visiting a friend, I actually live in NC so I was driving a car with out of state plates. I was driving the speed limit down a rural road when a cop came speeding up behind me, riding my tail with so many lights blaring that I could barely see to pull over. (less than 24 hours before i'd been in the same area, tailed for several miles, and finally after i'd already gotten to my destination- the cop pulled in the drive way and said my registration wasn't "right." I gave him my registration card- it checked out with dispatch and he left me alone.) I pulled over in the first place that I could. I was with a person who had a bench warrant for unpaid parking tickets. The cop had me and my passenger out of the car and was searching us before he would even tell me what I was pulled over for. I passed all the sobriety checks, but in the search he found some paraphenalia, 1 full bag and one empty bag of heroin. He also found my travel case of prescription meds that were mine and legal for me to have- but they weren't in labeled pharmacy bottles. Needless to say I was arrested with my passenger. Eventually the cop told me I was pulled over for having a dirty liscense plate. It was no dirtier than normal & was read clearly the night before. During the arrest a second cop came to help. He put me in his car parked at the side of the road about 20ft behind mine- I said," i can read my plates as plain as day, the cop last night could too, do you mean to tell me you can't read my plate from here?" He just murmured something like it was his buddy's call. Once at the station, the cop eventually gave me all my meds back (after asking me what they were several times) but he kept 3 vicodin I had for an abcessed tooth. (which I did have a bottle for- he found it in the car) He said, "I don't need the paper work, so I'm doing you a favor- I'll give your meds back, but not the pain pills, I'm not going to take them, you understand, I'm getting rid of them." (very fishy.) I was told I'd be let go ROR, then he changed his mind & I had to pay 250 in bail, he never gave me a receipt of the things they confiscated including an antique mother of pearl cigarette case that was actually empty.
Because I live 600 miles away I took PTI for a year so I wouldn't have to keep going back and forth- but now it may go back to trial because I might get kicked out of PTI- do I have a leg to stand on when it comes to an illegal search? Also, last summer, I wasn't in my right mind- having been diagnosed as a manic depressive 10 years ago-my mental collapse last summer was well documented by my shrink, would this fact help my case?
 
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Caveman

Member
Dude, Prepare to get torn to threads instead of getting legal advice unless the good guys are on today

People forget this is legal advice and just judge you.

It is not like you are not Guilty or hell or anything.
 

Zephyr

Senior Member
what exactly is PTI? I am thinking you may have damaged your chances at fighting the search when you accepted the plea or whatever it was.
 

panzertanker

Senior Member
yve said:
What is the name of your state? nj
Last summer I was pulled over in NJ while visiting a friend, I actually live in NC so I was driving a car with out of state plates. I was driving the speed limit down a rural road when a cop came speeding up behind me, riding my tail with so many lights blaring that I could barely see to pull over. (less than 24 hours before i'd been in the same area, tailed for several miles, and finally after i'd already gotten to my destination- the cop pulled in the drive way and said my registration wasn't "right." I gave him my registration card- it checked out with dispatch and he left me alone.) I pulled over in the first place that I could. I was with a person who had a bench warrant for unpaid parking tickets. The cop had me and my passenger out of the car and was searching us before he would even tell me what I was pulled over for. I passed all the sobriety checks, but in the search he found some paraphenalia, 1 full bag and one empty bag of heroin. He also found my travel case of prescription meds that were mine and legal for me to have- but they weren't in labeled pharmacy bottles. Needless to say I was arrested with my passenger. Eventually the cop told me I was pulled over for having a dirty liscense plate. It was no dirtier than normal & was read clearly the night before. During the arrest a second cop came to help. He put me in his car parked at the side of the road about 20ft behind mine- I said," i can read my plates as plain as day, the cop last night could too, do you mean to tell me you can't read my plate from here?" He just murmured something like it was his buddy's call. Once at the station, the cop eventually gave me all my meds back (after asking me what they were several times) but he kept 3 vicodin I had for an abcessed tooth. (which I did have a bottle for- he found it in the car) He said, "I don't need the paper work, so I'm doing you a favor- I'll give your meds back, but not the pain pills, I'm not going to take them, you understand, I'm getting rid of them." (very fishy.) I was told I'd be let go ROR, then he changed his mind & I had to pay 250 in bail, he never gave me a receipt of the things they confiscated including an antique mother of pearl cigarette case that was actually empty.
Because I live 600 miles away I took PTI for a year so I wouldn't have to keep going back and forth- but now it may go back to trial because I might get kicked out of PTI- do I have a leg to stand on when it comes to an illegal search? Also, last summer, I wasn't in my right mind- having been diagnosed as a manic depressive 10 years ago-my mental collapse last summer was well documented by my shrink, would this fact help my case?
Why do you think you can bring up illegal search when you have already plead this case and accepted the PTI?

I believe you are stuck with PTI, and the consequences of getting kicked out of it. You have already admitted guilt and have been sentenced: no "do-overs".
 

yve

Junior Member
thanks for the warning

I've noticed people can be harsh- i'm just happy for them that they have lived a perfect life and that no one they love has ever had similar problems. I, myself, am human, and hope that people will be compassionate because I'm not a bad person, I was going through a rough time and used some bad judgement. I am not trying to avoid responsibilty for my actions, I did break the law, but cops aren't above the law either.
 

yve

Junior Member
whats PTI

PTI is Pre Trial Intervention sort of like probation. The case never goes to trial, it is held in "limbo." PTI is for first time offenders only and meant to help individuals before they become repeat offenders, and so an otherwise law abiding citizen doesn't have a permanent criminal record for one mistake- especially for a non violent crime . you agree to a PTI for however long, meet the terms of it (depending on your offense), and at the end they just throw out the case- Its not really expunged b/c it was never tried. You get a probation officer of sorts, but the thing is- if you are like me- living out of state, its really a difficult because it can't be transfered from state to state like an actual probation case. The system doesn't seem to have caught on to email, so stuff is sent snail mail- hurricanes last fall have left me homeless, so changing addresses and forwarding mail from place to place has caused me be late with some paperwork deadlines, an address typo on their part sent a court appearance notice to another address on my street- it came while I was sick in the hospital on the day I was to appear. For this, I may be booted from the program. If I'm booted from PTI, then the case goes back to trial- the plea isn't held against you, all bets are off, its like starting back at square one- just you no longer have the PTI option and the case is officially part of your record.
 

fairisfair

Senior Member
wow, sorry I am sure I am gonna be one of those "mean" people that you were talking about, but you got a HUGE break, a real second chance, and you completely blew it and now want to blame the "system" the same system that gave you the chance in the first place. Were you incapable of getting a PO box and being sure that your mail was attended to?
 

yve

Junior Member
pti

Oh, the terms of my pti were to get a substance abuse evaluation, follow the recomendations of it- if there are any, pay your fines, and submit to random drug testing. My PTI officer- was terrible- he thought i was saying i lived in NC to get out of coming in to the office- even though my license stated otherwise, made me pay for 2 substance abuse evals, b/c the first one called for continuos treatment, the cost of which is deducted from the fines I owed. (2nd concurred with the first) He also told my counselor that my life wasn't being inconvenienced enough and I should be more punished. Very Professional.
 

yve

Junior Member
to fairisfair

I don't blame the system, i recognize the break i recieved, and i did my best to meet my terms, the home that my mail went to was ruined in a natural disaster, and no there is no one to attend to my mail- it takes a while to sort things out when such a huge unexpected event happens and I am alone and doing the best that i can. I pay my debts and don't live life looking over my shoulder. I don't regret getting busted- the "intervention" part of PTI worked, It got me back under a doctor's care when i was killing myself, its helped me get sane and clean. I can write this to you now when i barely knew my name then. I have never missed a court appearance, and had I known I was to appear- i would have tried to let them know even though i was in the hospital, but the notice was sent to another house number due a typo- it was a culmination of events that were more accidental i suppose- the court acted as they are supposed to, and assumed i just blew it off. I might not get booted from pti, but if i do, i'm going to defend myself, especially when the circumstance was shady. I met 2 cops that night, both arrested me, but i have all the respect in the world for one of those men, and the other gives cops a bad name. I was never in a drug area, but got pulled 3 times in the same area before i got in trouble, got my car searched twice, at no time did i get a ticket, i didn't even get a DUI that night- b/c I was sober. If the cop had turned up no drugs- (which would have been the case if i had been alone in the car)-would you still think the stop and search was warranted? No- I don't blame the system, but i do think that ocassionally it is dysfunctional-
 

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