Judge Vs. Jury Trial

[Perspective]

What is the name of your state? Iowa

I've been charged for possession of a controlled substance (marijuana) and possession of paraphernalia.

My girlfriend and I were parked outside of a club and some underage drinkers were near our car when the police were walking by. They ran and the cops decided to come up to us instead, asking if we were buying ecstasy, selling ecstasy, drinking, etc. The cop supposedly smelled marijuana and had the car tossed. He also saw a "marijuana leaf" sitting in between my legs, at night, from outside a closed window before he "smelled" the marijuana. There was no leaf, or smell in the air.

A .1 gram bag and a cigarette pipe were found in the glovebox in front of where I was sitting along with a gum container that contained a stem that I was not charged with, after a dog was brought in and used against our consent. I took a substance abuse eval the week the the arrest and showed a negative to any illegal drugs. The police involved in this case were looking to make an example and are fabricating much of what they say in their reports to make their case.

A motion to suppress the illegal search did not go through and my attorney has advised me to consider a judge trial. He believes that a jury would not understand the constructive possession part of the charge that I could not know the dope was there since it was my girlfriend. Unfortunately as he is a public defender and apparently not having time to talk to clients, this is all I could glean from our 2 minute conversation that I was able to get from him.

What would the pro's/con's be in a jury/judge trial in a situation such as this?