Juvenile Charged With Poss. W/ Intent to Sell

[mpg10c]

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

I was called down to the dean at school today and informed that a friend of mine had been texting in class and had his phone taken away, and when the dean went through it, text messages were found from the previous WEEKEND of him asking me for a dime bag of weed.

Anyways, the police officer assigned to the school questioned me, and I admitted to selling him weed OFF campus, not during school hours, on the weekend.

I was then told that they were going to search my car, which was parked across the street at a supermarket parking lot (there was no open spaces in the school lot). They found a pill bottle with about 5 grams of marijuana in it, a pipe, and 2 lighters.

I was charged with possession of marijuana under 20g, 3 counts of possession of drug paraphernalia, and also a felony charge of possession of marijuana with intent to distribute within 1000ft of a school.

My questions are,
How can I be charged with intent to distribute, if I had NO baggies in the car, NO scale, and not even a large amount of marijuana. It was clearly for personal use. Even the police report says that I admitted to selling it off campus. Is there any chance that this charge won't hold up in court?

Also, what can I expect as a first time offender, 16 years old.

My parents cannot afford to hire a private attorney so we are going with a public defender. My first concern is getting the felony charge dropped because I feel it is a bogus charge.

 

[sandyclaus]

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

I was called down to the dean at school today and informed that a friend of mine had been texting in class and had his phone taken away, and when the dean went through it, text messages were found from the previous WEEKEND of him asking me for a dime bag of weed.

Anyways, the police officer assigned to the school questioned me, and I admitted to selling him weed OFF campus, not during school hours, on the weekend.

I was then told that they were going to search my car, which was parked across the street at a supermarket parking lot (there was no open spaces in the school lot). They found a pill bottle with about 5 grams of marijuana in it, a pipe, and 2 lighters.

I was charged with possession of marijuana under 20g, 3 counts of possession of drug paraphernalia, and also a felony charge of possession of marijuana with intent to distribute within 1000ft of a school.

My questions are,
How can I be charged with intent to distribute, if I had NO baggies in the car, NO scale, and not even a large amount of marijuana. It was clearly for personal use. Even the police report says that I admitted to selling it off campus. Is there any chance that this charge won't hold up in court?

Also, what can I expect as a first time offender, 16 years old.

My parents cannot afford to hire a private attorney so we are going with a public defender. My first concern is getting the felony charge dropped because I feel it is a bogus charge.

You had already admitted to selling/distributing the marijuana, so what was found during the search of your vehicle (parked less than 1000ft away from school, not on school grounds ONLY because there were no open spaces) was considered your inventory that you intended to sell. If it were only for your personal use, then you wouldn't have been selling it, would you? So, NO, it's not so clear that the amount you had in your possession was just for personal use.

I think that the drugs are affecting your judgement, considering the above facts and that you still somehow trying to convince yourself that it is a bogus charge.

You need to be talking to NO ONE. When the police officer first started questioning you, in order to protect your rights, the first thing you should have done is remained silent and talked only with an attorney. At this point, you need to stop talking to everyone else, stop posting your inane questions on the forums for all to see, and SPEAK TO AN ATTORNEY IMMEDIATELY.

 

[Cali408nia]

I'm having a problem with the search of the car... doesn't seem like probable cause existed. Maybe others can chime in.

OP, you're still very young but you have learned something very important. NEVER freely admit to a crime that you know the officer/dean of the school cannot prove with hard facts. The most they had to go on was text messages and he said she said. It would be a very different situation had you been caught in the act of smoking, it's best to be truthful then since you've been caught. But you basically ratted yourself out. I'm still not sure that the school can search your car (that might not even be yours, it may be your parents at your age) which is parked off campus. They may have ASKED you to search the car and you complied, which is different than them informing you that they are going to search the car, and at your age it can be very easy to just say OK and go with the flow, not knowing you have rights and that you can protect yourself against unreasonable searches.

BTW, how did they find your car? You didn't walk them straight to it did you? :shakes head:

 

[davew128]

I'm not sure they had a right to search the phone......