meth charge

[Jamie Mason]

Colorado. My daughter is 21 and was driving a car that belonged to someone else when she was pulled over for no tags. There was a couple of bags of meth and a scale in the car. The police arrested her and she is facing felony charges. She has never been in trouble at all. She has a public defender and goes to court next week. What should we expect?

 

[smutlydog]

Colorado. My daughter is 21 and was driving a car that belonged to someone else when she was pulled over for no tags. There was a couple of bags of meth and a scale in the car. The police arrested her and she is facing felony charges. She has never been in trouble at all. She has a public defender and goes to court next week. What should we expect?

It’s hard to predict. Every court system looks at cases like this in a different light. There are many other factors to consider as well. Does she have previous convictions? You said 2 bags of meth. How much meth is 2 bags? Where in the car was the meth located? Why did the cops pull her over?

 

[helpforfriend]

the story, "i didnt know that was in here it doesnt belong to me" is used too often, judge probably wont buy into that story. depending on the amount of meth, having the two bags and scale may allow them to charge her with possession with intent to distribute, and she could get in loads of trouble

 

[gawm]

If she is out on bail I would suggest that she check into a rehab center right away. This will help her with her problem and may shine a little better light on her with the judge should sentencing time arrive.

They probably will stick her with intent to sell. Did she make any comments to police? If not, the only defense for the two plastic bags would be she had the scale to make sure she wasn't getting rip off, and the two separate bags was what her dealer gave her. Even though that scenario does happen, it will be hard to get anyone to believe it.

 

[Jamie Mason]

She has never been in any trouble. She got mixed up with the wrong crowd and bought a car from someone that she did not know. She was pulled over for no tags on car. She had picked it up that night and the person that sold it to her did not leave any tags on it. The drugs were on the floorboard under the passenger seat as well as the scale. The meth had about a $600 street value according to the legal documents I read. She is sticking to her story that she did not know they were there. The person that the car was titled to said he sold the car to a guy a couple of weeks earlier. She never gave him the title to the car. So basically my daughter is saying that the guy she bought the car from left the drugs in the car. She has been to rehab and takes random drug tests weekly which have all been clean. We are hoping that the charges will be dropped to a misdemeanor as right now it is a felony charge.

 

[gawm]

I hate to be the one to inform you this, and please don't take this personal, but I don't think your daughter is being honest with you. Let us know what happens at court next week.

 

[mike_lee]

Mom, don't be an enabler.There are a number of steps to this point, little warning signs she ignored and pressed on. "She got mixed up with the wrong crowd" would be a bad thing to say to a judge. "I believe in my child" would be more helpful. Don't try and shift blame, that will backfire instead get aggressive about getting charges dropped. They don't have much of a case because they have to meet a level of guilt you only need to cast doubt to their charges. She had the car one day so it's possible they were there previously. On the other hand meth addicts usually know where their stash is at. If she's clean get a drug test asap from an approved lab.
I do know some programs, Like Teen Challenge can get charges dropped. So start looking and asking other parents

 

[CdwJava]

Evein if it is true, this story is repeated so often by even the guilty that no one is going to readily buy it. Heck, when we pull meth. out of a person's pocket, they tell us it's not theirs or they are wearing someone else's pants. So, understand, the police and the DA will be very skeptical of your daughter's claims.

- Carl

 

[smutlydog]

Evein if it is true, this story is repeated so often by even the guilty that no one is going to readily buy it. Heck, when we pull meth. out of a person's pocket, they tell us it's not theirs or they are wearing someone else's pants. So, understand, the police and the DA will be very skeptical of your daughter's claims.

- Carl

It's the SOD ( Some Other Dude) defense.

 

[CourtClerk]

It's the SOD ( Some Other Dude) defense.

We call it the SODDI (Some Other Dude Did It) defense..

However, this is what concerns me about the OP's post:

She has never been in trouble at all.

She has been to rehab and takes random drug tests weekly...

 

[CdwJava]

In other words, she has or had a drug problem, was never convicted of a crime, but entered rehab of her own accord.

She needs to adhere to the part of rehab where they tell you to change the company you keep! Old habits die real hard ... and kicking it with old friends is a SURE way to fall right back into the old ways.



- Carl

 

[Jamie Mason]

Trust me, I know she was not as innocent as she would like me to believe. She is an addict and has been to rehab, came out and was only sober 90 days when she got back with the same old crowd. Since her arrest in July, she was granted permission to leave the state from the courts and move to another state where we have extended family and she has no friends yet. Her random drug tests have all been clean and she is attending NA mtgs occasionally. I believe that if she comes back to Colorado, she would be bask on meth in no time as that is the only life she knows. She was lucky up until July, when it all caught up to her. Obviously for many reasons I don't want my daughter to have a felony on her record, even if I think jail would be better than the streets she would be on if she had to stay in Colorado. I will post after her day in court. Her old thug friends told her it would probably be dropped to a misdemeanor and she would get probation, etc. I am not sure I believe that.

 

[smutlydog]

Trust me, I know she was not as innocent as she would like me to believe. She is an addict and has been to rehab, came out and was only sober 90 days when she got back with the same old crowd. Since her arrest in July, she was granted permission to leave the state from the courts and move to another state where we have extended family and she has no friends yet. Her random drug tests have all been clean and she is attending NA mtgs occasionally. I believe that if she comes back to Colorado, she would be bask on meth in no time as that is the only life she knows. She was lucky up until July, when it all caught up to her. Obviously for many reasons I don't want my daughter to have a felony on her record, even if I think jail would be better than the streets she would be on if she had to stay in Colorado. I will post after her day in court. Her old thug friends told her it would probably be dropped to a misdemeanor and she would get probation, etc. I am not sure I believe that.

It sounds like she has a good support system. That's probably the single most important tool she can use to fight this addiction. The NA meetings sometimes adds another layer to that support.