possession of marijuana, please help

[colebuck]

What is the name of your state? Kentucky. But this happened in Tennessee. My son who is 18 was a passenger and the driver was doing 90 in a 70 to get to a concert in Nashville, TN. Needless to say they were pulled over. They had approx. 4 grams of marijuana in the car and my son stuffed it in his pocket. They thought they were just going to get a speeding ticket when the officer noticed a small piece of marijuana on my son's leg. My son gave the marijuana to the officer and the officer searched his billfold and found rolling papers. He was given a citation for possesion and paraphenalia (sorry don't know how to spell that) and was told to appear in court 6-20-07. The driver admitted to nothing even though my son wrote a statement and signed it that the driver had originally bought the marijuana and they were splitting the bag and that it was both of theirs. The driver is now saying it was not his and is going to try to get out of all of it except for the speeding ticket, he was given a possesion citation too. What can we expect his sentence to be. My son unfortuately was arrested in 2006 in the state of Kentucky for DUI while moving his truck out of a driveway into a yard to park it . He moved it 15 ft and parked it and a cop pulled up behind him and was ultimately arrested for DUI. We tried to fight it but to no avail and it was finally resolved 12-06. He lost his license til he turned 18 in Feb. Will the DUI have any bearing on the possesion charge. Will they be able to bring that up in court in Tennessee and consider this his second offense? He is going to graduate high school in May and has already signed a baseball scholarship to play college baseball with a school. He has maintained 3.75 throughout high school and is a very good kid, he just gets caught at everything he does no matter what even though every other kid in school is doing the same thing he is doing they just never seem to get caught. He is not a druggie or big drinker, he's just a typical teenager with severely bad luck. Please advise if this is going to be considered his second offense. The DUI in KY and the possesion and paraphenalia in TN? Will they link those together? What kind of sentence can we expect and what should we do. I think getting a lawyer would be a good idea, so we are most likely going to do that. But what can we expect sentence wise? And can this be gotten off his record in the future so he won't have to put it on job applications. I already think he has ruined any chance at getting financial aid due to they ask you if you have ever been arrested or cited for possesion. Thank you so much for any help.What is the name of your state?

 

[outonbail]

What is the name of your state? Kentucky. But this happened in Tennessee. My son who is 18 was a passenger and the driver was doing 90 in a 70 to get to a concert in Nashville, TN.

At 90 mph he has a better chance of making it to the morgue than he does a concert.

Needless to say they were pulled over. They had approx. 4 grams of marijuana in the car and my son stuffed it in his pocket. They thought they were just going to get a speeding ticket when the officer noticed a small piece of marijuana on my son's leg. My son gave the marijuana to the officer and the officer searched his billfold and found rolling papers. He was given a citation for possesion and paraphenalia (sorry don't know how to spell that) and was told to appear in court 6-20-07. The driver admitted to nothing even though my son wrote a statement and signed it that the driver had originally bought the marijuana and they were splitting the bag and that it was both of theirs. The driver is now saying it was not his and is going to try to get out of all of it except for the speeding ticket, he was given a possesion citation too.

Can you blame him? The cop observed that your son had marijuana stuck on his clothes and further investigation revealed the rolling papers. So there isn't any question that you're son was in possession. His crime and the punishment for it, do not diminish when you add an accomplice into the picture. You're son's statement will not help his case, it can only hurt the drivers. If he finds himself in this situation again in the future, he should not be writing or signing any statements for the police, as doing so will never help his situation, it can only make it worse. That is if it can get any worse than driving 90 mph wearing marijuana, adding these charges to his arrest record and possibly losing his scholarship because of these arrests....

What can we expect his sentence to be. My son unfortuately was arrested in 2006 in the state of Kentucky for DUI while moving his truck out of a driveway into a yard to park it . He moved it 15 ft and parked it and a cop pulled up behind him and was ultimately arrested for DUI. We tried to fight it but to no avail and it was finally resolved 12-06. He lost his license til he turned 18 in Feb. Will the DUI have any bearing on the possesion charge. Will they be able to bring that up in court in Tennessee and consider this his second offense?

Yes, the judge will see his prior arrest. I would imagine that he is also on probation for the prior DUI and this arrest would be considered a violation of his probation as well. All these things work against him when the judge is considering his sentence.

He is going to graduate high school in May and has already signed a baseball scholarship to play college baseball with a school. He has maintained 3.75 throughout high school and is a very good kid, he just gets caught at everything he does no matter what even though every other kid in school is doing the same thing he is doing they just never seem to get caught.

Whoever else breaks the law is something the judge will not consider. This case is you're son's and he will be held responsible for not obeying the law, so I recommend that he accepts this responsibility and drops the "everyone else is doing the same thing" story. Telling this to a judge will only piss him/her off and influence a stiffer penalty/sentence, in hopes it will teach him that he is responsible for his actions, no one else.

He is not a druggie or big drinker, he's just a typical teenager with severely bad luck.

Standing in a field with a hundred other people and being the only one that get's bird $hit dropped on him is bad luck, not purchasing, transporting and wearing marijuana while driving 90 mph. This is not a case of bad luck, it is a case of bad choices. Whether you believe you're son has a drinking/drug problem or not is irrelevant. Frankly, this being his second arrest involving substance abuse, with him being only seventeen and still in high school, doesn't look very good. It looks like he has a drug and drinking problem. Downplaying it only makes you out to be a codependent. Do not come off this way to a judge as he will see that you are not taking you're son's problem seriously.

Please advise if this is going to be considered his second offense.

It is his second arrest and notice to appear on charges involving substance abuse so the judge will not look at it like it was a first time stupid mistake. He will probably have to pay a stiffer price for this violation since he was on probation when he was caught this time.

The DUI in KY and the possesion and paraphenalia in TN? Will they link those together?

Yes, you're son will have one arrest file that is available to all law enforcement agencies that request it, not one for each state. So it doesn't matter what state he is arrested in, they will all know of every arrest, as will every officer that pulls him over in the future and runs his name through NCIC. So they will be looking at him even closer when he's pulled over in the future since he now has a history of alcohol and drug abuse.

What kind of sentence can we expect and what should we do. I think getting a lawyer would be a good idea,

A very good idea.

so we are most likely going to do that. But what can we expect sentence wise? And can this be gotten off his record in the future so he won't have to put it on job applications. I already think he has ruined any chance at getting financial aid due to they ask you if you have ever been arrested or cited for possesion. Thank you so much for any help. What is the name of your state?

Get him enrolled in a substance abuse class and/or have him attend AA meetings. This is something the court is probably going to order anyway, so he may as well get a head start on it and show the judge that he's taking this seriously and trying to get help for his problem.
He may also have lost his scholarship because of these stupid mistakes, which will be unfortunate. However, he will learn that his actions can not only advance him and provide opportunities in life they can also ruin his life just as fast.