Question regarding Criminal Posession of Marijuana, ACOD

[jringo718]

What is the name of your state? New York

OK, long story short

I was in a car with my friend in Queens. We were waiting for his girlfriend, so I was parked by her house and started talking on the phone with my other friend. Out of nowhere a detective car pulled next to us. The windows had gotten very foggy since my friend and I were talking on our cell phones and it was freezing in my car. The officer told me to step out of the car, so I hung up the call, got outside, got detained and handcuffed(as well as my friend on the other side) and then about 5 or 6 cops proceeded to search my pockets and car, without ever asking for my consent. Well, they even unlocked my glove compartment without permission and in there found an old pipe I had in there. On my friend they found a blunt rolled up from before with maybe a gram and another bag of about another gram(total not more than 2 grams), and they found his pipe also, all of which were in his pockets, and not in public view.

They then arrested us, didn't read us any rights or anything, did not tell us why we were being arrested, because although it was obvious for my friend, they never explained why I was going to jail too.

They told us that they too want to go home, told us to just come to the police station and you will be in and out in an hour, like we had any choice. Well we spent 6 hours in jail. At about 4:30 AM they gave us a Desk Appearance Ticket. On the Ticket, under "charged with", it says c/p/m, which I am assuming it means Criminal Possession of Marijuana and not something else, especially the way there is a forward slash after each letter. The officers did not charge us with Drug Paraphernalia, but they charged us with Criminal Possession of Marijuana.

Now I looked up what Criminal Possession of Marijuana meant on NORML.ORG, as well as around Google, and he is what it means:

"Possession of greater than 25 grams or possession of any amount in public where the marijuana is burning or open to public view, is a class B misdemeanor and is punishable by up to three months in jail and a fine up to $500."

I don't get why I was charged with this, I didn't have 25 grams of Marijuana on me or in my car, and the person who had the Marijuana only had 2 grams which he should be charged under the "Unlawful Possession of Marijuana" charge, which is specifically for less than 25 grams of Marijuana. There was no stench or smell of Marijuana in my car, I have never smoked anything in my car, and the Marijuana was definitely not burning or even in public view, it was in my friends pocket.

I did get a Unlawful Possession of Marijuana charge back a year ago when I was 19, I was never convicted, because my record was sealed before I had to even show up at court, so its sealed and expunged.

I am real depressed because even with financial aid, it is very hard paying for college, and I have a good 3 years of college left, and with this drug conviction, I am going to loose financial aid. I can't afford a lawyer, and I have no clue how this works. My court date is tomorrow at 2 PM in Queens, what am I supposed to do? I heard hundreds of people show up, I have never been to court before, so I heard I sit in a room and wait for my name to be called.

When my name is called, what do I say? I want to plead not guilty because I had no weed on me, nor in my car, nor was there any marijuana open to public view or burning, and they did not charge me for Drug Paraphernalia(even if it was dirty). What will the judge ask me, and how should I answer?

How do I go about getting a ACOD, should I mention that I want an ACOD when the judge asks if I am guilty or not guilty? I am soo scared right now, its not even funny, can I get an ACOD without a lawyers help? What about free lawyers at court, where do I go to get one, and should I talk to one before I sit down and wait for my name to be called? This will have serious impacts on my life, and I have no one to help me with lawyers fee.

Also I understand that with an ACOD, that if I stay out of trouble for whatever time the judge tells me, my charge gets dismissed, which means in the future it won't show up on my record as a conviction or anything when I am applying for future financial aid, scholarships, and jobs, right?

 

[The Occultist]

What is the statute number you were charged with?

 

[jringo718]

There is no statute number on the desk appearance ticket.

I am looking at it right now, it says

OFFENSE CHARGED
c/p/m

The only numbers I got are the PCT #, Serial #, Arrest #, Tax Reg #, Shield #, Squad name/#, and Command Agency.

There was no bail.

All the other information are the location of the court, my address(which is an old address), co defendants name and arrest #, what time this happened, who photographed and fingerprinted me, arresting office signature, and his rank name.

Oh yeah, I found this on ezinearticles.com

"Despite its harsh Rockefeller Drug Laws, New York State is relatively lenient when it comes to marijuana possession. If your attorney knows what he's doing, a first-time marijuana offense should be resolved with an ACOD (adjournment in contemplation of dismissal) pursuant to Section 170.56 of the Criminal Procedure Law. This applies to the Unlawful Possession of Marijuana violation (221.05 of the Penal Law); Criminal Possession of Marijuana in the 5th degree (221.10) and Criminal Possession of Marijuana - 4th (221.15). The latter two are both misdemeanors -- crimes. A violation is not a crime."

So on my offense charged, there is no PENAL CODE, it doesn't even say which degree I have been charged with, whether 5th, 4th, etc.

 

[JustRandy]

Possession in NY is a civil citation up to 25 grams for the 1st and 2nd offense. Since you went to jail, they obviously have you on something more.

I'm not a lawyer, cop or anything, but I've been thru the system and have done some reading. I don't know about NY, but in OH when you have pot and an instrument to use the pot they get you with drug abuse. You most likely will plea bargain and end up losing your license for a while and paying a decent size fine (in OH). Plus, you can never own or go near a gun again (nation wide) for the rest of your life unless you can get the charge expunged. Not to mention all the private firms that data mine and store your arrest record for companies to buy when checking you out for a job. NORML is very misleading. I've contacted them and told them to post all the ramificantions of getting caught on their website, but I haven't heard anything back yet. Best bet for you is to talk with a lawyer about the civil rights issues after you get convicted and how you will get your constitutional rights back,,, if you're interested in that sorta thing. The ACOD sounds like a good place to start the conversation. Even if you get the ACOD, I still think you could have employment issues, not sure, better ask around. IF after your court date you go to the court records online and type in your name and it says dismissed, you'll still have trouble if the employer cares about potheads working for him.

Btw, when you see a cop, he basically has the right to search you for weapons whenever he feels like it. When he does, and finds something illegal, you're done. Then they can search your car and whatever else you have around. And as far as I know, they don't have to read you your rigths until they begin to question you... Not to arrest you. Usually they make you sign off stating you understand your rights when they begin questioning you. At least that's the way OH used to work.

 

[You Are Guilty]

My court date is tomorrow at 2 PM in Queens, what am I supposed to do? I heard hundreds of people show up, I have never been to court before, so I heard I sit in a room and wait for my name to be called.

Do you have to go to the courthouse on Kew Gardens or in Manhattan? Generally though, you sit in a big room with a few hundred other people and wait for your name to be called. You go up to the front, where the ADA thumbs through a file and tells the judge what the case is about.

When my name is called, what do I say? I want to plead not guilty because I had no weed on me, nor in my car, nor was there any marijuana open to public view or burning, and they did not charge me for Drug Paraphernalia(even if it was dirty). What will the judge ask me, and how should I answer?

If that's what you want to do, say "I'd like to plead Not Guilty, your honor". They'll take it from there. (It's doubtful they'll ask you any questions as to why, at least not at the first appearance).

How do I go about getting a ACOD, should I mention that I want an ACOD when the judge asks if I am guilty or not guilty? I am soo scared right now, its not even funny, can I get an ACOD without a lawyers help?

You can ask for whatever you want, whenever you want. Whether the court will listen to your argument(s) is an entirely different story. All you have to do is say something like "Not guilty, your honor, and I think this case qualifies me for an ACD because... [list reasons, but be brief]"

What about free lawyers at court, where do I go to get one, and should I talk to one before I sit down and wait for my name to be called? This will have serious impacts on my life, and I have no one to help me with lawyers fee.

You need to ask the judge to appoint counsel for you - "Your honor, I would like an attorney assigned to me." They will ask you about your finances, and maybe ask you to bring documentary proof of your finances in at a later date, before they will assign a lawyer to your case.

Also I understand that with an ACOD, that if I stay out of trouble for whatever time the judge tells me, my charge gets dismissed, which means in the future it won't show up on my record as a conviction or anything when I am applying for future financial aid, scholarships, and jobs, right?

Generally correct, although a very thorough background check may reveal the underlying arrest. But beyond that, the point of an ACD is essentially to erase the whole incident if you stay out of trouble for 1/6/12 months.

 

[jringo718]

Thank you for the information.

If the drug paraphernalia is the reason I am being charged for Criminal Possession of Marijuana, then wouldn't I have Drug Paraphernalia too under "OFFENSE CHARGED"?

Concerning the ACOD(CPL 170.56), once the time they give to not get in trouble is over, your record is sealed and your status returns back to whatever it was before getting arrested. Its as if you never got arrested, I gathered this from all over the internet.

Here is a lawyer explaining how the court has to give first time offenders an ACOD, and since is my first time, I should qualify. If interested maybe someone can read this and help me better understand it:
http://markblum.com/archived_reports/onefreewalk.html

I realized my court date was next monday, not today, so now I have about 6 days to figure something out.

My main concern and question is, how do I move for an ACOD?

Is it possible to do without a lawyer? I really can't afford it, literally, I have 50 dollars on me, and I got no one to help me.

Can I move for the ACOD by myself? How would I get started? Where do I get the paper work and stuff. I want to be prepared, I am really willing to do anything(except afford a lawyer)to save my records from being ruined, if it can be done now, and not after I am convicted, then I wanted done now.

Please someone with some experience help me out.

 

[JustRandy]

I have a criminal trespass on my record from 1994. The charge was dismissed on the condition I pay $50 to my girlfriend's mom. I paid it, it was dismissed, but its still there on my record for anyone to see. Btw, I was young and throwing rocks at my girlfriend's window to wake her up. I missed and broke a light. The mom called the cops n I got charged with criminal trespass.

I don't know how to answer your questions. Hopefully someone here will turn up that can. All I can say is there are computers hard at work storing info of arrest records, convictions, dismissals, etc for anyone to buy that can cough up the fee. There is no privacy anymore. For $20 I can probably find out how long your #$^% is.

 

[You Are Guilty]

If the drug paraphernalia is the reason I am being charged for Criminal Possession of Marijuana, then wouldn't I have Drug Paraphernalia too under "OFFENSE CHARGED"?

Not necessarily - you don't have to be charged with every crime you are alleged to have committed.

Concerning the ACOD(CPL 170.56), once the time they give to not get in trouble is over, your record is sealed and your status returns back to whatever it was before getting arrested. Its as if you never got arrested, I gathered this from all over the internet.

That is how it is supposed to work. In reality, with the proliferation of computers and interconnected databases, it's rarely that simple. If nothing else, the ACD only acts at the city/state level - the Feds are not required to purge their database of any arrest or other court records by virtue of what a NY State court does. Thus, my earlier answer.

Here is a lawyer explaining how the court has to give first time offenders an ACOD, and since is my first time, I should qualify. If interested maybe someone can read this and help me better understand it:
http://markblum.com/archived_reports/onefreewalk.html

I'm not sure why Mr. Blum comes to the conclusion he does that the ACD is a "requirement" (i.e. "must" be dismissed) when the statute, at least to my eyes, says that it is a discretionary act by the judge:

Upon or after arraignment in a local criminal court upon an
information, a prosecutor's information or a misdemeanor complaint,
where the sole remaining count or counts charge a violation or
violations of section 221.05, 221.10, 221.15, 221.35 or 221.40 of the
penal law and before the entry of a plea of guilty thereto or
commencement of a trial thereof, the court, upon motion of a defendant,
[highlight]may[/highlight] order that all proceedings be suspended and the action adjourned in
contemplation of dismissal, or upon a finding that adjournment would not
be necessary or appropriate and the setting forth in the record of the
reasons for such findings, [highlight]may[/highlight] dismiss in furtherance of justice the
accusatory instrument; provided, however, that the court may not order
such adjournment in contemplation of dismissal or dismiss the accusatory
instrument if...

Then again, I am not a criminal defense lawyer, so perhaps he's on to something. I do note that the only 2 Mark Blum's listed as attorneys in NY are both way upstate, where things tend to operate differently than they do in NYC courts.

My main concern and question is, how do I move for an ACOD?

You are free to do so verbally.

Is it possible to do without a lawyer?

Of course - if you pay attention, you'll probably see quite a few people make all sorts of arguments when they get called up. It's not rocket science.

Can I move for the ACOD by myself? How would I get started? Where do I get the paper work and stuff. I want to be prepared, I am really willing to do anything(except afford a lawyer)to save my records from being ruined, if it can be done now, and not after I am convicted, then I wanted done now.

Start with an oral motion. If for whatever reason the court insists it be done on papers, then come back and we might be able to get you headed in the right direction. Making a formal, written motion is much, much more complicated (to get right) than doing it verbally, so it's never a good idea to resort to a written motion first.

Good luck.