dui checkpoint

What is the name of your state? florida. last night I had gone through a dui check point, and the cop smelt marijuana, so they took it, searched the rest of my car, and told me I had two options:

1. go to jail
2. I could work with them undercover.

I thought this was shady, because he had taken the evidence (pipe and a bag of weeed), and on the paper that he filled out as if i was going to jail, he ripped off a piece and gave me his number to call him, so i sould do the undercover work with him and if i didn't call him on tuesday, he'd throw me in jail.

1. Call a lawyer.
2. After retaining the lawyer, ask him/her if you should make a call to the Attprney General's office to report him.

This happened Friday night, he didn't arrest you, he's giving you until Tuesday to call.

I think that any good lawyer would get that thrown out in a minute if he arrests you. The cop had the evidence in his possession for 4 days before the arrest. I don't think that could ever stick, with a good lawyer.

Don't be a narc.

My 2 cents.

Iam with DRN on this one to an extent. Officers can hold evidence for a reasonable amount of time before charging someone. Its sometimes used to gain more evidence (sometimes stronger evidence) or to allow the district attorney more time for prosecution. Either way it doesnt sound too kosher.

Are you a minor?

yes i am.

Ashwee:

I would encourage you to seek the advice of a criminal attorney and also possibly make a report to that particular officer's superior.

As a minor, I don't think they can force you to participate without your parent's consent and as a mother I would never let my daughter act as a narc. Far to dangerous.

I think I would report this to the officer's captain as quickly as possible. This just sounds way to fishy even for me.

I'm with everybody else, too. If he didn't bust you then, and if he hasn't called you yet, he's probably not going to do either because he could stand to be in a lot of trouble if he did either. It would be idiotic of him to proceed with something like that, in my opinion, since you're a minor. How old are you. Have you told your parents yet? If he calls you, do not talk to him. Hang up, and tell your parents what's going on.


hmmbrdzz

You guys are way off. It doesn't matter how long he "holds" the evidence. He most likely cataloged the evidence, and has held off on filing charges. He has until the statute of limitations expires to file those charges. What he is offering is to not file charges (which is his discretion) in exchange for him working as a CI.

Bravo8 said:

You guys are way off. It doesn't matter how long he "holds" the evidence. He most likely cataloged the evidence, and has held off on filing charges. He has until the statute of limitations expires to file those charges. What he is offering is to not file charges (which is his discretion) in exchange for him working as a CI.

Click to expand...

My response: Of course he can hold evidence and put off filing charges. But do you think this officer is going to throw this minor in jail if the minor doesn't talk when he calls back to request drug names? What are the procedures this officer would have to follow if he does call this minor back? What if the minor doesn't cooperate?



hmmbrdzz

I think it does matter how long he holds it.

If he seizes it and then turns it in to be cataloged in a reasonable amount of time, such as hours or end of tour, fine, provided he didn't have an opportunity to do it earlier.

I don't think he can hold it in his personal possession for days and then turn it in. He could have done anything with it. He could have increased the amount. He could have substituted it for something resulting in a harsher charge. Under this circumstance, I don't believe it would ever be accepted into evidence. If it was (on a local level) I don't believe it would survive appeal.

I'm not an attorney, but when I am, I think I will love a case like that.

My 2 cents.

You guys are reading too much into it.

DRN, you are correct. If he fails to properly secure the evidence, then it will most likely be suppressed. No where does the OP state that he has any knowledge of the disposition of the evidence. You are speculating that the officer maintained personal possession, which I doubt. He knows he would lose in a suppression hearing, and what purpose would maintaining possession serve?

Hmmbrdzz, no I think the officer is going to charge the minor for possession if he doesn't cooperate. You interpret "throwing in jail" to mean physically placing into a jail cell, while many lay people would refer to being arrested as "thrown in jail". I interpreted the post to mean he would be charged.

If I were in the same position, I would sieze and properly secure the evidence. If the subject cooperated, then no charges would be filed and the evidence would be destroyed AFTER the cooperation. If he failed to cooperate, then he would be appropriately charged. He would be summonsed to court, or arrested pursuant to a valid warrant.

I doubt the cop meant he would appear 4 days later and make a warrantless arrest.

Assuming the officer handled the evidence appropriately, the officer would have no choice but to attempt to make the juvenile cooperate, correct? Would you -- as an officer -- during a DUI check point have taken drugs found in the possession of a juvenile, not charge the juvenile, let them go, and request them to work undercover else face charges ?


hmmbrdzz