One yr. jail for 36 grams? Age 19, first time.

What is the name of your state?New York: My 19-yr-old son, who has one youthful offender prior arrest for grafitti a few years ago, was arrested recently for 1) possession of 36 gr. marijuana, and 2) having a lit joint in a public place. These were the same incident. He was with a friend in a parked car registered under my name. My son says the judge(?) told him that he could spend a year in jail. From what I read this is (are) a misdemenor punishable by a fine of $500; and/or jail sentence 3 mo. A year in jail is for more than 2 oz., correct? My questions: 1) Do you have any idea, or is there a way we can find out why the judge (or someone else in authority; I wasn't there) told him he could face a year in jail? 2) Wouldn't it be highly unlikely for a judge to send a first time offender who has a full time job and presents himself very well to jail? I would think he would be fined. 3) There is no mention made of the car or the fact that it is in my name, so can I assume that won't be a problem? I am not giving him any money and staying out of this as much as possible; he has a weed problem and needs to get scared. But he thinks he HAS to get a lawyer (which he will go into debt for), and I think he's probably OK without one, given that there's absolutley no point fighting the actual charges and he's a first time offender. Just pay the fine, I figure, and don't get into more debt. He's already paying me back money he owed me from some previous purchases. He's very afraid of going to jail for a year.
And 4) I'm also not clear about whether being 19 makes a difference. And finally, his friend's father WILL be getting a lawyer for his son, but these are overly permissive parents in my opinion. Besides, the friend's father is running for local office...thank you very much

I'm from California... so the laws are different out here... but if the judge told him he can spend a year in jail, maybe he stated "up to a year in jail"? - Maybe your son just heard the worse possible outcome of his case... I'd find out...

More importanly, I would recommend getting a lawyer if you do not fully understand the law yourself, or in this case, if your son doesn't. A public defender will not be suffice if there is any chance at getting a reduction in the jail time - I do not have a lot of experience and this is only my opinion, but honestly, a good lawyer will help your son get the least possible jail time and the best outcome of this unfortunate situation...

Without a lawyer, your son could be at risk of, essentially, getting screwed...

Good luck.

New York - thanks for the reply. I had asked him about what the man said & that's what he remembers. I hear you, but I don't want to bail him out of this; I've done that before. He needs to learn. But in any case I guess I will suggest that he gets several quotes from different lawyers as the one he talked to said $750 or something like that. It's a fine line to walk between preventing real, lasting damage and allowing him to learn his lessons from life.
If anyone has information about NY laws that will help me - I'm listening!

http://www.norml.org/index.cfm?wtm_view=&Group_ID=4554

NY laws...

He will probly get a fine and maybe a little community service. Have you thought about drug treatment for him?

Update

New York ---- Just an update - my son's court date was yesterday. He found and hired a lawyer himself. The case was adjourned to 11/17. He said the lawyer wil try to get the charge reduced from a misdemaenor to a violation. As I thought, the so-called "1 year in jail" was crazy. But I have to say, I wish it wasn't so easy to get away with this. What I'd like is mandated treatment with probation, something like that. OK, admittedly a mother's point of view.