What is the name of your state? New York
Hello everyone,
A brief description of my situation....I was getting a ride from a friend to pick up my car from the car repair shop when we were pulled over for failing to use a blinker when the road merged from 2 lanes to one lane (even though we were not in the 'merge' lane.) While the driver was being asked for his license and I was asked for mine as well, the officer decided to check my friend and found drup paraphenalia on him. They asked me to step out and I voluntarily surrendered one joint that I had in my possesion prior to being searched. We were both charged with our possesion of drugs and released on the scene. It was my first and only offense or trouble with the law. My question has multiple parts the first being....
1. Should I get a lawyer to help get the charge reduced or is just being polite, prompt and well groomed be enough to keep from receiving the maximum penalty. This is my first offense and I have no prior record but I would like to keep my record that way.
2. I have a government job, should I approach my boss in advance of someone else telling her to inform her on my own instead of her possibly finding out anyway and thinking that I was trying to hide it from her? Or should I see if it even makes it in the blotter first and go from there?
3. Is it even worth pursuing the angle of being pulled over for no real reason? One note, I do understand that I have broken the law and anything that happens to me is my own fault for being stupid and making a poor decision to have the joint on me, but is it legal for the police to pull someone over for no good reason and search them without any real viable grounds for doing so?
Thank you for your time.
Hello everyone,
A brief description of my situation....I was getting a ride from a friend to pick up my car from the car repair shop when we were pulled over for failing to use a blinker when the road merged from 2 lanes to one lane (even though we were not in the 'merge' lane.) While the driver was being asked for his license and I was asked for mine as well, the officer decided to check my friend and found drup paraphenalia on him. They asked me to step out and I voluntarily surrendered one joint that I had in my possesion prior to being searched. We were both charged with our possesion of drugs and released on the scene. It was my first and only offense or trouble with the law. My question has multiple parts the first being....
1. Should I get a lawyer to help get the charge reduced or is just being polite, prompt and well groomed be enough to keep from receiving the maximum penalty. This is my first offense and I have no prior record but I would like to keep my record that way.
2. I have a government job, should I approach my boss in advance of someone else telling her to inform her on my own instead of her possibly finding out anyway and thinking that I was trying to hide it from her? Or should I see if it even makes it in the blotter first and go from there?
3. Is it even worth pursuing the angle of being pulled over for no real reason? One note, I do understand that I have broken the law and anything that happens to me is my own fault for being stupid and making a poor decision to have the joint on me, but is it legal for the police to pull someone over for no good reason and search them without any real viable grounds for doing so?
Thank you for your time.