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Possession charge for pipes and roach found in friends car

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abitofjames

Junior Member
i was in my friends car and he was pulled over. he consented to a search. in his car, he had a roach, several pipes ( one of which was in the passenger side door cubby of his pick up), and marijuana seeds and shake. the officer arrested me for possession of marijuana ( the roach and seeds and shake) and for the pipes.
i did not know any of that stuff was in his car, and i believe the driver didn't know either.
i have court on august 16, in Ocean City, M.D.
what should i do?
i dont want to pay for a lawyer because to me, its obvious that i'm innocent; but i worry that the judge may not be a reasonable man, and therefore, warrant me paying the expensive lawyer fees. Do you think these circumstances require me to get a lawyer.
Furthermore, if the driver claims all the items in his car to be his own, will my charges be dropped?
 


justalayman

Senior Member
Furthermore, if the driver claims all the items in his car to be his own, will my charges be dropped?
Maybe, maybe not.

It's called constructive possession. You both get to be charged with the crime.

Constructive possession is a legal theory used to extend possession to situations where a person has no hands-on custody of an object. Most courts say that constructive possession, also sometimes called "possession in law," exists where a person has knowledge of an object plus the ability to control the object, even if the person has no physical contact with it (United States
and unless you can convince the courts the pot fairies came and put the stuff in the car, everybody claiming they didn't know it was there usually doesn't work for a defense.

i dont want to pay for a lawyer because to me, its obvious that i'm innocent
;well, I hate to tell you this but the cop thinks you are probably guilty and that means you probably should have a lawyer. Now, if the cop and the judge thought you were innocent, then not hiring a lawyer would be approapriate

but i worry that the judge may not be a reasonable man, and therefore, warrant me paying the expensive lawyer fees.
if you qualify for a public defender, you will be able to utilize the services of a PD. It is not up to the judge. There are rules and requirements in place that are used to determine your eligibility. If you do not meet the requirements for a PD, you will have to hire your own if you want a lawyer.

Do you think these circumstances require me to get a lawyer.
pretty much anytime you are charged with a crime it is a good idea to have the services of a lawyer.
 
If the case is filed against you, unless you successfully demurrer to the complaint (I see nothing here warranting that) or the people motion to dismiss, it will proceed against you. Simply explaining to the judge that you "really didnt do it" typically does not result in case dismissal. I dont know if you are going to need an attorney. Maybe you are going to go in there and just plead guilty and accept the deferred sentencing or whatever you are offered.
 

abitofjames

Junior Member
police report

let me begin by first thanking the two members who have left their input.
here is the police report, which i have retyped with little summary. iv'e added some of my thoughts in parenthesis, and changed names.

CDS: possession -Marihuana penalty- one year and/or 1,000.00
CDS - possession - paraphernalia penalty- 500.00

It’s formally charged that the defendant:
Did possess a controlled dangerous substance of schedule 1, to wit: marihuana
Did use drug paraphernalia to wit: a multi-colored glass inhalation device, used to introduce into the human body by inhalation, a controlled dangerous substance of schedule 1, to wit: Marihuana

Statement of probable cause on Friday, may 14, 2010 at 0100 hours, I, Officer Runkles was on unmarked vehicle patrol in area of 112th street and coastal highway ocean city m.d, 21842. While on unmarked vehicle patrol I observed a white in color Toyota Tacoma pennsylcania registraion. I could clearly see the driver was not restrained by his safety belt. I noted the metal clasp of the safety belt was in the up position. The driver of the Toyota was in violation of T.A. 22-4123.3 (b) operator not restrained by seat belt. I performed a traffic stop. I issued a OCMDPD warning. I advised the driver he was free to leave. ( i can attest that the officer did not inform us we were free to leave, at no point did he inform us that we were no longer detained) prior to leaving the driver consented to a search of the Toyota (the officers words were “ can I check for weapons in the vehicle? “ the driver said “yeah go ahead” believing the search would be brief, however, the officer began searching our suitcases and displaced every item in the car).
I asked the driver the driver and passanger to exit the vehicle.
during the consent search, I located a Lipozene bottle inside the center console of the Toyota. I opened the Lipozene pill bottle and observed a partial smoked cigarette. I knew it to be marihuana.
I located a wooden container inside the center console of the Toyota. I opened the container and located a metal pipe inside. I detected the odor of marihuana emanating from the metal pipe. I recognized the wooden container and metal pipe to be drug paraphernalia called a “dugout” or a “bat” on the street.
I located E-Z wider cigarette papers inside the center console. I know through my training and experience as a police officer, that users will commonly use cigarette papers to smoke marihuana.
I located a metal tin containing marijuana seeds inside the center console.
I located a multi-colored glass pipe inside the front of the driver seat door panel. I detected the odor of marihuana emanating from the multi-colored pipe. I noted the location where I located the multi-colored pipe was easily accessible to only Woods (I observed the owner of the vehicle, Paul Potato, reach to grab, and place things on the passenger side of the small pick-up trucks cabin. Furthermore, the driver clearly uses marijuana, and it not unreasonable to believe that the Paul had other people in the car who could have placed it there. The arresting officer jumped to conclusions by saying that the pipe could only have been put there by me.)
the above set of facts let me to believe Woods did possess a controlled dangerous substance of schedule 1, to wit: marihuana(THC). I subsequently placed Woods under arrest for CR5-601 (a) (1) CDS: Possession- Marihuana.
The above set of facts led me to believe Woods did possess drug-paraphernalia to wit: a multi-colored glass inhalation device, useed to introduce into the human body by inhalation, a controlled dangerous substance of schedule 1, to wit :marijuana (THC). I subsequently charged Woods with CR5-619 ( C ) (1) CDS: Possession -Paraphernalia.
 

justalayman

Senior Member
CDS: possession -Marihuana penalty- one year and/or 1,000.00
I just live how Californie and MD determined they needed to spell marijuana differently than (I think) any other states in their statutes.



I advised the driver he was free to leave. ( i can attest that the officer did not inform us we were free to leave, at no point did he inform us that we were no longer detained) prior to leaving
if you were leaving, apparently you did not believe you were being detained either. Your statement actually supports the possibility the officer did in fact say you wree free to leave.

the driver consented to a search of the Toyota (the officers words were “ can I check for weapons in the vehicle? “ the driver said “yeah go ahead” believing the search would be brief, however, the officer began searching our suitcases and displaced every item in the car).
well, if he consented to a search for weapons, then anyplace a weapon could be hidden is fair game.



during the consent search, I located a Lipozene bottle inside the center console of the Toyota. I opened the Lipozene pill bottle and observed a partial smoked cigarette. I knew it to be marihuana.
and the rest is history. At this point, he has full rights to search anything and everything.


The arresting officer jumped to conclusions by saying that the pipe could only have been put there by me.)
unless you want to turn some other folks in that might have been setting there, you are the only one that had access to that area to the officers knowledge.

Sounds like they have you dead to rights. time for a lawyer for damage control.
 
Last edited:
First, your state has neanderthal laws, so they are holding a hammer over your skull over invented hysterics.

2nd that report is clearly probable cause. Its gonna probably get filed and the judge will not likely be finding you "innocent". That officer has you locked down and that is trial worthy.. the search was even with consent, he doesnt even have to say he could smell it, How nice of your dumb friend to make this so easy.

Like shooting fish in a barrel.

You'll need an attorney unless you take the nice sweet deal they will bait you with right after a scarey dude in a black robes tells you about the jail he might put you in...and/or you dont want waste your time coming back and forth to court.
 

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