Michigan Marijuana Possession

I recently got arrested for possession of marijuana. I had little over three grams and that is all that I am being charged with. I am 18 years old, live in Michigan, and this is my first offense ever. I am trying to figure out a way that I can get off with non-reporting probation. Do you think that I should hire a lawyer? Or should I just get a court appointed lawyer? I know either way my sentence won't be too bad, but I really want to get non-reporting probation. Also, I attend a University and have a 3.89 GPA, which I'm sure that helps in the case.

jplunk12 said:

I recently got arrested for possession of marijuana. I had little over three grams and that is all that I am being charged with. I am 18 years old, live in Michigan, and this is my first offense ever. I am trying to figure out a way that I can get off with non-reporting probation. Do you think that I should hire a lawyer? Or should I just get a court appointed lawyer? I know either way my sentence won't be too bad, but I really want to get non-reporting probation. Also, I attend a University and have a 3.89 GPA, which I'm sure that helps in the case.

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Why should you get non-reporting? Why is it so important to you? You realize, don't you, even if you get non-reporting, they can probably still drug test you?

And why should the fact that you go to college and have a semi-high GPA affect your criminal case? That's a total non-issue. Oh, and you can lose your federal financial aid because of a drug conviction.

I'm not trying to get non-reporting so I can keep smoking. I'm done with that. I want to get non-reporting so that I don't have to pay once a week to drug test, and I'd save money in the end. I'm trying to go the cheapest way possible and I'm trying to get it so it won't be on my record for jobs, school, etc.

You can always hope for a non-reporting probation, but ultimately this choice is not yours to make.

You are always better off with an attorney who can devote some time and attention to your case, which generally means you are better off with an attorney you hire as opposed to having a public defender or an attorney appointed by the court handle your case. A public defender or court-appointed attorney may be qualified to handle your case (although this is, unfortunately, not always true), but a public defender or court-appointed attorney will generally have very little time to speak with you and review your case file (sometimes as little as 5 minutes prior to your court appearance).

Although the national standard case load for a public defender is 400 cases per year per public defender, in Michigan the case load in some areas approaches and even exceeds 2400 cases per year per public defender, hence the lack of time available for a public defender to spend on any one case.

If this is your first offense, you will likely be offered the diversion program, which comes generally with a 6 month probationary period, community service hours, drug education classes and, occasionally, random drug testing. If you meet all terms of the diversion program satisfactorially, and do not violate any other laws during your probationary period, your misdemeanor charge will be dismissed. There will be no public record of it (although it will still have to be reported on some job applications as a dismissed charge).

Although most judges in Michigan routinely offer diversion, this is not true for all judges in all counties in Michigan.

The fact that you are a student and have a good grade point average will not harm your case, certainly, but it may not help all that much, either. What happens to you will depend more on the county in which you were ticketed and on the particular judge whom you will be facing.