desperate to know what is going to happen

[hkworried]

In Oregon, the police came to my door, said they smelled marijuana from the livingroom window. asked if there was medical marijuana permit. wasn't one. asked to come in, asked if there was marijuana inside. said no, they said I either had to let them in because they smelled it, or I had to stay outside with my children while they went for a search warrant and child protective agency would be notified, that I wouldn't be allowed back in my apartment. scared for my kids I said ok, got my kids and let them in, they removed plants, removed marijuana, removed paraphenalia. I don't know how many plants there were, but it was 'way over the legal limit even if we'd had the medical marijuana cards' the police officer said. The dried marijuana was approximately 1lb. They issued citations to husband and myself. citation mentions 'child neglect' I don't understand this. I'm terrified of what's going to happen. I have no record at all, Husband has one count possession 10years ago, was ordered to pay a fine and he did. I called the courthouse and they say we cannot talk to the public defender assigned our case until the court date in nearly 2 weeks, but I'm too scared. I need to know what is going to happen to have some idea of what to do. The officer said we had to go down to the station soon and get fingerprinted and photographed, I don't understand any of this.

 

[JETX]

Simple explanation:
1) You are going to be charged with possession of both marijuana and paraphernalia and probably other charges also. Depending on your post, it is likely that the charges will be felony.
2) Since this was done in the presence of your children, it is possible (likely??) that the children will be removed from the home.
3) You will now get to spend LARGE amounts of money trying to defend yourselves against the charges.
4) You will get extensive lessons in the criminal law system.

 

[firstoffense]

Check out www.norml.org and use their find a lawyer link. Best of luck to you.

 

[JETX]

This looks REALLY good.....
http://www.norml.org/index.cfm?wtm_view=&Group_ID=4571

 

[coosi]

http://www.norml.org/index.cfm?wtm_view=&Group_ID=4559

How about this one instead? (for Oregon)

 

[JETX]

Good point.... I don't know WHY I assumed that the writer was in Washington!! My bad!!!

 

[hkworried]

thankyou...

thank you all for your comments. I'm trying not to go totally off the deep end. Not exactly an option when I've got two little ones who'd wonder why mom was suddenly unable to function. I'm just scared witless. I wish the courtdate was sooner. I wish I could stop worrying about the damn 'child neglect' part of the citation. The cop said it was 'standard' and didn't mean anything was going to happen, but I'm a mom and my kids are my life and I can't stop shaking when I read those words.

I'm trying to 'imagine' (read: drive myself mad because I cannot know) what they will say and do and how it's all going to go. I know I screwed up bigtime, but I know I'm a good person, now how do I show them that? I'm not trying to beat the system, I just don't want to get burned for anything we DIDN'T do, namely, distribution. I've never been in trouble with the law before because this is the only illegal thing I've done. Pretty lame, eh?

I'm going to call the courts again and try to understand why I can't talk to a public defender before my court date. If I cannot get even a sliver of peace of mind, I'm gonna go mad. We aren't rolling in the dough, we move paycheck to paycheck.

Nevermind, you all didn't want my life story. I'm just scared and grateful no one here made fun of my situation. Ask me if I've learned a valuable life lesson? Hell yes. Ask me if I'll ever be involved in marijuana again.. hell NO. Welcome to my version of 'scared straight'

 

[JETX]

Quit wasting your time trying to contact the court or the public defenders office. At this time, you are NOT one of their clients.

The bottom line is you are NOT going to get a public defender until you have been brought into court and given an oppotunity to determine whether you are eligible for a public defender or not. If you are financially unable to afford an attorney, the court will appoint one for you (public defender). That won't happen until then.

 

[hkworried]

As you said just above, I'm not yet a client. When they said that yesterday, I didn't really understand what they meant. Perhaps that's the nonstop surreal quality that life has taken on. But the woman I spoke with today explained it more and your words as well, brought it together enough for me to grasp, finally.

So I'm to wait. I wish to god there was something I could DO. This shaking fear is nearly suffocating. I'm not asking for sympathy, I just wish I could DO something besides wait.

Not knowing what to expect is a crippling feeling. The officer that wrote the citation told us we had to go down to the police station to be fingerprinted and photographed before the court date. Then a few 'well meaning friends' said to talk to a lawyer first. Well none of that's done any good, and I certainly don't want to do anything ELSE that's wrong.

Thank you again for your comments.

 

[stephenk]

Didnt you and your husband have these same fears before you got arrested for growing the plants? If yes, why did you do it?

I hope you didnt have the kids helping in the care of the plants. That is a sure ticket to lose them.