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First offense marijuana charge

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Macgovern

New member
What is the name of your state? Indiana

First off wanted to say thank you in advance for the website / forum.& that I am naive to most of this process (first offense). Anyways, Last year I was arrested for possession of marijuana (less than 30 grams) & possession of paraphernalia. I wrecked fiancés car into a tree and was taken to the hospital. She arrived at the accident and the police officer asked her to search the car and she said yes. Although (I’m not proud of this) , the officer did find a smoking pipe , but the drug he found was actually pep spice . Not marijuana . But he charged me with marijuana. He came to the hospital do to a sobriety test on me and I passed. After this, I went into a 90 day rehab program. I have all of the papers I need to verify. I was wondering what I should do in court? Ask for a public defender? Or should I tell the judge the truth it wasn’t weed, lol. Or just see if I can get charges dropped? This is my first offense ever. I go to court Wednesday. Thanks so much!!!!
 


quincy

Senior Member
What is the name of your state? Indiana

First off wanted to say thank you in advance for the website / forum.& that I am naive to most of this process (first offense). Anyways, Last year I was arrested for possession of marijuana (less than 30 grams) & possession of paraphernalia. I wrecked fiancés car into a tree and was taken to the hospital. She arrived at the accident and the police officer asked her to search the car and she said yes. Although (I’m not proud of this) , the officer did find a smoking pipe , but the drug he found was actually pep spice . Not marijuana . But he charged me with marijuana. He came to the hospital do to a sobriety test on me and I passed. After this, I went into a 90 day rehab program. I have all of the papers I need to verify. I was wondering what I should do in court? Ask for a public defender? Or should I tell the judge the truth it wasn’t weed, lol. Or just see if I can get charges dropped? This is my first offense ever. I go to court Wednesday. Thanks so much!!!!
You should ask for a public defender when you appear in court or hire an attorney to appear with you. Do not talk to the police or the prosecutor.

Although possession of less than 30 grams of marijuana is a Class B misdemeanor and a conviction on the possession charge could result in a $1000 fine and jail time up to 180 days, an alternative sentence of probation with conditions is generally offered for a first offense. Conditions include staying drug free. Possession of paraphernalia can be charged as an infraction or a misdemeanor with fines as high as $10,000 depending on facts which do not appear to apply to you.

If your urine was not tested at the hospital and the drugs found in your car were not tested (or smelled), spice can easily be confused with marijuana. I would not make a correction on what you possessed unless your own attorney advises it. Possession of spice comes with its own problems that you might want to avoid. Again, ask your attorney for advice.

If you had taken spice prior to your accident and your impairment when driving caused the accident. you might want to consider yourself lucky on several fronts - that the charges against you were not greater, that you apparently did not kill or injure anyone, that a loss of blood from being injured while on spice did not kill you, and that you (apparently) still have a fiancée.

I hope the 90 days in rehab were effective.

Spice often contains rat poison, by the way. If you value your health, spice is not something you want to use.

Good luck.
 

FlyingRon

Senior Member
Note you need to be careful. There are many counties in Indiana which have laws against spice as well. If your stuff comes back to be not pot, you might still be subject to charges.
 

quincy

Senior Member
Note you need to be careful. There are many counties in Indiana which have laws against spice as well. If your stuff comes back to be not pot, you might still be subject to charges.
Spice is not legal in Indiana as of 2011, which is why I warned Macgovern of not correcting the possession of marijuana charges without first consulting with his attorney.
 
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FlyingRon

Senior Member
There was an appellate decision in 2015 which found that the "synthetic substance" description in the statute at the time vague/inapplicable to certain spice. I don't know if the state corrected that in reaction, but there are a lot of local ordinances that do list the components directly.
 

quincy

Senior Member
There was an appellate decision in 2015 which found that the "synthetic substance" description in the statute at the time vague/inapplicable to certain spice. I don't know if the state corrected that in reaction, but there are a lot of local ordinances that do list the components directly.
Right now spice is banned in Indiana. Possession can be an infraction or a misdemeanor.

A bill that unanimously passed the Senate in January would make the penalties for possession of synthetic drugs equal to the penalties for the drugs they imitate. It was headed to the House and I don't know the current status of the bill. The House is considering their own bill.

One of these bills, or a combination of the two, seems likely to pass and be signed by the Governor.

Here is a link to House Bill 1186:
https://legiscan.com/IN/bill/HB1186/2019
 
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Macgovern

New member
Thank you everyone Quincy & flyingron!!!! Yes the rehab was a major eye opener. Never again. Glad I learned and didn’t have to loose anything (or give anyways) away. I love that you guys do on this site. It’s hard to find free help now a days, and please know my appreciation for your help!!! God bless!!!

I will ask for a public defender and follow up!
 

Macgovern

New member
I do have one more question if that’s okay!:)
- since i did wreck my car. (As stated above) , I went to the hospital before the police arrived. My fiancé arrived and gave them consent to search the car. Is this something that has a CHANCE of getting throw out in court? The car is in both of our names but she was neither driving or a passenger of the vehicle at the time of the accident . Thanks again so much!!
 

quincy

Senior Member
I do have one more question if that’s okay!:)
- since i did wreck my car. (As stated above) , I went to the hospital before the police arrived. My fiancé arrived and gave them consent to search the car. Is this something that has a CHANCE of getting throw out in court? The car is in both of our names but she was neither driving or a passenger of the vehicle at the time of the accident . Thanks again so much!!
As owner, or co-owner, of the car, your fiancée was able to give the police consent to search the vehicle. I do not see that evidence gathered from this search will be inadmissible. Your attorney, however, will review all facts to see what can be used, and not used, as evidence when helping you prepare a defense.

We really appreciate the nice words, McGovern, so thank you.

Good luck.
 

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