got busted and need some help....

so last night i got busted by opd. i was near a park on the street (legally parked and all, not on private property or state park property) when a cop car came in. at the time i wasnt involved in smoking any weed. in fact i was eating some burger king and talking about philosophy with my friend. anyways, the cops pull over and say its smells like marijuana and ask me if i been smoking. i stupidly said yes (but didnt specify when or where, i wasnt even high at the time).

so the cop tells me to get out of the car and i do, but i close the door. first thing she does is handcuff me, i immediately say why are you handcuffing me, even if i did smoke it can only be a misdemeanor. she says its for her protection (i couldnt hurt her she was prob a foot taller than me...) and then searches me ( i knew she would probably arrest me if i didnt say that.. and take me to jail) . she finds nothing. they take out my friend too. at no time did i admit i have weed on me. she puts me back in the patrol car and searches my car without consent. keep in mind that my door was closed and i never told her that she could search. she goes up and look up my record, everything is clean, asks me a ton of stupid questions to see if i was functioning correctly and answered right and in a professional manner.

she finds maybe a gram of weed inside a box that was not under plain view. stupidly, i had some beer bottles (empty, and there for a week, inside the back pouch of the back seat) and i got two crimes on my ticket which were possession of mj and possession of open container (i dont even drink )

now lets see, im not a bad person, i didnt mean to bother anyone (oakland is a bad city, i relax in parks where no one can shoot me or try to mug me) and i go to college with a pretty decent gpa. is there anything i can do to fight this or should i just pay up and most likely lose my license? either way im pretty depressed of this whole ordeal..

thanks for listening...

Talk to a lawyer

Any law students at your college

Yeah, seek legal advice! Sorry bro, I still have a clean record. *crosses fingers*

Not much else to say...

Why why why did u say u smoked weed!? Even if it wasnt in the car or even recently its common sense to say no. The minute u said yes she had probable cause and there for does not need your permission to search ur car. Iv been there, the same thing happend to me in Palo Alto, not more than 40 minutes away from Oakland. I admitted to smoking weed earlyer and they hoped right in my car and tore it apart. They even unlocked the glove box and trunk, which i objected to and said they needed a warrent. They said no they didnt because i admitted to smoking weed and that was enough proable cause to search my car to possibly find more. U could get a lawyer, i did but its gonna cost u like 3 to 5 grand and i doubt ur ticket is that expensive.

We have a ad for a lawyer running on the tv here.It goes like this,SHUTUP and call a lawyer.Never offer any information for any reason,period.OPH

stupid mistake i know. but i didnt really specify where and when or anything like that but i guess it doesnt matter. stupid part on my part... at least i didnt get thrown in jail. im sure i can just go, take their stupid diversion program and pray to god that the judge will go easy on the open container charge. i guess this is another life lesson on my part, lets see how itll come down this time...

yes i have some legal resources at my univ. i will check them out once school starts again.

pismomonkey said:

stupid mistake i know. but i didnt really specify where and when or anything like that but i guess it doesnt matter. stupid part on my part... at least i didnt get thrown in jail. im sure i can just go, take their stupid diversion program and pray to god that the judge will go easy on the open container charge. i guess this is another life lesson on my part, lets see how itll come down this time...

yes i have some legal resources at my univ. i will check them out once school starts again.

Click to expand...

Hey man... Please take this in all forms possible as good advice... Now i may sound harsh.. but i think that you need a wake the fuck up call!...

So lets see:

1. never ever admit to anything... ANYTHING.

2. Kicking it at the parks is one of the worse ideas you can have.. especially if you are confined to roads (meaning you aint on foot).. Police... Jackins... anything could happen... I would think parks would be dangerouse places at night.

3. Always take the keys out of the egnition and stand outside of the vehicle when your partying...

4. Clean up your dumb ass acomplices.
If you are having people putting empy beer cans in your car and hiding them... and then not taking them out when you are safely at home or near a trash somewhere. then you are riding with people that dont give a shit about you... you say you dont drink... then your gonna end up in jail or prison getting it in the ass for something you didnt even do...

5. Pay the fine and learn from this.
Getting a lawyer wont do shit for you.. a. you told on yourself giving her access to the property you have access to. If you would have been chillin at the bench they arent gonna go searching your car. b, the fine vs what a lawyer will charge is going to be a big diference.

Man you need a girlfriend that will let you smoke and chill at her pad and drop the loosers that arent looking out for you...

5. Pay the fine and learn from this.

Click to expand...

yes. im not going to go off and blame other other people, i realize it is my fault and that this is a lesson. anyways the lesson here is the most important, more than the fine or anything else. i wonder how things would play off differently if i had said no, but im sure they would have found grounds to search me in other ways. but the root of the problems is that i was out somewhere i shouldnt have been. we'll see what happens with this whole procedure, but i thank all of you who read my story and gave me suggestions. maybe this thread will help other in whatever situation they get into.

thanks.

kind of hard to fight something you openly confess to. if you ever find yourself in any kind of situation with the police again, keep your mouth shut!!!!cause thats what got you bagged!

yea seems like you have learnt your lesson go to court maybe the cop wont show u have the right to face your accusor and definaly fight the open container case you could explain that they been there they might drop that charge then u still just got a misdemeanor

been in life for over 30 years.with cops in the family so i no both sides very well.almost everyone i did biz w/ did fed. time.on other side i always liked the cops in my fam. so i do have sympathy for how there thought of.my point is you and you alone are at fault.harsh,huh?well so as you said you puffed they have evry right to search your vechicle,especially if keys were in ignation.open container also almost impoossible to fight also.having said that always get a lawyer!!!!!!!!i know first hand what im talking bout.best of luck and get a fucking lawyer it will actually proably cost less in the long run.

well its not open container on me, its a lesser law that means i had a open container stored in the car. im not sure if i can afford a lawyer for this/or if hiring a lawyer will be cost effective. none of these will land me in jail (thank god california law...) but they will bite my pocket. anyone have any opinions?

informative and stimulating.

ya liv in oakland are student free legal clinic think it mite be worth few hours of your time?good luck,peace an hap. new yr. keep your chin up!!!

and to all a good night.

Puffster said:

ya liv in oakland are student free legal clinic think it mite be worth few hours of your time?good luck,peace an hap. new yr. keep your chin up!!!

Click to expand...

what do you mean? well im here in oakland visiting my family.. i go to school in a major uc up north...maybe i can find some advice there. but im interested whatever is local here too

Does your area have a bottle deposit law? If so, and if you didn't have any unopened beverages in the car also...you could press that they were there because you pick them up for the deposit.
For the smoking, you did admit it and they found it. Sorry about that, but maybe you can get the open container tossed.

smoke the pot then drive the car, but leave the pot at home. i've had cops stop me and take my pot and let me go. shady cheefin fucks. paraphernalia is bad to have too cuz it's an extra charge and they break ur glass.