Legal Help: Posession with Intent

[jay_dub]

Guys,


I'm in a bind here, cops showed up at my apartment recently (for reasons that had nothing to do with me) looking for my roommate and with a search warrant. Anyway, I had bought in bulk awhile back which was stashed in my room. Of course it was found (huge surprise to them) and now I'm federally fucked (literally). Piggies told me it was no longer a state issue but a federal offense since I still had an envelope which was addressed from overseas. If anyone knows what I should do next, please give me some advice. I really am lost on what I can do for myself here. I'm about to graduate college and have my whole life ahead of me.

Mods I apologize if this is inappropriate, but as you can imagine, I'm desperate here.

 

[Diesel1981]

Google search Attorney Rick Collins.... He is out of NY.


Good luck..

 

[Chuckblonde]

Don't talk before you get a laywer, everything you say can and WILL be used against you. Even saying something sarcastic like "Yea sure you did" will hurt your case.

 

[PsyT]

definitely get a very good lawyer...perhaps there is a loophole here they can find. Sometimes the type of warrant issued will affect what they can charge you for.

 

[jay_dub]

Thanks for the replies thus far.

So the next problem is this, I'm a broke as hell college student. How would I hire a good lawyer if I can barely make ends meet as it is?

 

[whatsupfister]

fed. charges wont stand unless u admitted to them the gear was in the envelope, or if the gear was in the envelope when they found it. There is a lot of legal loopholes when it comes to warrants, and roommates, and shit like that. What state are u in? I can better assist you. And also go get loans, borrow money, anything...u can not afford to not have a good lawyer, dont play games with a public defender.

 

[kmasterflex]

when it comes to warrents they can only search common area's of you and your room mates so if the warrent was not for you they should not have searched your room only common areas you both use such as bathroom kitchen living room and his room who ever the warrent if for now if the come in and something they can see out it the open they can get you for say your door was open and they see some pot on your bed they can get you for that for prob cause hope this helps and makes sence

 

[whatsupfister]

when it comes to warrents they can only search common area's of you and your room mates so if the warrent was not for you they should not have searched your room only common areas you both use such as bathroom kitchen living room and his room who ever the warrent if for now if the come in and something they can see out it the open they can get you for say your door was open and they see some pot on your bed they can get you for that for prob cause hope this helps and makes sence

bump: this is the law man, if they convinced you they had the right to search your room they didnt, and it wont stand up in court.

The police may search your apartment if the person in charge of the premises gives permission. If you and your roommate share common areas (such as the kitchen and living room), your roommate can authorize a search of those areas. But your roommate cannot give permission to search your separate bedroom.

Similarly, your landlord cannot give permission to search your apartment. Although the landlord owns the property, your monthly check guarantees your privacy at home. This is true even if you are behind in your rent or your landlord has sued to evict you. Until the landlord has a court order that permits him to enter and retake the premises, he cannot enter without your permission. (But keep in mind that many states allow a landlord to enter for inspections, which usually require advance notice of a day or two.) If the police can point to circumstances that would justify immediate entry, however -- such as the sound of a ferocious fight or the smell of burning marijuana -- they may enter without permission from anyone.

 

[PsyT]

take out a loan to pay for the lawyer

try to get student loan possibly...if you can't get that right away take out a loan from your bank and then take out subsidized student loans as soon as possible to repay the bank loan (which will no doubt be higher percentage rate than student loan).

 

[ericraven2003]

Thanks for the replies thus far.

So the next problem is this, I'm a broke as hell college student. How would I hire a good lawyer if I can barely make ends meet as it is?

Sell something or go to your parents. When It happened to me back in 94' I sold my motorcylce to get a good lawyer. It was hard but it saved me jail time and it never ended up on my record.

 

[617ricky]

Even if you can't afford a good lawyer, call one up and explain exactly what happened.. He'll at least let you kno if the search was legit.. I've heard of TONS of cases where charges get thrown out from searches, and the fact the warrant was supposedly for your roommate helps your case.. Hopefully you didn't already admit to anything on the record, cuz the cops will still try to scare you into talking in a case like this, threatening you with crazy shit, even tho they may kno that the charges are weak.. Just call up or better yet go see a lawyer - they'll at least talk to you..

 

[pesty4077]

I done some dumb things in my life. The only thing that stopped me from serving time is a good Lawyer. Get a good lawyer immediatley and don't say nothing more to anyone. Best thing you can do is keep quiet about this. If you don't have priors, this is posession case, not what they are trying to tell you. Most times, you will get probation, if your Lawyer is good. Wishing you the best.

 

[Thick1]

The LEOs had to leave a copy of the search warrant, look at the scope of the search. It seems the officers went beyond the scope of the search making all the evidence inadmissable in court and any and all information gained from that point is also tainted and not admissable.

Do not answer questions if anyone speaks to you advise them that you want a lawyer present.

 

[Johnny Thrust]

This doesnt make any sense to me. Were you arrested and charged? Did they read you your rights? Did you get a free ride to the local jailhouse where you would have been booked on charges of possession? Did you post bail? Where are you now? It seems that whenever people ask these types of legal questions the self proclaimed attorneys come crawling out of the woodwork with ridiculous mis-information. Lets make one point absolutely clear about warrants. Things are not like they used to be in the "good ol days" folks. Lets say a warrant is issued for pot and they search your dwelling for pot. In the process of searching for the pot they find an ounce of coke. Do you honestly think that you are not going to be charged with possession of coke just because it wasnt named on the warrant? YOU WILL be charged with anything illegal that turns up regardless to the facts stated on the warrant. Think about it. If your dwelling is full of stolen property are the cops just gonna leave it there and say "oh well". This fact is clearly illustrated when someone gets pulled over on a traffic stop. The cop pulled you over for speeding but when he walked up to your car he saw drugs in the ashtray. Do you honestly think hes gonna let you go on the drugs ? Im not trying to start an arguement here but I know from experience that when law enforcement finds something illegal whether you or the items in question are named on the warrant, someone is going to get charged with it. In more cases than not they will charge all parties involved. Everyone in the dwelling can get charged whether they had a hand in it or not. Guilt through association.

 

[Massive G]

Everyone in the dwelling can get charged whether they had a hand in it or not. Guilt through association.

Very true. In college a girlfreind of mine was riding with a bunch of freinds in a car they borrowed from someone's brother, they got pulled for speeding and the car was searched and the cops found a 4 roaches in the ashtray.
All 4 girls got arrested and charged and had records because of it.

 

[Johnny Thrust]

bump: this is the law man, if they convinced you they had the right to search your room they didnt, and it wont stand up in court.

The police may search your apartment if the person in charge of the premises gives permission. If you and your roommate share common areas (such as the kitchen and living room), your roommate can authorize a search of those areas. But your roommate cannot give permission to search your separate bedroom.

Similarly, your landlord cannot give permission to search your apartment. Although the landlord owns the property, your monthly check guarantees your privacy at home. This is true even if you are behind in your rent or your landlord has sued to evict you. Until the landlord has a court order that permits him to enter and retake the premises, he cannot enter without your permission. (But keep in mind that many states allow a landlord to enter for inspections, which usually require advance notice of a day or two.) If the police can point to circumstances that would justify immediate entry, however -- such as the sound of a ferocious fight or the smell of burning marijuana -- they may enter without permission from anyone.

This is NOT fact my friend. A warrant is issued against an address. Not a specific room in that address. The warrant will name the person or persons involved, what they are suspected of having or doing, and of course name the address to be searched. I seriously doubt that you will ever see a warrant that states "Warrant issued to search premises but only the bedroom of Joe Blow, and common areas that might be shared with Joe Blow's room mate". Law enforcement does not care who sleeps where or who uses what bathroom. Once something illegal was found , the ENTIRE unit became fair game for law enforcement to execute the search. If I am incorrect on this please correct me by presenting facts. Im not here to argue but rather to help people in these situations by giving them straight answers to their questions. Also, Management is notified when warrants are to be served on a tenant, once you are charged with anything ILLEGAL that you were doing in your apartment, Management can and usually will evict you. Read your lease. It is a violation of your lease to use that unit for illegal activities.

 

[BiggJuicy]

I have been in a few legal binds in the past bro. Just remember not to incriminate yourself. Don't tell them anything except for your name. If you can't afford an attorney then you will get a public defender. Sometimes they are good sometimes they don't give a shit. Either way you are going to want to spend a lot of time in a legal library doing some research. Any time you come across any type of law concerning this shit, talk about it with your attorney(public defender) so you that you understand it better. If you come across anything that you think might help your case then take that to the defender also. They will probably approach you with several plea bargains. If it is not something you are willing to do then don't feel pressured to sign. Even if your public defender advises you to he may just be sick of defending you and not feel like going to trial. Fight it for all your worth bro. Now a days if you get a criminal record it will probably stick for life. I don't know of any people that have actually had their records sealed. Your college education will be useless with a criminal record also bro. I have a record from 8 years ago and it still fucks me every day. Went to college for 6 years and can't even use it.

Oh and like some of these dudes said, the possesion with intent won't stick bro. IT will be drasticaly reduced by the time you either plea-bargain or go to trial.

 

[Tyrone]

Were you arrested and/or questioned...Have you actually been charged...Are you out on bail...Are you using the same hd and cpu they'd prob. confinscate...What are you using right now for board access???

This story does not yet have hardly any info to be considered credible or help us to help you...other than to tell you to zip it and retain a good lawyer, no matter the cost...If this is all true, hit up Rick Collins and he'll point ya in the right direction.

 

[BigCracker]

Based on what little 411 is given, all I can say is talk to a lawyer.

However, I can tell you that the outcome of your case will depend largely on how much you spoke/cooperated with L.E. My guess is you told them something like "yeah, it's my gear but I swear I'm not a bad person. I'm about to graduate from college." If this is the case, the plea bargain you get offered won't be that great because you admitted guilt. Now if you said "I've never seen that gear in my life. I want a lawyer." you would have a better chance of getting the case thrown out or a plea bargain that you could live with. I don't care how obvious it is that you are lying to the cops, you stick with your story that you've never seen the stuff before and ask for a lawyer. This way it all has to be proven in court-which costs a lot more to prosecute when you haven't already admitted guilt yourself. The more expensive the cost to the prosecutor, the better plea bargain you will likely get offered.

 

[Huge_C2]

take out a loan to pay for the lawyer

try to get student loan possibly...if you can't get that right away take out a loan from your bank and then take out subsidized student loans as soon as possible to repay the bank loan (which will no doubt be higher percentage rate than student loan).

This would be a good idea if banks were not all on a lending freeze... Private student loans or parents or family but you nee a lawyer bad!!