Possession of Marijuana in the Detroit Area - The Typical Case
As a Criminal Defense Lawyer, I might otherwise be inclined to note that there really is no "typical case," and that each case is unique. While that's true, there are some things that follow certain patterns, and Possession of Marijuana cases are no different. In this article, we'll talk about one of the more common scenarios leading up to a Possession of Marijuana charge, the Traffic Stop.
In my 20 years of handling Marijuana cases, I have probably seen a "Possession" charge in every imaginable circumstance. For all of that, however the most common situation involves a Traffic Stop.
We will not be focusing much on the legality of the Traffic Stop itself; that would involve writing a big, fat, legal textbook rather than a Blog article. For our purposes, understand that as a Defense Lawyer, I always look to see if there are grounds to reasonably, successfully challenge the Traffic Stop. If so, then that's an option. In most cases, however, the reality of the situation is that the Judge isn't going to listen to the Police Officer testify as to his or her reason for pulling you over, and then say something like "that's baloney...this case is DISMISSED!"
The typical call in my Office is from someone who got pulled over for one reason or another, and was found with weed. Most of my Clients have no prior drug record, but a fair share of them do have a prior conviction. In either case, the Client wants, first and foremost, to avoid any Jail time.
This is were I can get a little angry about some of the things I hear. When I hear, for example, from someone who has no prior convictions, and they tell me they're calling around for a Lawyer, and that one or another with whom they've spoken has told them that they'll keep them out of Jail, I get mad. Not because I think there's any chance of them going to Jail, but because I know, right off the bat, that the person is almost certainly NOT going to Jail, and that kind of scare-tactic sales pitch is, well, baloney.
That's about as accurate and honest as a Dentist finding a cavity and telling the Patient "I can fill that, and this way your brain won't swell up and your skull won't explode." It was never going to happen, anyway. Ditto for Jail in a first offense weed case.
In fact, in 20 years and countless weed cases, I honestly cannot ever recall a single Client in a first offense Possession case going to Jail, or even coming close to it, for that matter.
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