USA - Well they took em. Now what???

[hackeddigit]

So yesterday an officer knocked on my door. I politely answered and he told me my buddies truck was parked illegally and needed to be moved. Well while telling us this information he picked up the sent of the green we had been smoking and started to call for other units. When they arrived they searched my home and discovered my grow of 14 pf jars and two cakes in my FC. They gathered up all my materials and paraphernalia Then had me look at it all and tell them if that was all. They then walked me though the house to do a final check. They told me I would recieve a summons in about a week, and then left. Im still in absolute shock that Im not in a cage right now. Also my dosing scale turned up missing after the search but wasnt with the items the showed me afterward. Im really not sure what is going on at this point. This has been the most painless police confrontation Ive ever had for biggest offense Ive ever had. I could really use some good advice right now cause I'm so stressed I can't even get my thoughts straight. Thanks in advance.

[powerrobbie]

why would you let them into your home if there was no search warrent shown to you...know your rights, you did not have to let them into your home and what they did may even be an illegal search of your home, but im pretty sure if you invited them in then this does not apply.

[0ctavarium]

Seems like a. you consented to a search and got yourself fucked, b. illegal search by police (oh they love those), c. that wasn't police at all and you just got robbed by some random people, d. that was police and they robbed you.

[Nellio]

Originally Posted by 0ctavarium

d. that was police and they robbed you.

LMAO, that's awesome. "Hello sir, this truck is parked illegally...btw, what's that smell?" "All units come to 15 ******** Dr., I smell pot." "Sir, we're going to have to enter your residence and search for drug paraphernalia." "No? Well we're coming in anyways. Ooooo *robs you blind*"

But yeah, just because one police officer smells a little weed, doesn't mean they'd be able to get a warrant signed asap. By the time the police ever got a warrant, someone could have taken care of business inside the house, hiding or whatever. HOWEVER, I have never had this problem nor do I condone this behavior so don't yell at me!

Yes, letting them in was a bad idea but it doesn't change the fact that it's over. Whether your scale was gone or not, I highly doubt they were going to give you your paraphenalia back after the case was heard.

"What's that sir? You were charged with drug junk? We took your stuff? Please, have it back but don't use it for drug related offenses." Excellent.

Don't think I'm cold or that I'm just making a big joke, that blows hard. If that happened to me I'd be crying in a corner. I wish I had some good advice for you, but nothing I could say would help you now. Good luck, I hope things work out, maybe it was illegal and you'll get off scott-free!

[hackeddigit]

Originally Posted by Nellio

LMAO, that's awesome. "Hello sir, this truck is parked illegally...btw, what's that smell?" "All units come to 15 ******** Dr., I smell pot." "Sir, we're going to have to enter your residence and search for drug paraphernalia." "No? Well we're coming in anyways. Ooooo *robs you blind*"

But yeah, just because one police officer smells a little weed, doesn't mean they'd be able to get a warrant signed asap. By the time the police ever got a warrant, someone could have taken care of business inside the house, hiding or whatever. HOWEVER, I have never had this problem nor do I condone this behavior so don't yell at me!

Yes, letting them in was a bad idea but it doesn't change the fact that it's over. Whether your scale was gone or not, I highly doubt they were going to give you your paraphenalia back after the case was heard.

"What's that sir? You were charged with drug junk? We took your stuff? Please, have it back but don't use it for drug related offenses." Excellent.

Don't think I'm cold or that I'm just making a big joke, that blows hard. If that happened to me I'd be crying in a corner. I wish I had some good advice for you, but nothing I could say would help you now. Good luck, I hope things work out, maybe it was illegal and you'll get off scott-free!

Not wanting it back. SWIMs just worried as fuck about an intent to distribute charge. A scale is all it takes no matter what quantities your talking. Someone pocketed it at the scene and it wasn't entered with the rest of the paraphernalia. It simply doesn't exist anymore.

[dadrone]

Originally Posted by hackeddigit

Not wanting it back. SWIMs just worried as fuck about an intent to distribute charge. A scale is all it takes no matter what quantities your talking. Someone pocketed it at the scene and it wasn't entered with the rest of the paraphernalia. It simply doesn't exist anymore.

What exactly is the charge associated with plants?

SWIM received a felony delivery of marijuana charge several years ago and the charge is now expunged because SWIM did not get in trouble again. Expunged meaning... the record shows that the charge was dismissed.

SWIM thought his world was over when this happened as a young man but in all reality, it was completely the opposite. Getting cracked was the absolute best thing that ever happened to SWIM.

[hackeddigit]

Originally Posted by dadrone

What exactly is the charge associated with plants?

SWIM received a felony delivery of marijuana charge several years ago and the charge is now expunged because SWIM did not get in trouble again. Expunged meaning... the record shows that the charge was dismissed.

SWIM thought his world was over when this happened as a young man but in all reality, it was completely the opposite. Getting cracked was the absolute best thing that ever happened to SWIM.

Mind if I ask what state SWIY was in at the time.

hackeddigit added 35 Minutes and 27 Seconds later...

Originally Posted by dadrone

What exactly is the charge associated with plants?

SWIM received a felony delivery of marijuana charge several years ago and the charge is now expunged because SWIM did not get in trouble again. Expunged meaning... the record shows that the charge was dismissed.

SWIM thought his world was over when this happened as a young man but in all reality, it was completely the opposite. Getting cracked was the absolute best thing that ever happened to SWIM.

Oh and they are trying to stick SWIM with felony Class b manufacture of a controlled substance. Even though at the scene they give swim misinformation stating it was a class c felony for manufacture. The Lawyer SWIM spoke with today said there is no substance listed as class c for manufacture.

[dadrone]

SWIY is fucked. But SWIY was fucked either way. People are blasting you for allowing them in SWIY's house but if they smelled it, they can get a search warrant pretty quickly. It's not like SWIY was going to flush all of that stuff, including paraphanelia down the toilet.

That's why SWIM prefers to do drugs alone. He works a fairly visible job for an extremely anti-drug employer. If he does drugs, alone, in his big house in his office... the chances of this type of things are virtually zero. Anybody who lives in an apartment should seriously consider smoking in the bedroom with the vents closed. Sounds crazy but in college, neighbors said they could regularly smell MJ coming from SWIM's apartment.

Now the stakes are higher and SWIM is much more careful.

dadrone added 0 Minutes and 41 Seconds later...

PS - Good luck. Sorry to hear about your misfortune. SWIM has been in that situation himself...

[hackeddigit]

SWIM found a better home for this topic in the legal forums and was wondering if this post could be locked or deleted. Thanks

[fnord]

In the future it might be a good idea to talk to the police threw a window thats only been opened a little bit,a mail slot or better yet,threw a closed door! The scale was probably found and will be in the police reports,ive noticed police get confused and not mentoin finding certian items until they get back and start fill out ther paperwork.

Hopefully your lawyar can maybe work out something with ileagle search and seizure but it seems like you let them in so thats probably not an option anymore. Unless you lie to your lawyer and claim the officer forced entry but then youd probably need proof.

Last time i was ileagle searched it ended up causeing ATF agents to start pulling me out of my jail cell and harrasing me every other day! Jesus all that becuase of my interest in home chemistry...

[Future_Narc_Officer]

The police officer may not have needed a warrant to enter your premises because of the odor of marijuana originating from within. In Canada (I know you're in the US but our legal system is similar so it may be the same in this situation), we have this rule as a successful argument against illegal search and seizure: if items were seized without a warrant but a warrant was likely to have been obtained in that situation anyway, and because the search was conducted to preserve any evidence that could have been easily disposed of, the items seized are "admissible".

[hackeddigit]

SWIM would like to know if there is anyway to edit a post. If not SWIM would like to know if a mod would kindly make edits for him for obvious reasons. SWIM thanks you in advance.

hackeddigit added 27 Minutes and 51 Seconds later...

SWIM would like to know if anyone knows detailed procedure when seizing evidence. Such as bagging and tagging, searching, photos etc. When they took all of SWIM's things none of it was bagged or labeled at the scene. They just took all of SWIM's sterile grow and set in the middle of his dirty floor. Even opening Storage containers and examining the contents without wearing gloves. I mean who knows what kind of microscopic fungus spores are floating around SWIM's house. Considering the evidence seized SWIM would think that sterile seizure and storage technique would be vital to preserving the integrity of the evidence.

[hackeddigit]

SWIM has no criminal history and is feeling very confident about reducing this to a very manageable situation.

[dadrone]

Originally Posted by hackeddigit

SWIM has no criminal history and is feeling very confident about reducing this to a very manageable situation.

SWIM would recommend SWIY sets aside a day to visit with lawyers, at least 3-5.

SWIY may have to spend $50-100 per consultation but in the grand scheme of things, it will very well worth it to make sure SWIY finds a lawyer that is going to aggressively defend SWIY.

[hackeddigit]

Originally Posted by dadrone

SWIM would recommend SWIY sets aside a day to visit with lawyers, at least 3-5.

SWIY may have to spend $50-100 per consultation but in the grand scheme of things, it will very well worth it to make sure SWIY finds a lawyer that is going to aggressively defend SWIY.

Swim has spoken with three and met one in person thus far. SWIM is meeting another tomorrow as well. Maybe it's different around here but most of these lawyers offer a free initial consultation.

[mr. nawtynuff]

Well, hopefully you didn't agree to have the cops inside your home, or even worse give consent to search. Though it doesn't really matter because once he smelled the herb, he had probable cause to do a search regardless. A few suggestions: do some research & if possible seek representation from a former prosecuting attorney for the county or city where this occurred who now does criminal cases, since they have the best chance of taking care of the offense and possibly getting it reduced to a lesser charge and paying a bigger fine; or if you're really lucky getting it thrown out altogether. Obviously enough it goes w\o saying, that this attorney will not be cheap! If a former prosecuting attorney isn't available, best to find an attorney that is known to be a good criminal defense lawyer who has a good track record for defending & winning cases that are similar in nature to those of yours. My other suggestion would be to frequently check the state\county\city court services website for any newly posted charges and warrants that have been put into the system, because if you think they're gonna politely inform you by calling you or send'n out any notification of a legal preceding brought against you by mail prior to the unfortunate day you get arrested for a warrant you didn't even know about; you're sadly mistaken! Trust me, they want this to be the most inconvenient situation for you to deal with; so don't expect a heads up once the city gets around to placing charges against you. Many states have websites where you can frequently check and see if you need to be in court, or turning yourself in so you can post your own bond (on your own time) (which usually can be done at a police clerk window w\o having to be detained, handcuffed, etc.) If you're hoping (just like I was) that they'll forget about you or misplace the report, they don't & won't. It may take some time, but they'll eventually get around to processing the charges and issuing a warrant. So see if any online court info service is available to you or your area and check it frequently. In general show a proactive attitude towards taking care of the case, if asked - express remorse for the laws you broke. Overall, they (the courts) tend to think highly of anyone who is taking responsibility by accepting penalties and proactive in terms of completing sentence, learning from it and moving on. The worse that can happen - getting a public pretender & accepting some form of a highly inconvenient plea bargain punishment (like 4 year supervised probation w\ lots of mandatory community service included along w\ having a personal drug dependence evaluation which determines whether you need counseling as well as all of the ridiculously expensive fee's & fines that have to be paid along the way too). However if you successfully get thru the first half of probation sentence and have paid all fines and completed all community service; you can request early release for showing exemplary behavior (i.e. no problems w\ probation officer, drug testing, maintain employment, completing community service deadlines, staying out of trouble, etc). The only other benefit in using public pretender is that if all probation terms are successfully met, you don't have a felony or misdemeanors on your public record (at least that's how it goes in my state, though most states have similar procedures). And that's about all the advice that I can think to offer, I do hope it might be of some help to you!!
Good luck!! -mr. nawtynuff

[NotImportant]

Without a search warrant they cant do anything. Next time, say no :P

[rocco_blitz]

Just as NotImportant says without a search warrant they got nothing,in youre state swim knows that they have a program for 1st time offenders with no such record involving the items: This program is called a diversion which means if they try to charge you and it they do,swim suggests to plea for a diversion.This means that swiy will have this over their head for 5 yrs,but if swiy gets into no more trouble then its like it never happend and it will be dissmised,Swim has a friemd that the very same damn thing happend to em,they (pigs) enterd his home with no-one there saying neighbors heard a person crying 4 help.Well the not so funny thing about this is the closest neighbor lived over 2 miles away.So they entered without a search warrant and found all sorts of goodies.Well swims friend was arrested and charged,they had been trying to get swims friend for a long time and this was the only thing they could come up with:Illegal search and seizure.Well what they found and what they charged him with was 2 total different things but swims friend wasnt going to say no I had more than that,anyway he felt that his back was up against a wall and didnt want this on his record for job reasons and took the diversion and they dropped the felony after 2 years.Still it sucked for swims friend but the law around in the parts were swims friend lived was and still is corrupt as they normally are,so swims friend fely and for the most part it was the best way out...............................................
"ITS A WAR ON THE PEOPLE NOT A WAR ON DRUGS"

[Raoul duke420]

Well, hopefully you didn't agree to have the cops inside your home, or even worse give consent to search. Though it doesn't really matter because once he smelled the herb, he had probable cause to do a search regardless.

Seriously I'd never answer the door for any piggies for any reason. Talk to them thru the door or window or not at all. Let them leave there card or some shit, never answer the door.

[waytoofertile]

Swim's spouse is sorta dealing with something like this. Swim's sp got pulled over and had a warrent for failure to appear in traffic court. The officer arrested him and asked if he could go turn off the car and lock it. While turning it off he decided to pull the seats forward and dig under mat UNDER seat, nowhere near keys and not visible, well piggie found a spoon w/ some residue, a clean rig, and a clean cotton ball. Decides to research swim's spouse's person for the 4th time looked in pack of cigs and saw some 10-15 pills (Dilaudid). Well, pills were legally prescribed to swim and in swim's state a spouse can carry meds for them as long as there is a current script. We went t court and I had to explain to public defender how to get pills excluded, gave him the bottle, the search as illegal because cop said just turning off car. Well, Prosecutor was Royally Pissed at being outsmarted by wife of accused and having charges dropped so is still trying to make a case. Swim went to get script back and they wouldn't give YET, I think it's "gone" and they are mad because I'm filing papers to have property returned. They had the spoon tested and it came up as diluadid residue and now want swim's spouse to consent to DNA test to see if they can hit him w/ at least paraphanalia charge. Found out that state will not test spoon for DNA w/out sample to compare to and no judge will allow a court order for DNA on a misdemeanor para charge so unless he volunteeers it they are screwed. Attorney said to refuse to cooperate w/ police and prosecutor and if served w/ warrent not to consent until attorney arrives and has read warrent because they can't search home etc. Also, after test for chemical, unlikely they could get dna off even if there was some. The test ruined it, another reason not to give dna, they could say they found it also on spoon, how would anyone know?

Never cooperate without your attorneys say so, and from what you said about not inventorying the evidence, no gloves, etc it sounds like you got jacked. There are alot of crooked cops and they sell half the stuff they confiscate. You'll prob never hear about it again, I hope at least. Get a lawyer, quick. If the cops were legit, unlikely as no immediate arrest, you let them in without a warrant, that's consent to search, always.

Good Luck, "The world is a barn and we only have to be a smarter animal than the pigs" me

[port 21]

Swims friend (an actual friend, not swim) was once raided, and found only a small amount of weed. One particular cop saw a scale, and pocketed it, and put his fingers to his lips and smiled (nice smile, not im gonna fuck you up smile) as if to say "dont worry".

Swim got off without a hitch. He got a warning and was under surveillence for a couple of months. But could have been worse if i sympathetic cop (or a cop that needed some scales, we'll never know) hadnt pocketed the piece of evidence that could have put him away.

Swims friend hasnt touched weed since.
Swim on the other hand has *thumbs up*