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Public Defender or Attorney?
Ok, so I am a 19 year old college student who was arrested in RI last week for possession of Marijuana.
I was pulled over, told the cop I had nothing on me when I did, and he found it. I have court in a few days and was wondering which would be the more intelligent course.
The officer did not read me my rights, they didn't feed me in jail (was there 12am-12noon), and looked through my trunk (Jeep Cherokee) without permission.
My friend told me if I just had a public defender and plead guilty, they were MUCH more likely to take it easy on me.
What should I do?
Apparently I was pulled over for speeding. It's a main 4 lane road, but it has a lot of high traffic branch roads so the limit is 25 and I was doing 35 with traffic. he said to me "why were you going so fast?" I answered with I didnt realize I was going fast and that's the last I heard about speeding until the next morning when I posted bail and he gave me my 2 tickets. Possession and Speeding.
Class A misdemeanor and I had a quarter ounce, scale, grinder, bowl.
5 Answers
- jsmack19Lv 61 decade agoFavorite Answer
Publics Defenders are Attorneys, if you can afford a private attorney go for it.
What's the rest of the story? Why did you get pulled over?
The way you tell it, it does not sound like he had reasonable suspicion, get a private attorney is possible.
- 1 decade ago
We will start from the beginning.
The officer did not have to read you miranda, since you said there was nothing illegal in the car.
When you are arrested, they automatically have the right to search the vehicle -- they must make an inventory of what is in the vehicle.
Did you have more or less than an ounce of MJ? are they charging you with a class B or class A misdemeanor? and is this your first time?
Some states still allow PIA (Plea in Abeyance) for MJ. do not know if RI does. This is a guilty plea held for an amount of time (6 - 12 mo) if you do not get into any trouble they will dismiss the case. They could also do this for the speeding as long as you have no other violations.
IF it is more than an ounce - Public Defender time
IF charging class B - you wont get anything better than that. like I said they did not need to read miranda since you said there was nothing.
Ask about PIA
- Mildred SLv 61 decade ago
YOU MUST GET AN ATTORNEY. This is serious / can affect your employment in the future and your legal record. Borrow money / work out a payment plan / do whatever you must do to get a proper attorney to help. You may be able to go to court on the first appearance and ask the judge for time to continue the court case until you can get an attorney. I would take this serious. Good Luck to you.
- 1 decade ago
Get a real attorney, public defenders for the most part are PD`s= public dump trucks. Their more about #`s than anything else.
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- Killer QueenLv 71 decade ago
All the rest is moot. If they had reason to suspect you, they had a right to search your vehicle. If it were me and I could afford it, I would hire a lawyer. In my opinion only a few PDs work very hard for the accused.
