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 VA-Simple possession charge? |
| Drug Charges |
Virginia-Hanover County
I was pulled at a sobriety checkpoint back at the beginning of July and the officer smelling marijuana asked me if he could search my car and I complied and he found under a gram of marijuana and some paraphenalia and wrote me a traffic ticket for it. At the court date I pled no contest and was given a fine and suspended my license for six months. I was wondering what else was going to happen if anything? From what the arresting officer told me, being my first offense I would be given the option of taking classes and doing community service in order to take it off my record once I was done with all of the requirements but when the judge convicted me all he said was he giving me was a fine and suspending my license for six months. I was under the impression I'd be able to get it expunged from my record, and that if I were to be charged in Virginia again for possession that it would come back. Am I not required to do community service and drug classes currently? And is there any way that I can get it taken off my record?
Thank you.
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| double jeopardy |
| Other Crimes – Federal and State |
| My fiance was charged in ohio last week and is serving 6 months. 6 years ago he had a charge in West Virginia. I looked up his DOC number, and his offender information cameup. and his status is "paroled to other state" meaning he has no parole officer in WV. He has one in Ohio for that charge. But WV is trying to revoke his parole. And my friend who has delt with these kind of sitsuations told me they CANNOT do that and that if they try and do, we can take them to court for double jeopardy because he is not paroled in WV, he is in Ohio. and it is up to his Ohio parole officer whether or not they revoke his parole. But he already had his sentencing court date. He was giving 6 months. I am wondering how the laws work on that and if indeed WV cannot touch him.
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| Mentally ill son charged with DWI |
| Drunk Driving / DUI / DWI |
Can someone be forced to take a blood test after blowing a 0.016 at a sobriety check point then 0 at the police station?
This happened to my son in Alexandria, VA. During all this, I was in contact with the officer who told me he asked for a blood test because even though my son passed a breathalyser, he seemed incoherent and had told the officer he takes prescription medication for a mental illness. I explained to the officer that me son acts extremelly nervous and paranoid when in pressure situations. So now it seems that if my son did something stupid like taking some kind of drug earlier in the week, and the blood test comes back positive, he will likely be convicted, ruining his and his families lives even more. I can't even begin to add the comedy of errors including the fact that he was also incorrectly charged with driving on a suspended license and how much money this has cost me, Impounded car etc
Additional information
My son was charged with the DUI pending the results of the Blood Test. At the advisory hearing a court date of Oct 19 was set. The officer told me that if the blood test comes back negative, the charge goes away. So as it stands it seems he has been charged based on the officer's suspicion of illegal drug use and his supposed training in recognizing behaviour in line with drug use. I wonder if the officer has ever been trained to recognize paranoid behaviour typical of a mentally ill person who passes a breathylizer yet is held in custody with absolutely no physical evidence. Why wouldn't they wait until the blood test comes back before deciding on a charge?
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| Possession charge, pleaded guilty, valid prescription, Inadequate Info public defende |
| Drug Charges |
The entire story is too long to post and assuming you'd rather not read a book I'll try to break it down...
In 2007 I pleaded guilty to possession of a controlled substance, 18.2-250. Though I had a valid prescription, they were in my pocket, not the original bottle (had valid bottle in back of car). The reason I took the plea was ONLY because I had served 23 days on the original charge in which I was not guilty of (Accessorie to a robbery), had a 2 month old son at home and detective gaurenteed me I would do jail time if I did not take the plea.
I had a public defender whom had a reputation of getting her client's in more trouble than originally in. She knew I was adament about not having a felony on my record as was the detective. The day of my trial I was indicted on conspiracy and possession. Therefore, my trial was continued since I now had 3 charges to face. I was not taking any plea's offered and was prepared to fight all 3 charges. However, my attorney was clearly trying to get me to take a plea.
When I arrived at court for my trial for all 3 charges they offered me one last plea and promised I would not walk out of that court room if I did not take it. The plea agreement was...
I plead guilty to a (misdemeanor) possession charge Sch 2
6 months jail, 6 months suspended, suspend drivers license 6 mo, not to get in trouble for 3 years and cooperate w/ sherriffs dept and F.B.I w/ an ongoing investigation.
the conspiracy and accessorie to a robbery charge would be nolle prosequi.
I assumed a simple possession charge wouldn't hurt my record much. I wasn't aware that it was a felony and "amended to misdemeanor". Nor was I aware that regardless of whether or not it was a felony it would still effect my background all the same. I believe both the detective and public defender had a good idea of why I didn't want to be a felon. Knowing this, I feel almost as if I was tricked into taking a plea and not provided adequate information.
I wasn't aware of the seriousness of the charge until I began applying to several jobs I was more than qualified for and receiving no response. They were mostly government jobs and required a background check. I then looked into the possession charge and found all consequenses. I also did some research and found va code 18.2-250.1 provides that a person cannot be prosecuted if have valid prescription/ valid doctor (I did). I also found that 18.2-251 provides for the defferal/ dismissal of this charge provided person complys with requirements of court and has no prior criminal record (I don't). However, this was never mentioned by anyone. It was not an option. I suppose the judge wanted it to stick with me for life.
I wrote the judge asking for him to afford me the oppurtunity to have the charge dismissed and that I had no problem complying with any requirement's of court. He simply stamped date received and wrote: "Rule 1:1: the court does not have jurisdiction to consider this request." Since, I've been trying to figure out how and what to do because I feel it was not fair of him to at least notify me about the deferral/ dismissal statute, even if he wasn't going to allow me to comply I feel I should have been aware. I don't know where to go from here. I cannot get a lawyer to speak with me, not even public defender. I will fight this charge/ conviction myself and will not stop if it takes me til' the day I die. However, if someone could at least guide me on what I should do it would be appreciated more than you know!
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| Restricted License & ability to accompany a driver with learner's permit |
| Drunk Driving / DUI / DWI |
I don't know if this is the right forum but I have a restricted license as a result of a DUI. My son will be getting his learner's permit this afternoon if he passes. The law in Virginia says this:
"A. ...when accompanied by any licensed driver 21 years of age or older or by his parent or legal guardian, or by a brother, sister, half-brother, half-sister, step-brother, or step-sister 18 years of age or older. The accompanying person shall be (i) alert, able to assist the driver, and actually occupying a seat beside the driver or, for motorcycle instruction, providing immediate supervision from a separate accompanying motor vehicle and (ii) lawfully permitted to operate the motor vehicle or accompanying motorcycle at that time.
My license is restricted through April of next year. I can drive for my 1st job & I can drive for side job as an independent sales rep - both between hours of 6:30am and 9:30pm M-Sat and 11am-5pm on Sunday, I can also drive my child to and from school, to and from his dad's house or a meeting place inbetween, to and from his grandparent's house for care/supervision. My question: Can I be one of the adult drivers that accompanies him when he is driving? The way I read it is that I can so long as the driving is for purposes outlined on my restricted license. Is that correct? How do you interpret this? I can't find anything that specifically says anything about whether the supervising driver can't have a restricted license. Thanks for your help.
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| This has to be illegal for police! |
| Other Crimes – Federal and State |
| A disorderly conduct ticket for flipping off a cop who was waiting for speeders. He actually pulled me over and gave me a ticket. What happened to free speech? How should I fight this? Take it to federal court? Sue the cop? Should I just fight the ticket by admitting what I did and telling the judge that it's called free speech under the first amendment to the United States constitution, which is superior to any Virginia law?
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| Problems |
| Other Crimes – Federal and State |
| I'm having a problem with the same charges in a way. When I was 19 my father broke into a house and stole 47,000 dollars worth of stuff. Well when he was caught he told the cops it was me, but all I did was dropped him off at the house. (He told me a friend of his lived there and that he was visiting him.) This happened in VA, A month after he had done this me and my fiance had moved to SC at the time. Well when he told the cops that it was me, 6 bounty hunter came to my house, tazzed me, and locked me up for something I didn't do. I spend 17 months locked up for this B.S. They said that I was being charged with burglary (Day dwelling With the intent to commit larceny) & Grand Larceny. Well My Final Court Case came up and the Burglary got dropped to unlawful entry, and the grand larceny was dropped to a non prossi. Now What is happening now is my new fiance and I were watching her parents house while they were out of town, and on one of the days we were there when we left she left the door unlocked while we were gone. we were gone for about 6-8 hours. Now we didn't know but someone went into the house while we were gone and stole alot of jewelry and other small miscellaneous items. we didn't notice that anything was gone because we couldn't tell. Well her parents came back and noticed the stuff missing out of were it belongs, and is trying to blame me for the stuff missing. Now if I ended up being charge with yet another grand larceny and burglary charge for something that I didn't do, exactly how much time will I have to serve for this?
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| Interstate Compact & out-of-state parole violations |
| Sentencing / Parole / Pardons / Plea Bargains |
| My Fiance is on Parole in Wisconsin and in West Virginia. We live in Ohio. Last year he was in a bar where there were underage girls drinking. And of course lying about their age. My fiance was not aware they were underage. And got a felony 4. He took a plea in Ohio that was 6 months ran concurrent with his parole violations in Wisconsin, and in West Virginia. Wisconsin does not want to revoke his parole. But West virginia is taking their time on making their decision. I told told that West Virginia has up to 90 days from the time of his sentencing in Ohio to make their decision. I'm not sure if its true or not. That is what I am wondering. Also I need to know the laws on interstate compact for ohio and west virginia. So that along with the amount of time West virginia has to make their decision on whether or not they are going to revoke his parole or not.
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| Open Container in Public (JMU, Harrisonburg, VA) |
| Other Crimes – Federal and State |
I was visting JMU for their Fall block party and was cited for an open container when I walked off the side walk into the road to avoid a crowd of people. Here is the thing...
I am currently under alcoholic probation for a DUI I had in November of 2008 (my probation ends on November 16th, 2009). I am 23 years-old and since my DUI conviction I have not consumed any alcohol and have been attending AA classes almost weekly. I was at JMU with my two other friends, who were also busted by two other officers at the same time I was. They were splitting a case of beer and both had opened beer cans in their hands. I was NOT drinking and had Ginger Ale in a red cup (I know this sounds completely fabricated, but I'm telling the truth).
Not knowing what was happening, I saw my two friends in front of my get taken down by two officers, so I initially jumped back on to the curb, just to get off the road. Within in seconds, I was pulled from behind back into the road and my cup fell from my hand (Again, how convenient... I know).
My officer did NOT ask if I was drinking, he didn't smell my breath, or look for my cup. He also NEVER gave me a breathalyzer test or asked me to do a sobriety test. The only thing he asked was , what type of beer I had in my cup? And I responded, "I don't know?" I was told by my DUI lawyer that if I was EVER in trouble again, even if I was completely innocent, not to say anything until the court date.
Anyway, given the circumstances, I was busted for a class four misdemeanor (open container in public) Not a VA Law but a city ordinance citation; which does break my probation, if I am convicted. I am clearly innocent, but remain nervous about how the judge may react to my case. I have talked to a few lawyers, but they only want my money and don't really care about my story. I want to try and fight this myself since I know I am not guilty and honestly do not have the funds for a lawyer.
my question is... Should I hire a cheap local lawyer or would I be alright fighting this myself? Sorry for the long post. Thanks for any responses.
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| 1st offense Grand Larceny charge... |
| Sentencing / Parole / Pardons / Plea Bargains |
| I am a 22 yr old college student. i am worried because my boyfriend and father of my 2 month old son was caught stealing in Macy's. He's never done anything like this before and doesn't have a record. He was under pressure to provide for us for christmas since I couldnt work, go to school and deal with a newborn this semester. He told me the merchandise was valued at around $300 which in virginia is grand larceny. We are extremely stressed because we know this can carry a jail/prison sentence. He is the pri**** supporter of our family and if he is convicted my son and I will have no where to go and I couldn't finish school. Also we are worried about his future becasue he's graduating with a BA in Accounting and we know something like this can ruin his chances for a career. We are wondering if he could be given probation or community service. And if so is there anyway this can be cleared from his record?
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