defending drug possession charges under GA criminal code/procedure

Winder, GA Viewed 104 times. Posted 11 months ago in Criminal Defense

Arrest: My friend was stopped on his way home from his surveying job. He had been in the field and as usual had his gun because he works in wood and overgrown areas so he takes it with him for protection. While on the job he was working by a river that I guess is an area used by people to go and do drugs. He found what he thought was a pipe (he is always finding things while he surveys) it had some kind of brown stuff in it and he tried to shake it out. He showed it to the other guys working with him and then he stuck it in his pocket. On the way home the police stopped him while he was driving. He had taken the pipe out of his pocket and put it beside him in the car. The police saw the pipe and then searched his car. The found the gun also. The arrested him and charged him with possession (there was trace drugs found in the pipe). They also charged him with having the gun ( it was not concealed). He does not have the money (surveying is not good business right now) to hire a lawyer and the public defender is in charge of his case. The public defender has given him no advice and will barely talk to him except to ask him if wants to plea. They did not do a drug test and he only touched the pipe with his hands. He feels is being railroaded and he cannot afford to pay his bills right now much less pay a fine or for a lawyer. Do you have any advice? This is wrong and he is being treated as if he is guilty not innocent even by the defense attorney. What should he do? He is very upset and feels like he doen't have any choices. - Is this your question? Add additional information

Answers (2)

John M. Kaman

This attorney is licensed in California. Posted 11 months ago.

Your friend should be careful about what he picks up and takes home. What if he had found a used hypodermic needle? Would he have saved that too. As it is it sounds like he found a meth pipe. The fact that it was visible in the car gave the police the right to search the car. They can charge him with whatever they found there that's illegal. He's not getting screwed; if his story is true he did something stupid. His public defender will help him eventually.

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James Wrixam McIlvaine

This attorney is licensed in Georgia. Posted 10 months ago.

Your friend needs to be more proactive about meeting with his public defender. Although most are skilled and able advocates - they have overwhelming caseloads and the squeaky wheel gets the grease, i.e. He needs to set up an appointment with his attorney as soon as possible.

I agree with counsel that what your friend did was pretty foolish. However, I am more interested in what you left out of the above fact scenerio. What were the circumstances of the stop? Your friend needs to think about everything that happened, specifically: why was he stopped by police. He needs to meet with his attorney and tell him the circumstances of the stop. It is often the case that there is something wrong with the stop, that it constituted illegal police action, and regardless of what your friend had in his vehicle - the evidence will be suppressed.

However, if the stop was lawful - then it will be pretty tough to convince a jury that your friends story is true. The jury will have to take his word for it - and that is an awful lot to risk. However, it sounds like he may have witnesses that will testify to the veracity of his statement that he found the pipe surveying. His attorney will be able to advise him of the best course of action, but he can't wait until court to talk to him - the public defender will likely have to much going on in court to adequately go over everything with him. Make sure he sets up an appointment as soon as possible to discuss everything and all of his options. If he wants to go to trial no matter what - make sure he tells his attorney that - then he won't be asked whether he will take a plea again. Most defendants like to have options, whether guilty or not; and it is his attorney's duty to get the best plea offer for him and then recommend a course of action - trial or plea. Sometimes, even when someone is innocent - they will choose to enter a plea because the risk of losing at trial is great - that is why options are important and the choice should be an educated one. Ultimately, only the client can decide what choice he will make.