Legal Question in Criminal Law in Florida

i was riding my bicycle and i found a bag of clothes and other items in the garbage and picked it up to take home and go thru and on my way home i was pulled over by a polk county sheriff for not having a visible safety light. the officer searched the bag i had found and found a controlled substance and charged me with poss of controlled substance but did not issue me a ticket for the light. if she didn't find the pill on me and didn't charge me for the reason she stopped me, do i have a chance to beat the charge?


Asked on 5/06/12, 3:40 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Eric Trabin Lucid Legal, PLLC

A much better area to explore is how the officer searched the bag. Generally, the police must have a warrant or consent to search a closed bag under the "suitcase" or "backpack" rule.

The fact that the officer didn't give you a ticket for the light is irrelevant. The pill not being on you is helpful as the state must prove constructive possession since you didn't have actual possession. The difficulty will be in establishing some evidence that shows you didn't know the pill was in there. While the state must prove you did, they will argue it was your bag and therefore the pill inside was yours too.

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Answered on 5/07/12, 3:44 am


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