Legal Question in Criminal Law in Ohio

Juvenile misdemeanor

My son, age 16, was stopped for no light on back plate, officer said when he got to the car he smelled marijuana. He then searched car & all occupants. Was smell enough for probable cause to search? My son was then arrested & charge with 1st degree misdemeanor for cooler of beer that was not his & he did not drink & 4th degree misdemeanor for less than bulk possession of marijuana & parifenalia. He was driver of car. He was in police car while others were questioned & released to their parents with all charges falling on my son. What can we expect as punishment? This is his 1st offense. Do we need an attorney? He wants to talk with detectives & tell them beer was not his & he didn't know it was even in the car until right before they were pulled over when the kid that brought it said something. Shouldn't the other kid be punished for that since my son did not consent? What should we do? need an answer ASAP Thanks


Asked on 1/01/06, 11:39 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Joseph Jacobs Jacobs & Lowder

Re: Juvenile misdemeanor

As a juvenile none of this is serious. It would be nice if in the end there was nothing on his record. In order to achieve that you need to a make a motion at some point for a Heard and Submit. This means the court submits it for a while, asks your son to come back at some future date and if everything has gone well, the case is dismissed entirely - no conviction. This is important because down the line, if your son is ever convicted of a felony (God forbid) that court will know what happened in juvenile court. Juvi records do not go away contrary to public opinion. So it is important to get a good result here. If he didn't know the beer was there, we will need the kid with the beer to own up to it. The smell of marijuana is enough to justify a full search.

call directly if you like:

216.952.1990

joe

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Answered on 1/01/06, 1:36 pm


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