Legal Question in Criminal Law in Pennsylvania

My son (18) was charged with possession/use of marijuana, possession/use of drug paraphernalia in PA. He was never arrested but was questioned by the police officer, so we were surprised to receive a certified letter from the court, stating these charges. He was with 3 other kids and when the police officer patted each of them down, he found a small amount of marijuana and a pipe on 1 of the kids (not my son), but none was found on the rest of them. But according to the police report, my son "admitted" that he threw the pipe on the ground right before the police officer approached them. My son said the kid that had marijuana on him told the police officer that they were his. Also according to my son, only the kid that the marijuana and pipe were found on him and my son received the court summons but not other 2 kids who were also patted down and questioned by the police officer.

My question is that can he just plead not guilty because the police officer did not find any marijuana on him (according to the police report)? or do we need to retain an attorney to handle this situation?


Asked on 12/07/11, 4:17 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Joseph Alexander Paletta Law Office of Joseph A. Paletta, Esq.

Good Morning:

First, you should instruct your son that he should NOT speak to anyone about this besides his attorney. Second, it is very important that you contact an attorney immediately to discuss this. If he already has a court date, he needs to meet with someone as soon as possible so that his attorney can have enough time to prepare his case.

Our office handles matters such as these very often. If you are in or around the Allegheny County, Butler County, Washington County or Westmoreland County areas please contact us immediately and we can scheduled a time for you and your son to have your free initial consultation. You should bring with you all of the paperwork you have in addition to jotting down or alteast having the other children's names fresh in your head so we can do a docket check to see if anything has been filed against them and if so, what.

This is a serious matter and you should not wait to talk to an attorney.

Thank you,

Joseph A. Paletta, Esq / ap

WWW.PITTSBURGHCRIMINALLAWFIRM.COM

412.391.7999

[email protected]

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Answered on 12/08/11, 8:20 am


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