Legal Question in Criminal Law in Virginia

I was at school one day and me and a couple of my buddies decided to smoke some weed before we went into school. We went in and got to our classrooms and a cop pulled me out of class. He pulled me into the hallway and told me that i wreaked of marijuana and that I smelled of it and told me to tell him the truth if I smoked it or not. I told him that I did and he carried me to the office and informed the assistant principle and asked me if he could search my car, I said yes and he went out and searched my car. After he was finished, he questioned me about whose it was and where I got it. I said that it was mine and I got it from a random guy off the street. He then took me back into the office and waited for my parents to come. When my father arrived, the cop took us out to my car to gather what he thought was marijuana leaves. He took them to get tested and he called the next week and said that I had been charged with possession. My mom asked him if the leaves were marijuana and he said the possession charge was for admitting to smoking it and smelling of it. I just recieved the court letter saying I had a petition was filed against me. If i did not have any physical evidence on me then should this even be a charge against me, aslo i am 16 years old going on 17. Please help me


Asked on 1/29/10, 1:02 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Michael Hendrickson Law Office Michael E. Hendrickson

Yes, the fact that you admitted to possessing and smoking this marijuana to this cop would be enough for what the law calls probable cause to file a criminal possession charge against you in the local J&DR;Court. Your mistake was agreeing to talk with the officer and to make these admissions and to allow him to search your vehicle, when you could've simply refused and told him that you would first need to see an attorney.

Now you will really need to see an attorney regarding the petition that has apparently been filed against you.

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Answered on 2/05/10, 12:39 pm


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