The Marijuana Wasn't Mine!
Posted on Oct 17, 2014 9:19am PDT
All too often
clients call me and say, "The marijuana wasn't mine"! And really,
it wasn't. The problem is, police officers and prosecutors hear this
claim of innocence everyday and simply dismiss it as untrue. They cite
to "constructive possession" and arrest everyone "if nobody
claims it." Well, the last time I checked, police officers have a
duty NOT to arrest innocent people. And prosecutors have a duty to administer
justice, not simply seek convictions.
My friends are
police officers. And very good police officers, I might add. The problem rests with those
other officers who don't know what to do when there are drugs in the
car and nobody claims it. Rather than perform some deductive reasoning
(Person A was in the front seat, the drugs were found in the front seat,
therefore Person A had to be in possession of the drugs), they arrest
everyone at the scene and "let the court figure it out." Not cool.
As if
busy prosecutors don't have enough to do, they are now tasked with this convoluted
fact pattern that has little or no investigative support. Did the officer
actually interview everyone to determine who possessed the marijuana,
or simply ask everyone to incriminate themselves? Are there facts in the
report to support possession by everyone? Unfortunately, the prosecutors
do not have enough time to do anything other than read the police report…written
by the police officer who arrested you…and attempt to punish you.
Do you think anyone will believe your side of the story, or even have
the time to listen? Nope.
I've seen the devastating effects that a
wrongful conviction can have on a person and their family. Just perform a Google search with
the words "wrongful conviction" and thousands of articles are
available for your viewing pleasure. Most of those people were just in
the wrong place, at the wrong time. Unfortunately, their entire lives
changed and nobody stood up for them until an appeal commenced.
I went to school to become a lawyer, because I wanted to help people. Whether I was a
prosecutor and put bad people in jail, or I am a defense attorney and help people
with their problems. It's what I do. It's who I am.
The next time you say or hear someone else say "the marijuana wasn't
mine,"
call me. I'd like to know whose it was, and help you achieve justice.
Cumming , Dahlonega , and North Georgia representation.