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Re: [at-l] drugs...
kahlena wrote:
>
> William D. Odaix wrote:
> >
> > hey waldo,
> >
> > I think of it more as guilt by association...
> > if someone does drugs, say at a shelter,
> > & law enforcement were to come & make an arrest,
> > most likely the whole crew (those innocent, those against, those those
> > neutral, those who don't care, those for but not doing) everybody would go to
> > jail...
>
> Hiall,
> I've been trying to find the thread for this discussion, but it seems
> my ISP is losing my e-mail again.
>
> If there any LEOs on the list, is the above likely? I can't think of
> another situation to which I could relate this. If someone in one motel
> room is smoking pot, the law doesn't assume that everyone in the motel
> is guilty. Why would the law assume that everyone in the shelter was?
> Signed, Kahley .......who doesn't want to have to 'police' other
> people's behaviors for her own safety.
> * From the Appalachian Trail Mailing List | For info http://www.hack.net/lists *
Kahlena,
I am a former prosecutor and current defense attorney, and as a
practical matter, you may be arrested (guilt by association type
stuff). However, the charges would never stick in court. The law
doesn't assume you are guilty, it assumes you are innocent. The burden
is on the State to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt and to a moral
certainty. However, if everyone was in the motel room, and there were
other factors involved (you had glassy eyes, lack of concentration,
smell of marijuana on your breath), it would be difficult for you to
proclaim your innocence in that you probably "possessed" it at one
point.
FYI: "possession" of CDS (controlled dangerous substance) can be
merely the possesion of a bowl with residue in it (no bags, no pot, no
problem for the State)
"possession with the intent to distribute" (a serious felony) can mean
merely that you handed a joint or bong hit or bowl to a friend, there
need not be any monetary or financial incentive or quantity
limitations. Charlie Smith (the defense rests! usually with his boots
off)
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