Arrested Today, Question about Public Defender

[theSWPK (OP)]

I have a question regarding public defenders and pleading not guilty, but I HAVE to tell you guys what went down. Its absolutely ridiculous.

I just bailed myself out of city jail about 30 minutes ago.
I was arrested for possession of drug paraphernalia (an IV kit).
I was with a guy that will drive a few hours to me about once a month that I middle to so he can get what he needs.
We had just left a grocery store and he hadn't put in his seat belt yet. Blue lights. They pull us over for the seatbelt.

Cop says he smells weed, which is a brazen lie, it smells like car air freshener and neither of us smoke. He brings out a drug dog and asks us to step out of the car and sit on the hood of his cruiser while he gets the dog to search.  He walks the dog around the car 4 times and of course the dog indicates on the drivers side.
 He conducts a search of the car and finds no weed, but this guy's needle kit, which is contained in a glasses case. Spoon, needles, cotton, cooker. He asks who the kit belongs to and neither of us say anything, so he says "Fine, have it your way, I can arrest you both." I start pleading with my friend saying where one of the cops can hear "Dude please be honest with them, if I get arrested there's no way my family will bail me out." So my friend says that it's HIS kit. Just to be clear, he claims ownership of his kit. He says this twice. Officer sunshine searches the car more but fails to turn up anything else.
The cop returns and says to my friend "You don have to take the rap for this guy" and my friend says again that it's his. The cop starts talking about sending it off to the state crime lab and about possible felony charges so my friend doesn't say anything else after that. Officer sunshine notices that I have heavier track marks in my arms than my friend does (he DOES have them though). This leads him to the conclusion that it's MY kit. So he days he's arresting ME for the possession of paraphernalia and writing my friend a ticket for the seatbelt.
What. The. Fuck.
I go to jail even though my friend says it was HIS needle kit.
I watch him drive off from inside the cruiser, I can't fucking believe this shit. I'm not omitting anything or lying, that's for real how this shit went down. I'm lucky that I had the dude's money for the stuff I was about to get so I could pay a bail bondsman. 
I pleaded with the arresting officer (who is actually a sergeant) at the police station, to have the stuff fingerprinted at the crime lab when he has it sent for testing, but he refuses, which really blows. If I was guilty why would I tell them to dust it for prints?

Anyway, when I go to court, I know that I'll be asked to plead guilty or not guilty and that once I plead not guilty, they will assign me a court date. I have never plead not guilty before, so I'm unsure how the public defender thing works. Will they assign me a public defender when they give me my new court date? Do I even get one? I can't afford a lawyer.

I still can't believe that went down like it did. Usually when nobody confesses to being the owner of the paraphernalia, both parties go to jail. But this guy claimed it was his, but I was the one arrested... FYI I was dressed well and extremely polite and respectful to all of the officers.

Oh and, I did make sure that in the 3 officers reports that they will state that my friend said that the kit was his, so this court case should be open and shut. Very clear reasonable doubt.

[Griffin]

In most states being able to get a public defender is based on how much money you make. Anyone who is incarcerated is eligible for a public defender but when you are out it is usually based on how much money you made last year. Maybe do a google search for your state to see if you can find the amount or call the courts in the morning and see. It is a pretty low amount I think around $17000 here in CO for a single person.

As for the cop testing the kit that was never going to happen he was just saying that to fuck with you or the other guy to confess. That is bullshit i am sorry most everything you can get arrested for nowadays is bs, do you have a needle exchange nearby? Maybe go by there and see if you can get a card that allows you to carry paraphernalia legally, it probably wont help this court case but it will help in the future. Let us know how it all goes sorry for the bad luck and bullshit hopefully you get a pub. defender with enough time to get you off.

If not don't take a plea deal until they offer something like making it an infraction with a  fine or community service no charge on the record and no probation. Is it a misdemeanor or felony? should be a misdemeanor and a low one so if you fight it a bit and don't have a huge record you might get off with a fine. Hopefully they throw it out, but you can't even tell the judge what happened until you choose to take it trial and the DA usually says if you take it to trial then all deals are off the table, its a fucking money scam so hopefully they are okay with just taking your cheddar and not fucking you for life. Good luck!

[Z]

It's pretty sad that just having IV supplies is an arrestable offence.  I'm sorry that you have to deal with this.  Hopefully it works out.

[Griffin]

Oh yeah ask for your discovery and try to get that as soon as you can, because more likely than not the cop who wrote the report forgot about the kid fessing up to being his and didn't put it in there, they are all lying fucking scumbags when it comes to robbing people and saving people from themselves. If it's not in there you need to ask your friend about being a witness which he will probably say no to and then you'll need to see about subpoenaing him and if he can get charged for telling the courts it was his kit if your taking it to trial.

Your public defender should be able to answer those questions but I'd be surprised if he actually does anything to get the other guy in court or to help you as that has been my experience. Read the statutes of your specific charge and make sure that it qualifies for what they charged you with, obviously you never had possession so you shouldn't of been charged or be convicted but the justice system is about what you did or didn't do or if it affects anyone its just about $$.. (i'm not a lawyer just been arrested twice)

[Anti-hero]

Well you get no advantage by pleading right of the bat. Get a lawyer, you are on bail aren't you ?
That's a bullshit reason to be pulled over and searched the Supreme Court has already ruled that you can't be searched for a seat belt. That right there is enough to give your lawyer a chip to get a better deal for you.
 Don't plead guilty just take a breath and get a public defender. You have never plead guilty. This is a good time to start. You even entertaining the idea of pleading guilty makes them feel like they can keep on doing shit like this. You said you can't afford a lawyer well then I'm sure you can get a pd.  With your discovery there will be mention of the dash cam footage and copy of reports. If you can get a copy of those and they have it in there that the other guy
 
If they have dash cams I would take this to trial in the first place you have the other guy claiming ownership. As far as I know you are not required to search a car before you get in it. It was his car. I am assuming this went down the way you said it did. You have no reason to lie to me. So there is so much reasonable doubt I would just take this to trial even if the do pick up charges. There was just a thread by @illydelph that goes over this whole argument of pleading guilty or not.

  You should have some righteous indignation and get pissed. Tell them if the drop it you won't push a law suit. Past quilt does not make you guilty of any thing in the future even if it's the exact same charge and circumstances. The fact that your anger does not come across is the only thing that makes me question your innocence.

Good luck yo

[nick]

It's pretty sad that just having IV supplies is an arrestable offence.  I'm sorry that you have to deal with this.  Hopefully it works out.

That's what I was thinking-truly  fucked up.

HIV prevention appears to be low on the list of priorities here.

[Griffin]

Are you on probation or pretrial supervision? When is your first court date? Try to stay away from pretrial supervision, because it is bullshit and its worse than being on probation you have to do drug tests and a bunch of other shit so try to steer clear of that. Are you on any maintenance meds?

If you get put on pre trial supervision or probation and you have to take drug tests and don't think you can stay clean, get on maintenance because you don't want to fuck it up and kick in jai. You are lucky you got out so fast they only have bond hearings once or twice a week so sometimes you have to wait a full week. Do they offer methadone or subs in that county jail? If they do and they offer you probation, or a few weeks, sometimes its way easier to just do the time that way you don't prolong the process and end up doing the time anyway for failing a UA.

Does anyone know if you have already bonded out if you can get your bond lowered still? Like if he already paid his bail bondsmen could he request a PR bond so that he isn't on the hook with a bondsmen which could cost more money than if he were to have a PR bond? How much was your bond if you don't mind me asking? You will have to get a public defender application from the court house so you should go there today and see if you are eligible and fill out the paper work and apply so that he can be at your first hearing to speed up the process a bit.

[lilbay21213]

I agree with Griffin Most states you are responsible for getting a public defender yourself and if you are eligible financially for their services they will assign one to you many times you never meet the assigned PD until the day of your trial.

Yea, these days you think they would be glad addicts carried their own kits it would save the state and feds money down the line if that person gets HIV or Hep C. In the long run they will pay a heck of a lot more in disability, medicaid or medicare, medication, hospitals, transplants, and the list goes on. However we all know that they think backwards as heck when it comes to things like that.

Good Luck
bay

[Guts]

Isn't paraphernalia a class C misdemeanor? Meaning you pay a fine and that's it? I'm pretty sure that's what it is here... I'm guessing if you had to bail out though, that means it was at least a class B.

What end result are you hoping for? Like, are you going to try to beat the case or are you just looking for a decent deal? I definitely wouldn't take probation if it were me... shit is a trap. I bet you could get away with doing a couple weeks in county though.

Where I'm at, if you bail out, you don't get a public defender. They say that if you have enough money to bail out, you can afford a lawyer... and this case, as stupid as it is, is probably going to be hard to beat without a decent lawyer :/

Good luck man... let us know how it turns out.

And oh yeah, fuck the popo.

[Griffin]

That has to be illegal guts, the whole gideons law thing should trump there stupid ass policy as it makes zero sense.

[St. Theresa]

Unfuckingbelievable


These pigs never cease to amaze me.


I feel your pain, swpk...I got nothing, but to advise legal counsel.

[Esoteric Anhydride]

They'll assign you a lawyer automatically.

I'd guess that case gets dropped. Search was BS (where's the marijuana if they got a dog?), and dude claimed it was his.

Seems like a no-brainer, but you never know with those fuckwits.

(htf u post online in jail?)

[Guts]

That has to be illegal guts, the whole gideons law thing should trump there stupid ass policy as it makes zero sense.

The bail out no lawyer thing? I don't know if that's true for a fact but that's what I've always heard. I'm pretty sure my lawyer told me that... I dunno, it's been a while. I'm in TX by the way... prison capital.

[DiCaprio]

Go to justanswer.com and make an account. Just try to find the money and ask a certified lawyer there.Tr results come back very quickly. I think it will cost you 20-40 dollars but you will get advice from a very good lawyer. That should help you out a lot in terms of making a decision. Just try to downsize the story and shoot him with straight facts.

[dizzle]

Esoteric Anhydride he bonded out that's how he posting on here... I thought the same thing at first


Guts Griffin  that's the way it supposedly goes here, I thought it was bullshit till I got bonded out with a measly $10K bond, $1K to walk, my pops paid it as I was all fucked up at the time. I figured I'd be fine, as I didn't have a job, so I'd get a PD.


The way they played it was so fucked up, they said "you're not eligible for a PD, but if you wish, we can take the money you've already paid for bond, and include a court finders fee and appoint you an attorney", and of course the judge says something like "and we happen to have this PRIVATE attorney right here, that is willing to take your case, for the $1K less court finder fee", and of course, the judge didn't tell me if the charges we dismissed on no probable cause or not, just that I needed an attorney, said he'd either give me a continuance to find my own, or I could sign over the bond $$,

Literally as soon as I signed over the bond $$, the lawyer walks up to the judges secretary, hands her some paperwork, looks at the judge and nods, and the judge calls my case within 5 mins, full court room there by the way, and I get up there, court paid "private" attorney next to me, and judge says "no probable cause, case dismissed"

I was like "awesome" but then I realized that was striaght THE FUCK UP extortion, I mean, had I not signed over that $$, I'd probably had to face the charges, but since I did , and the court got their "finder fee" they dismissed them. I was walking out and honestly it was one of the few times I've ever experienced the "white people get treated better" scenario in the legal system, I mean, had I been one of the many poor african american people that were sitting in that courtroom, I'd probably been fucked, but this time money LITERALLY bought my charges being dropped.


crazy. corrupt, disgusting.



DiCaprio theSWPK  that's good advice, I think you're going to be just fine on this and it may get tossed out for no probable cause, don't go out and hire an atty just yet, wait and see what the court does, plead with the judge that you have no $$ for a lawyer, let him know that you need a PD. See if he bites, you may have to prove your lack of income though, so be ready to do so. If he won't do it, then take it one step at a time, maybe go online and take dicaprio's advice and get an atty's opinion without having to pay a retainer of $1K (usually that's what you're looking at for a missy charge retainer)


most of all, I think you'll be fine. Don't trip.