What can i be charged with if i eat the evidence?

A

ayo4yayo

Bluelighter
Joined
Mar 8, 2004
Messages
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Say a cop catches you with like a pill of ecstacy/bag of weed/cocaine etc... what are the legal ramifications if they're right in front of you and you get rid of the evidence by say... eating it or throwing it into the ocean?

I know in movies and stuff, if they lose the evidence you go free. Not sure how accurate that really is.
 
A police officer or other witness can testify to the fact that he/she witnessed you eating, for example, what appeared to be a bag of powder.

Should you be tested for drugs (e.g. in a DUI situation) and the result turns out positive, the appropriate charges would be brought against you at that time.

I don't think tampering with evidence charges would be completely out of the question, either.

I'm sure there are situations like those you described in which the charges didn't stick, but in the real world I wouldn't count on it.

Legal issues and law enforcement are embellished routinely in the name of creative license; anyone who's ever watched Cops or Law & Order will certainly agree.

Further, in some situations the evidence can be recovered. As an example: throwing a bag of weed into the ocean is no guarantee that it won't float to the surface 10 feet down and into the clutches of a waiting officer.

It is usually more difficult to prove a case with circumstantial evidence than physical evidence. However, it can be, and has been, done many times.
 
what about if a cop smells pot in the air... and you eat the J and are obviously high but have no drugs on you? I always hear that theres nothing the cop can really do (arresting-wise). is that true?
 
they need probable cause to arrest you. so unless he watches you eat it there is not much realy he can do. they would probably lie and say they know you are under the infuence and stuff to get you to confess. but if they did not see you and have no evidence then your pretty free to go
 
obstruction of justice, destruction of evidence.... i dont believe these charges would be too hard to beat however, and i highly doubt the officer would make that big a deal out of it unless he was already choking you to get you to spit it ou
 
For a charge of destruction of, or tampering with evidence to be filed, wouldn't the person being charged have to know that it was indeed evidence in a future criminal proceeding? I wouldn't think that the cops walking up to you would automatically make it evidence. I would think that you would have to either be arrested, or reasonably think that you are going to be arrested.
 
Smelling pot isn't probable cause? Doesn't that warrant anything? IE search or something? Or can you just blow it off.
 
I have had a cop walk up to me as I'm eating a joint and he says "your lucky you ate that cause I was gonna take you to jail, empty your pockets." It all depends on the cop really
 
sexyanon said:
Smelling pot isn't probable cause? Doesn't that warrant anything? IE search or something? Or can you just blow it off.
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you can blow it off. go to erowid and go to freedom and law and read all that shit about cops. its very helpfull. they cant search you without a warrent or probable cause. even if they do search you and you refuse it you can get any evidence found on you thrown out (unless its MAYJOR evidence) smell cant determine anything
 
It does depend on the cop but if he sees a small baggie or ballon going in your mouth as hes questioning you then yeah, hes gonna start choking you till you spit it out, and be very pissed if you managed to swallow it
 
forgotten said:
For a charge of destruction of, or tampering with evidence to be filed, wouldn't the person being charged have to know that it was indeed evidence in a future criminal proceeding? I wouldn't think that the cops walking up to you would automatically make it evidence. I would think that you would have to either be arrested, or reasonably think that you are going to be arrested.
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That is an excellent question.

Destruction of evidence can occur during an attempted arrest, e.g. dude eats the crack vile.

Tampering with evidence generally occurs after charges have been placed against you and...well...you tamper with evidence.
 
depends on the cop, they can do basically what they want

some might let you go, some might gag you and make you vomit it up, some might charge you with destroying police evidence.. ect.
 
Forgotten, you make a good point.

I'd like to clarify that destruction, not tampering with evidence was what I intended to say. :)

In a situation of this nature I think eating the drugs would be just about the worst thing someone could do... imagine being taken into custody after swallowing 5 E tablets! 8o 8(
 
probable cause used to be 'the people's favorite two words,' but then they passed "intent of good will." So by 'smelling' it (and oh they can make that up on the spot) that is their 'good will' to search you... they will find SOME reason (the good idea... put whatever you don't want the cops to see, in a briefcase/box in your trunk... the cops can open your truck, but whatever they see, they see... they are not allowed to search that specific briefcase/box without a specific warrent for that specific briefcase/box.. but, like i said, they will find a way around it.. unless you know yer shyt.. so study! (www.findlaw.com)
 
You cannot be charged with possession of a substance if you eat it... there is a precendent for this. possession requires the police find it in your posession and, more importantly, can produce it as evidence before a court.
 
Posted by VelocideX
You cannot be charged with possession of a substance if you eat it... there is a precendent for this. possession requires the police find it in your posession and, more importantly, can produce it as evidence before a court.
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Just to remind everyone of the relatively recent case in which a conviction was upheld based on internal possession. So, possession does not necessarily require police to find the drug physically under your extrernal control.

South Dakota v. Schroeder
http://www.sdjudicial.com/index.asp?category=opinions&nav=53&year=2004&month=2&record=1247
 
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