Criminal Question

[pundi]

As milkybar said, don't say anything. ANYTHING...
From my own experience (not a drug charge), if your under 16-17 then get your parents involved. The police were much more lenient on me when they had my parents breathing down my neck and theirs.
And as milkybar said, don't say anything.
The three pills in the wallet is a prime example. You are presumed innocent until guilty (although it mightn't feel that way). The police in the wallet situation would have had to prove (beyond reasonable doubt) that the pills were hers. Next to impossible seeing as the wallet had been out of her possession. It was most likely something she said later that incriminated her (just an educated guess).
So as milkybar said, don't say ANYTHING...
[This message has been edited by pundi (edited 19 March 2001).]

 

[~Bent~]

What Milkybar says is important.
Don't make the Polices job any easier by admitting your guilt (unless you are caught red handed). Being silent will probably piss them off but don't give in.
Surely you must have heard Police interview tapes where they ask the poor stoned kid to "make it easier" on himself by "co-operating" with them. They then ask him, what the pipe is? Whos is it? and how does it work? If he explains, they dont even need to have seen you smoke a bong. You have just admitted to owning and having criminal knowledge.
Do not answer their questions until you have spoken to a lawyer. Make them find you guilty. Dont put yourself in, because they interview felons for a living they are good at winning your confidence and getting you to admit to something.

 

[Don Corleone]

Milkybar, you raise some good points but I'm concerned that some people may take the 'Don't even say anything' part a little too literally.
You HAVE to tell the cops your name. If you don't they can charge you for it - and they will.
Also acting dumb may help you if there are reasons to doubt your guilt but it will make you look worse if you are caught red-handed.
Just remember: If you are tied up, struggling will only make the knots tighter.
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Is Don, Is Good

 

[comaRose]

okay, I am going to be as helpful as possible, but not to descriptive cos I'm paranoid

I was arrested in W.A. several years ago. I ended up completely honest about everything; I tell you, not all cops are arseholes, a lot are just doing their job. They stated feasibly that since it was a first offence a jail term was unlikely, and that I would probably get off with community service hours and/or a fine.They NAMED judges stating 'such and such will be as harsh as a big fine and a suspended sentence, such and such is really lenient'.. I went to court and got 200 hours community service. Conclusion; if it's a first offence and you get a reasonable judge, you'll cough up a fine, or spend a fair amount of time giving back to the community you so keenly want to participate in

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[cAmmAc]

What funkyfella said about the intention to sell is spot on.
If you're selling fucking sand and passing it off as speed, MDMA, whatever, then you WILL be charged for the intent to sell whatever you're passing it off as.
I'm currently studying this part of the law, and it is VERY tricky with about a million loopholes, and I would suggest that keeping your trap shut until speaking to a lawyer is a good idea. Cops and lawyers alike know that there are loopholes and tricks everywhere in our legal system, and they want to use every little way to bust your ass - your ass is like a notch on the belt, or a head on the wall, the more you nail, the better you look (if you're a cop (c; )
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I think of my life as a series of sketches; each one funnier than the last

 

[SupaspeeD]

OK - queenslanders
If caught supplying, making, trafficking or pretty much anything related to handling drugs, you get charged under the Drugs Misuse Act.
Now the quantity for production and supply and all that are based on grams. So anything seized, if you don't fess up to what it is (ie admitting you think it is E, even if it panadol), then they MUST test it.
Believe it or not, you can get caught with a baggy FULL of pills, but if you don't say anything, and they turn out to be vitamins, you are home and hosed. If they are vitamins but you think they are E you are in deep shit. So as milkybar said, keep your mouth shut, let them do the detective work. I know it can be terribly intimadating in a police station, but keep quiet. You'll thank yourself in the end.
I'll post up amounts, the offences, and the possible punishments soon. I'm in the middle of studying the act as part of my degree, so i'll let you all know what i find out.
In relation to the first Q of the thread. A first time offender, if it can be shown was only for personal use, will most likely only cop a fine (a couple of hundred $), and some community service, if unlucky.
You only get in the deep shit if you are up on your third offence. Don't think b/c you are young, it won't happen to you. 17, 18 and 19 year olds can deal smack and go to jail, but so can "harmless" pill poppers.
Play safe guys,

 

[funkyfella]

I know that in NSW they are currently trialling a cautioning scheme for first time, personal use marijuna possesion. It sorta works like this, If you have up to 15g of weed (30g and also small amounts of other drugs if you are under 18,) and you are caught, police will issue you with an official caution, if it happens again, another caution and on the third time you will go to court (I reckon if you get caught 3 times then you are such a moron, prison time would probably do you some good). These cautions are not convictions and won't have a record.
A mate of mines brother who is a cop (and smoked some of a spliff I rolled at my mate's 21st

) tells me, that it is better to be straight with cops now when they bust you for minor marijuna offences. They will just issue you the caution, take the stuff (keep half), and tell you to piss off. If you give them shit, or not co-operate, they will push it further, if there are special circumstances you can still be charged. But if they charge you with out any of these circumstances, they will get in shit from above for wasting their time!