patrickb8man
New member
hi, new user, first time posting here, not new to forums tho (i spent a good deal of time moderating twilightsucks.com when i was in middle school).
okay, so first things first, i got arrested for possession and paraphernalia on may 8th, 2014. it was my first offense, i live in northeast ohio, and im 19. we were in my friends car which has no taillights (probably one of the dumbest mistakes ive ever made) not smoking in the car or anything, he was just dropping me off after we had gotten high and watched the mothman prophecies at his house. anyway, the cops had dogs with them, so when they asked my friend if they could search his car he freaked out and said yes thinking that if he said no, they would find it anyway. (not true at all, i know the dogs arent allowed in the car and the search cant exceed the length of time it takes them to run your license and write you up, blah blah blah) so he finds my weed in my backpack (which i should have just brought with me out of the car), i admit that its mine, and i get put in handcuffs less than two blocks away from my own house.
so i went to my arraignment, and my pre-trial was today. i had decided i was gonna get a public defender and everything, but when i got in the room with the prosecutor and requested an attorney, he told me that my county has a special "misdemeanor drug court" for first-time offenders that requires you to visit a treatment facility, complete an assessment and any classes/rehab shit they make you do if you fail said assessment. he told me that if i did all this my charges would be reduced to disorderly conduct, and that if i got a lawyer the case would get taken to county and he would just tell me to do the same thing. so i agreed, signed the thing, and left.
my main question is: did i really fuck up as bad as i think i did? i have friends who have gotten DUIs dropped to faulty taillights with public defenders, and i had no idea that signing the drug treatment thing meant that i had to pay for the cost of whatever rehabilitation they may or may not put me through (which they probably WILL end up making me do since they want money). i mean shit, if i do this im gonna have to stop smoking till august!!! what the hell am i supposed to do on my summer break if i cant get high??? is it too late to get a lawyer? my courts clerk said that i have to submit a written request to the prosecutor on the day of my pre-trial, which was today. can i just go back in and me like "hey changed my mind make someone represent me"???
also, if i do have to do this assessment, are they gonna test me the first time i go in, or will they only do that if i fail the questions and have to go thru treatment? i understand that it depends on the facility, but i cant tell anything from the information provided by my court's shitty website. my next court date is august 18th, and im worried that if i wait too long to go do the assessment (till my pee is clean, i just smoked yesterday lol) and they decide to put me thru treatment anyway (its supposed to be an 8 week program) then i wont have time to complete it before i have to appear in court again. can i get my court date pushed back if that happens?
thanks in advance for any help, ive been looking all over the internet for some answers but nothing is specific enough.
okay, so first things first, i got arrested for possession and paraphernalia on may 8th, 2014. it was my first offense, i live in northeast ohio, and im 19. we were in my friends car which has no taillights (probably one of the dumbest mistakes ive ever made) not smoking in the car or anything, he was just dropping me off after we had gotten high and watched the mothman prophecies at his house. anyway, the cops had dogs with them, so when they asked my friend if they could search his car he freaked out and said yes thinking that if he said no, they would find it anyway. (not true at all, i know the dogs arent allowed in the car and the search cant exceed the length of time it takes them to run your license and write you up, blah blah blah) so he finds my weed in my backpack (which i should have just brought with me out of the car), i admit that its mine, and i get put in handcuffs less than two blocks away from my own house.
so i went to my arraignment, and my pre-trial was today. i had decided i was gonna get a public defender and everything, but when i got in the room with the prosecutor and requested an attorney, he told me that my county has a special "misdemeanor drug court" for first-time offenders that requires you to visit a treatment facility, complete an assessment and any classes/rehab shit they make you do if you fail said assessment. he told me that if i did all this my charges would be reduced to disorderly conduct, and that if i got a lawyer the case would get taken to county and he would just tell me to do the same thing. so i agreed, signed the thing, and left.
my main question is: did i really fuck up as bad as i think i did? i have friends who have gotten DUIs dropped to faulty taillights with public defenders, and i had no idea that signing the drug treatment thing meant that i had to pay for the cost of whatever rehabilitation they may or may not put me through (which they probably WILL end up making me do since they want money). i mean shit, if i do this im gonna have to stop smoking till august!!! what the hell am i supposed to do on my summer break if i cant get high??? is it too late to get a lawyer? my courts clerk said that i have to submit a written request to the prosecutor on the day of my pre-trial, which was today. can i just go back in and me like "hey changed my mind make someone represent me"???
also, if i do have to do this assessment, are they gonna test me the first time i go in, or will they only do that if i fail the questions and have to go thru treatment? i understand that it depends on the facility, but i cant tell anything from the information provided by my court's shitty website. my next court date is august 18th, and im worried that if i wait too long to go do the assessment (till my pee is clean, i just smoked yesterday lol) and they decide to put me thru treatment anyway (its supposed to be an 8 week program) then i wont have time to complete it before i have to appear in court again. can i get my court date pushed back if that happens?
thanks in advance for any help, ive been looking all over the internet for some answers but nothing is specific enough.
