Legal Question in Criminal Law in Minnesota

Given a ticket for possession of drug paraphnila now charged with trace amount o

I attended washington county court in Mn where I was searched at the doors they found a pipe in my purse.I was given a ticket for drug paraphnia and told to pay fine or call courts in 10 days for court date.I called o be told that the ticket was dropped.One month later by mail I recieved a criminal charge complaint for small trace amounts of meth and now living n Ca What should I do?


Asked on 7/25/04, 11:39 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Thomas C. Gallagher Gallagher Criminal Defense

Re: Given a ticket for possession of drug paraphnila now charged with trace amou

What you should do is a personal decision. What I would do, or recommend a friend or client do, would be fight it, with the goal of keeping a conviction off of your court and other public records.

Any amount of meth possession would be a felony charge. Felony charges (and some lesser charges) get put on to the national NCIC database operated by the FBI, and widely used by law enforcement, employers, landlords, etc. It would be better for you if that public record, showed that the charge was ultimately dismissed, and that you were never "convicted."

If you have no prior convictions it may be possible to accomplish that result without a trial, under two different methods that can work for people who have never been charged before. A defense lawyer could investigate the case, and research the applicable law, to best help you.

If you would like to discuss this with me further, you may contact me.

Read more
Answered on 7/26/04, 11:34 am


Related Questions & Answers

More Criminal Law questions and answers in Minnesota