Our criminal defense attorneys recently represented a client who had been charged with Possession of Marijuana under 50 grams under 2C:35-10a(4) as well as Drug Paraphernalia under 2C:36-2. These are both disorderly persons offenses that are punishable by 6 months in jail and typically handled in municipal court. Moreover, New Jersey does not allow plea bargaining for defendants who have been charged with a drug crime such as marijuana. However, our client was enrolled in college and was adamant about not having any criminal charges or a diversion program on his record.
In order to beat the charges against our client we first started by challenging the evidence against him. In this case the police alleged that they walked up on him and four others smoking marijuana in the woods. A subsequent search of the area and arrest of the defendants, uncovered a vaporizer, a grinder and marijuana. As part of our defense, we attacked the fact that police never found any drugs or paraphernalia in our client’s actual possession. Moreover, we successfully challenged that certain statements made by our client and the other codefendant’s should be suppressed for failure of the police to give proper Miranda warnings. In the end, there was a directed verdict of “Not Guilty” entered for our client and he was able to walk out of court with all charges dismissed and no payment for fines or costs. If you or your loved one has been arrested for marijuana possession, contact our office today at (908) 838-0150 for a free consultation to speak with an experienced criminal lawyer.
State v. V.V.
