Possession of Paraphernalia at School Dismissed
Our client was a student at Canton High School. The police showed up at the high school with drug sniffing dogs. The students were locked in their classrooms while the dogs went around and sniffed the lockers. Our client got nervous, claims that he was sick, and told the school he had to go home. On the way to his car the police had the drug dogs sniff the vehicle. When the dogs alerted the client came clean and sated he has some drug paraphernalia in the car. When the officers searched the car they found a grinder, a pipe, and a bong. All the items had marijuana residue.
Our client was charged with possession of drug paraphernalia.
Possession of Paraphernalia in Michigan
A drug paraphernalia charge is a criminal offense in Michigan. It is a misdemeanor punishable by jail time and fines. It is also possible that a person convicted of Possession of Paraphernalia could result in up to 2 years in probation, drug education, community service, drug testing, work program and more.
Paraphernalia Case Dismissed
The case was heard at the Canton, 35th District Court in front of Judge Ronald Lowe. We were able to convince the prosecutor and the judge to agree that special status should be granted in this case. The special status is Holmes Youthful Trainee Act, or HYTA. It is not automatic and often times denied.
The benefit of HYTA is that the status prevents any conviction from being entered. The arrest is suppressed, and the file is sealed. The person with the special status can truthfully tell employers and schools that they have never been convicted of a crime and it will never show up on a public background search.
The other benefit we obtained for our client was changing the charge to an attempt. Any attempted charge carries half of the penalty. Our client had to pay a fine but only half of what he would have paid.
If you have been charged with a crime contact criminal defense attorney, Aaron J. Boria at (734) 453-7806. We get results from our clients and even in cases that seem to be the worse.
