Careless Drivibg

[johnparbody]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Florida, Broward County

I was recently driving in Hollywood Florida around 1 AM, and it had just gotten done raining so the roads were relatively slippery. I was making my way around a large roundabout, and towards the final stretch, didn't slow down and ended up hydroplaning into a median. A cop was facing me and witnessed the whole ordeal go down. After coming over to my car he said he smelt marijuana, which ironically enough, was in my car because someone else had put it there and I don't really smoke to begin with but that's besides the point. Given the fact that it was less than half a gram, he made me stomp it out and gave me a ticket for careless driving. He said that if I tried to fight the ticket he would testify against me. To the best of my knowledge, although it worked out in my favor, did he have the direction of whether or not to give me a ticket for possession? If I fight the ticket, will he have the ability to go on the stand and say that I had marijuana in my car, and could that hurt my case? And finally, if he DID testify and say I had marijuana in my car, could I face legal repercussions, or is there a sort of statute of limitations for something like that?I feel like I would have a good case otherwise considering it was raining and the reason for my crash was that I hydroplaned around a corner.

Please respond with advice and not ill advised grammatical corrections.


****ALSO ironic that I carelessly spelt driving wrong in the title....maybe I deserved the ticket.

 

[HighwayMan]

...Given the fact that it was less than half a gram, he made me stomp it out...

So it was lit/burning???

...I feel like I would have a good case otherwise considering it was raining and the reason for my crash was that I hydroplaned around a corner...

That is not a defense or justification. You should have been driving slower. PERIOD.

****ALSO ironic that I carelessly spelt driving wrong in the title....maybe I deserved the ticket.

Yeah, AND you spelled "spelled" wrong too.

 

[johnparbody]

So it was lit/burning???



That is not a defense or justification. You should have been driving slower. PERIOD.





Yeah, AND you spelled "spelled" wrong too.

First of all, I just mentioned that I didn't smoke so to answer your question, no it was not lit/burning. The purpose of the officer asking me to stomp it out was to destroy it.

Second of all, hindsight is 20/20 and I'm not even sure why you wasted your time writing this out because it offers absolutely no advice whatsoever. I can use anything as a defense, it's just a matter of whether or not it would work to fight the ticket.

Third of all, "In American English, spelt primarily refers to the hardy wheat grown mostly in Europe, and the verb spell makes spelled in the past tense and as a past participle. In all other main varieties of English, spelt and spelled both work as the past tense and past participle of spell, at least where spell means to form words letter by letter or (with out) to make clear. Outside the U.S., the two forms are interchangeable in these uses, and both are common." Nice try though, big guy.

 

[Just Blue]

First of all, I just mentioned that I didn't smoke so to answer your question, no it was not lit/burning. The purpose of the officer asking me to stomp it out was to destroy it.

Second of all, hindsight is 20/20 and I'm not even sure why you wasted your time writing this out because it offers absolutely no advice whatsoever. I can use anything as a defense, it's just a matter of whether or not it would work to fight the ticket.

Third of all, "In American English, spelt primarily refers to the hardy wheat grown mostly in Europe, and the verb spell makes spelled in the past tense and as a past participle. In all other main varieties of English, spelt and spelled both work as the past tense and past participle of spell, at least where spell means to form words letter by letter or (with out) to make clear. Outside the U.S., the two forms are interchangeable in these uses, and both are common." Nice try though, big guy.

Well! Aren't you just the charmer!!

 

[HighwayMan]

The purpose of the officer asking me to stomp it out was to destroy it.

"stomp it out" implies that it was "ON" to begin with.

Your defense is not a valid one. You don't like hearing that, but too bad.

The simple fact that you crashed due to excessive speed tells the whole story.

 

[not2cleverRed]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Florida, Broward County

I was recently driving in Hollywood Florida around 1 AM, and it had just gotten done raining so the roads were relatively slippery. I was making my way around a large roundabout, and towards the final stretch, didn't slow down and ended up hydroplaning into a median. A cop was facing me and witnessed the whole ordeal go down. After coming over to my car he said he smelt marijuana, which ironically enough, was in my car because someone else had put it there and I don't really smoke to begin with but that's besides the point. Given the fact that it was less than half a gram, he made me stomp it out and gave me a ticket for careless driving. He said that if I tried to fight the ticket he would testify against me. To the best of my knowledge, although it worked out in my favor, did he have the direction of whether or not to give me a ticket for possession? If I fight the ticket, will he have the ability to go on the stand and say that I had marijuana in my car, and could that hurt my case? And finally, if he DID testify and say I had marijuana in my car, could I face legal repercussions, or is there a sort of statute of limitations for something like that?I feel like I would have a good case otherwise considering it was raining and the reason for my crash was that I hydroplaned around a corner.

Please respond with advice and not ill advised grammatical corrections.


****ALSO ironic that I carelessly spelt driving wrong in the title....maybe I deserved the ticket.

And you would be wrong.

In all 5 states where I have had licenses to drive, the DMV manuals have been pretty clear that , regardless of the posted speed limit, it is the responsibility of the driver to be aware of the road/weather conditions and adjust their driving accordingly. Florida is no different.

The fact that you hydroplaned indicates that you did not do this. By the way, the risk of hydroplaning is greatest during the first 10 minutes of rain, not when it just stops. http://www.safemotorist.com/articles/Hydroplaning_Basics.aspx

I will not speculate about the pot. However, I would advise you to be fussier about who you allow into your car.

 

[Zigner]

First of all, I just mentioned that I didn't smoke so to answer your question, no it was not lit/burning. The purpose of the officer asking me to stomp it out was to destroy it.

Second of all, hindsight is 20/20 and I'm not even sure why you wasted your time writing this out because it offers absolutely no advice whatsoever. I can use anything as a defense, it's just a matter of whether or not it would work to fight the ticket.

Third of all, "In American English, spelt primarily refers to the hardy wheat grown mostly in Europe, and the verb spell makes spelled in the past tense and as a past participle. In all other main varieties of English, spelt and spelled both work as the past tense and past participle of spell, at least where spell means to form words letter by letter or (with out) to make clear. Outside the U.S., the two forms are interchangeable in these uses, and both are common." Nice try though, big guy.

Says the acknowledge occasional drug user who doesn't know how to drive in the rain, and doesn't now how to give proper attribution when he uses someone else's work.

 

[johnparbody]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Florida, Broward County
If I fight the ticket, will he have the ability to go on the stand and say that I had marijuana in my car, and could that hurt my case? And finally, if he DID testify and say I had marijuana in my car, could I face legal repercussions, or is there a sort of statute of limitations for something like that?.

Instead of critiquing my citation and grammar skills can someone please offer an insight for these questions?

 

[Shellfly]

Instead of critiquing my citation and grammar skills can someone please offer an insight for these questions?

Here's some insight:

Since you don't seem to like the answers you were given here, hire an attorney for some deeper insight.

Good luck

 

[not2cleverRed]

Instead of critiquing my citation and grammar skills can someone please offer an insight for these questions?

The officer gave you a break. If you insist on fighting this, prepare for the officer have the natural human reaction of being miffed with you, and do what he can to make sure that you are inconvenienced as much as possible. I have no insight as to what those options will be - we only have your version of the facts. But your version of the facts does not paint a favorable picture.

Feel free to pay a lawyer.

 

[johnparbody]

The officer gave you a break. If you insist on fighting this, prepare for the officer have the natural human reaction of being miffed with you, and do what he can to make sure that you are inconvenienced as much as possible. I have no insight as to what those options will be - we only have your version of the facts. But your version of the facts does not paint a favorable picture.

Feel free to pay a lawyer.

Thank you, I'm just concerned he'll try to charge me for possession if I decide to fight the ticket, and wasn't sure if that was possible. I wouldn't expect anything less than for him to him do everything in his power to make sure I get the points on my record, because I know that's what is going to happen, I was mainly concerned with what would happen regarding the pot that he made me destroy.

Again though, this seems to be the first insightful post I've seen so far so thank you for that.

 

[AgentSmithers]

Thank you, I'm just concerned he'll try to charge me for possession if I decide to fight the ticket, and wasn't sure if that was possible. I wouldn't expect anything less than for him to him do everything in his power to make sure I get the points on my record, because I know that's what is going to happen, I was mainly concerned with what would happen regarding the pot that he made me destroy.

Again though, this seems to be the first insightful post I've seen so far so thank you for that.

Hi John,
If he wants to follow up on the marijuana he will file a separate citation. He may bring it up at trial but it is irrelevant to your driving at the time unless you were under the influence, I don't see how an unsmoked joint can be relevant to one's driving unless the officer tries to pair it with you being under the influence. He can't jump in an additional violation of anything during trial due to that robbing you of the ability to form a defense for it before hand.
I hope this helps sir.

POSTSCRIPT: BTW I've heard of this happening once where the defendant convinced the judge that he was charged with the wrong violation during trial and it was dismissed. As soon as trial was over the police officer followed him out and said "Stay right there!" and cited him with the correct code. I don't see anything legally wrong with this at all. So make sure you book it when you leave trial before he flags you down =D

 

[HighwayMan]

He can't jump in an additional violation of anything during trial due to that robbing you of the ability to form a defense for it before hand.

It has nothing to do with the driving charge. The concern is can further charges be filed re: the possession. The answer to that is YES. Unlikely but it can happen.

So make sure you book it when you leave trial before he flags you down =D

Ridiculous. If the officer would have an additional citation ready to serve at the start of court if he was that interested.

 

[AgentSmithers]

It has nothing to do with the driving charge. The concern is can further charges be filed re: the possession. The answer to that is YES. Unlikely but it can happen.




Ridiculous. If the officer would have an additional citation ready to serve at the start of court if he was that interested.

I understood the concern ^_^

Sure, Listen to HighwayMan, hes an oracle.

 

[johnparbody]

I understood the concern ^_^

Sure, Listen to HighwayMan, hes an oracle.

Thank you both, for whatever it's worth. I'm still trying to decide what my best course of action will be, but time will tell. I'm going to call an attorney to see if they can offer any advice.