Mooby Needs Legal Advice

[mooby]

I got into some serious legal shtein early this morning around 2:30ish. I was chilling at my friend Kory's house and he got a phone call from another friend, and his friend told him that this chick we knew (Felicia) was on the phone with her a few minutes ago and it sounded like she had od'd on some drugs again. We tried contacting her by phone, but she didn't pick up, so Kory and I decided we should drive up to Falls Church and check up on her to see if she's ok.

Well, I was on 395 near Woodbridge, and everyone was going about 80 even though the speed limit was 60, and for about 5 seconds I decided it wouldn't hurt to go 90, since I've never done anything like that before and I decided it couldn't hurt. Well, needless to say, I got pulled over and the state trooper clocked me at 90 in a 60. It said I have to appear in court to defend this charge of reckless driving.

So now I have a court date set for September 5th, and I was online looking at things, and my dad told me because I got pulled over for speeding in a highway safety corridor $500 would be added to my fine in addition to the speeding ticket. I looked at this site my friend showed me and it said because of the new laws Virginia passed that went into effect July 1st, I could be paying anywhere from 500-1500 basically. This is my first offense, I've never been pulled over for anything before and I don't have a criminal record.

Do you guys have any advice for me? I told the trooper that I didn't need him to call for an ambulance to send to my friends house, because I would probably get in trouble if she wasn't od'ing, and if she was od'ing then she would get in deep shit. She's od'd like once in the past before but me and my friends went to her house and helped her out, we went online and got advice and we stayed with her throughout the night until she was able to calm down.

I don't know how i'm gonna be able to pay this fine, I'm working at Domino's right now but when I go to work on Sunday there's a very good chance i'm gonna get laid off because they drastically cut back my hours and they don't have a need for 2 out of the 3 CSR's that work there. I need a new job but i don't know how i'm gonna be able to pay for a fine that huge.

[Warpath]

Your definitely going to need a lawyer if you want to beat the new July 1st extra fines. The $500 for highway safety corridor your probably screwed unless the lawyer can get it reduced. Here in Richmond 2 judges have found that new law unconstitional... Second judge finds ‘abusive driver fees’ unconstitutional | NBC12 | Virginia News
If I were you I would at least consult a lawyer, most will at least hear what you have to say for free. Good luck and did she OD or what? What kinda drugs we talking about? Just curious.

[SmootSmack]

Mooby, you got to have a better thread title than "So"

Tell me what you want it to be and I'll make the change for you

[EARTHQUAKE2689]

How about "I got in to some legal trouble and need some adivce"

[mooby]

@SS: lol yeah, my thread title wasn't creative at all. Change it to "I need advice for legal trouble" I guess.

@Warpath: Nope, it turns out she was just really high on pot. I'm extremely pissed at her right now, if she hadn't gotten high her friend wouldn't have called my friend, and I wouldn't be in legal trouble now. I've had several discussions with her about smoking pot in the past, because I disapprove of it, but she hasn't changed. I'm pretty much gonna disassociate myself from her now because of this, unless she decides to change for good.

[Warpath]

I personally do not think you can OD on pot. It really sucks that your up the creek in legal trouble over a chick that smoked some pot. Any other drug I'd say maybe it was worth it to save a friends life, but come on man its pot.

marijuana overdose by drug overdose.com
Marijuana Overdose
The Drug Awareness Warning Network Annual Report, published by the US federal government contains a statistical compilation of all drug deaths which occur in the United States. According to this report, there has never been a death recorded from the use of marijuana by natural causes. Unlike opiates, barbiturates or amphetamines, there seems to be little risk from the use of large amounts of marijuana. When a person smokes too much they feel very tired and lie down. When people swallow large amounts of hashish, occasionally they get sick to their stomach.

Marijuana's effect on the user depends on the strength or potency of the THC it contains. THC potency has increased since the 1970s but has been about the same since the mid-1980s. The strength of the drug is measured by the average amount of THC in test samples confiscated by law enforcement agencies. THC is the chemical in marijuana which makes you feel "high" (which means experiencing a change in mood and seeing or feeling things differently). Certain parts of the plant contain higher levels of THC. The flowers or buds have more THC than the stems or leaves.

[mooby]

Yeah there's no way a person can OD on pot. If I had known it was pot she would've been on her own. The one time she did od before she had done pot, some coke, as well as a more than a few pills. That's what she had told me when she was back to normal again.

[saden1]

Let me get this, you helped your friend who has a serious drug problem by not calling an ambulance because that would mean you would get into trouble if she wasn't? Aren't you a wonderful friend.

If I were in your position, I would have told the officer the whole story AND ask for their assistance (probably called the ambulance ahead of time). Hell, I would have even asked the officer to escort me to my friends house. You on the other hand compounded your problems my friend. When you show up to court you're not credible at all. My advice, hire a lawyer because the judge isn't going to buy any koolaid from you and the fines might be the least of your worries. 90 mph is reckless driving territory.

[SmootSmack]

This is the first I've actually read this thread and I got to say I agree with Saden. You should have sought the officer's assistance. I mean clearly she needs help if this wasn't the first time she OD'd on various drugs. And if she didn't this time. So what? You didn't know that on your way there. And the idea that you didn't want to say anything because if she wasn't OD'ing then she'd be in deep shit doesn't make sense to me quite honestly. Better to be in deep shit than deep sixed.

[mooby]

Yeah I know, honestly i've made some stupid decisions in the past and that has ranked up there at the top with them. My parents had the same sentiment. I honestly figured if she had od'd again then me and my friends would do what we had done before and she would get better. She hasn't been into rehab but she's been in mental institutions for suicidal reasons. I admit that it's pretty much my fault that I am in this mess.

[FRPLG]

You realize when you "OD" on drugs that it isn't like having hangover? You need medical assistance or you have a good chance of dying. As in dead. I doubt your friend has ever ODed. Rather she was just seriously f*cked up. All in all I find your reluctance to really help your friend really reduces my sympathy for you here. If you wanted to help her you would get her ass nailed instead of enabling her. I can't believe the cop was so non-chalant when you told them about her. Good cop.

[mooby]

I'm not looking for sympathy I'm just looking for legal advice. This is my first run in with the law ever and hopefully it's my last. And who knows, perhaps she was seriously fucked up or she od'd, I don't have a meter that judges how close a person is to dying when they do drugs. The only reason I posted this was because a lot of members on this forum are a lot older, wiser, and more experienced when it comes to the law than I am. If you guys wish to chastise me about how stupid I am when it comes to helping out my friends, ok.

I respect your opinions and as different as they might be than mine, I realize that everyone is entitled to their own. I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed as evidenced by how I screwed this up, and it's probably gonna be evidenced in the future because now I have to pay a lot of money that I don't have.

I knew that by posting this, I opened myself to the opinions of the board members. I've read the Hessy vs. Schneed threads and I've learned from them. If you guys do not wish to help me then that is fine and dandy.

[SmootSmack]

Originally Posted by mooby

I'm not looking for sympathy I'm just looking for legal advice. This is my first run in with the law ever and hopefully it's my last. And who knows, perhaps she was seriously fucked up or she od'd, I don't have a meter that judges how close a person is to dying when they do drugs. The only reason I posted this was because a lot of members on this forum are a lot older, wiser, and more experienced when it comes to the law than I am. If you guys wish to chastise me about how stupid I am when it comes to helping out my friends, ok.

I respect your opinions and as different as they might be than mine, I realize that everyone is entitled to their own. I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed as evidenced by how I screwed this up, and it's probably gonna be evidenced in the future because now I have to pay a lot of money that I don't have.

I knew that by posting this, I opened myself to the opinions of the board members. I've read the Hessy vs. Schneed threads and I've learned from them. If you guys do not wish to help me then that is fine and dandy.

I don't know that people are trying to chastise you per se. I'm sure you meant and thought you were doing the right thing.

I can't speak to the legal help. I can speak to helping someone out who has a drug problem. And the best advice I (and I think others) can offer is that you don't need to "protect" your friends by doing nothing. Well not "nothing", but I think you know what I mean. I learned this the hard way.

Again, as for the legal advice I'd save that to others to offer.

[BigSKINBauer]

i don't think mooby was at all "reluctant" to help out a friend. I mean, put yourself in his situation, i know i can. I can't say what i would have done because i don't know the whole situation. I mean, if i was worried i probably wouldn't call the cops before i called a friend. Calling the cops puts your friend introuble. Obviously your friend would rather live than be in a bit of trouble (That is the stuff RAs tell you on your first day of college) but its a lot easier said than done. All i am saying is that we all could say that we would call the police but when the time comes maybe we wouldn't. If I was sure my friend was dying I would make sure to call 911, obviously. Its just not so black and white as that. Also mooby seems to be taking a lot of the responsibility so lets not be so hard on him. SHit i know that same situation could happen to me any day, especially when i'm at school.

Like there was some kid that got f..ed up drinking too much at school early in the year. His friends called 911 and he got better. However, I am pretty sure i heard he got kicked out of housing. Where as if they gave him water and watched over him he wouldn't get in any trouble at all. I mean, that is a dumb ass rule. It makes kids not want to ask for help in fear of being in trouble. Also, for me at least, taking the blame and consequences of your actions is easier than your actions effecting other people. Now i am not positive that he got kicked out but i am pretty sure he did. Also this was 9, 10 months ago so i forget much of it.


I'm still agree 100% that if you are worried about a friends life then the trouble they get into is nothing compared to what can happen. Even if it is as low as 5%. The risk isn't worth it. I mean i've had this discussion with friends. Its the friends fault for putting the other friend in that position and if they are unhappy with the decision they only have their dumbass self to blame. I just feel when the time comes it is not so easy.


Unfortunatley mooby i don't know what kind of stuff you'll be facing so i can't help but good luck and your friend is lucky to have a friend like you.

[mooby]

Thank you Smootsmack. Clearly I am learning this the hard way, and I can see how you could say that I was doing "nothing", but I felt at the moment that I was trying to do something by driving up there to help her out. I care about my friends a lot, and I wouldn't have been driving up there had I not wanted to help them. I made the decision to not call the police because she's been in quite a bit of legal trouble before and this would've only worsened her troubles. In hindsight that was the wrong thing to do, as it was to not tell the trooper to send an ambulance up there. And thanks for the kind words The BSB.