Drug Crimes, Substance Abuse Arrested for Marijuana

[courtneydd1]

My brother lives in Orlando Florida and he attends college at Full Sail. My brother let his friend borrow his car while my brother was in class. While his friend was driving his car he was pulled over for not wearing his seat belt. The cop instructed his friend to open the glove box, when his friend opened the glove box the cop found Marijuana. His friend informed the cop that is was not his car and that was not his Marijuana. The cop then asked his friend to drive to my brothers class and get him. The cops followed his friend to the college and arrested him for Possession Of Cannabis > 20 Grams and Poss. Of Cannabis W/intent To Distribute. My question is, why did my brother get arrested when he was not even in the car and how is his friend not arrested as well? There is no proof it was was brothers and he did not admit to anything. Does this make any sense to you?

 

[mightymoose]

The friend is not too bright, nor is the officer in this case, but it is pretty slick how he convinced the friend to lead him to your brother.
The friend did not have to open the glovebox on demand. The cop will say it was opened willingly to retrieve documents when he then saw/smelled marijuana. If the friend was truly ORDERED to open it and felt he had no choice then it could be an issue of an unlawful search.
As for your brother, he can likely beat this IF he kept his mouth shut. Who knows what he said to the officer.
Your brother needs to lawyer up on this and possibly argue that an unlawful search was made.

 

[courtneydd1]

He told us he kept his mouth shut, Not sure though. His friend got lucky thats for sure. I know if he is found guilty then he wont be able to graduate from that school and he has a month left. I told him if they want to talk to you tell them you need to speak to your lawyer. I just really hope he listened to me. But are you allowed to arrest someone for drugs if their not even in physical reach of them?

 

[army judge]

No, one can't be arrested for drugs not in his possession or immediate control. But, your brother appears to have been arrested, nevertheless.

Speak with your brother.
Have him plead not guilty and hire him a lawyer.
If you or he can't afford a lawyer, have him ask the judge to appoint one fir him.

Once the lawyer is hired, leave this up to him / her to resolve. In the meantime, he should keep his mouth shut. Also, he should stay away from his "friend",forever.
He should never loan his car to anyone.

 

[mightymoose]

The only way your brother should have been arrested in this circumstance is if he made a statement claiming ownership.... if it really was your brother's weed and he didn't want his buddy to go down for then he may have said something.

Don't worry about school... he will be able to stall court long enough that he graduates first.