A young college student landed in trouble after campus police smelled what they thought was marijuana wafting from his shared dorm room. The officer searched the dorm room and found smoking paraphernalia. The paraphernalia was confiscated, and the student was charged with marijuana possession.
If convicted, the student could have been facing 30 days in jail and a $500 fine for a first offense. He also may have lost his driver’s license for six months. Plus, he could have lost time toward his degree since many colleges and universities will suspend students convicted of any kind of criminal offense.
The student hired attorney Cerid Lugar of Roanoke law firm Copenhaver, Ellett & Derrico to defend him against the marijuana possession charge. After reviewing the facts, Lugar discovered authorities hadn’t followed the proper procedure when trying to prove the residue in the paraphernalia was in fact marijuana. The case was dismissed, and now Lugar is working to get the arrest expunged from the student’s record to he won’t have any kind of criminal history.
Case results depend upon a variety of factors unique to each case. Case results do not guarantee or predict a similar result in any future case.