Asked 3/17/2016 – Marshall, TX

We were driving home from Houston Tx went through Marshall Texas and got pulled over for speeding. The officer then took my ID and then came back to take my boyfriends id. After that he came back with another officer and asked us to step out of the car we asked why and he said I’m about to tell you step out. He then said I smelled pot have you guys been smoking tonight we said no and he asked if anything was in the car we said no. Then he said I’m going to search your vehicle he searched then after awhile found a small amount of pot and then showed it to us and proceeded to search our car 2 more times after that. Then took us to jail and booked us both. I bailed out a day later and he didn’t even charge me with speeding only under 2 ounces which what he found was no where close to even one ounce.

Answer

You have a constitutional right to counsel. If you cannot afford an attorney, the court will appoint an attorney to represent you. To request an attorney be appointed to represent you, most courts will have you complete a financial questionnaire to see if you qualify. You may want to call the court clerk to see if you will need to bring any documentation in support of your application for an appointed attorney. You are charged with a class b mismanagement, publishable by a fine of up to $2,000, up to 180 days in jail or a maximum probationary period of up to 24 months. You will be responsible for making all court appearances, even though you are out of state, so I suggest you canact a local attorney as soon as you can to see what can be done in your situation.