Busted with unrelated charge pending

My 16-year-old brother was arrested the other day in our town in New York for criminal possession of marijuana in the 5th degree (class B misdemeanor). The cop caught him smoking in a public place and found about a gram and a pipe in his pocket. This happened the day before a court date for an unrelated incident in which he was facing a charge of criminal trespass in the 3rd degree (class B misdemeanor). The first charge arose from a party he attended at a house under construction in which there was thousands of dollars worth of vandalism. The police caught one person who was there and he ratted everyone else out. He admitted to attending the party, but claimed he left before the vandalism, and the statements of everyone else there back up that claim. He has an attorney and is fighting the trespass charge. His attorney is also having him plead not guilty to the possession charge in hopes of pleading it down. Unfortunately, despite the fact that the two charges are in different courts, they are both prosecuted by the same district attorney's office so the judge in both cases will find out about the other incident. My question is what do you think the possible outcomes are if he is convicted of both charges, or gets off on the trespass charge but not the possession? How will the possession charge affect the first case? What are the chances of pleading the marijuana charge down to say unlawful possession of marijuana (civil infraction)? What about license suspensions, probation, community service, fines, etc? What happens if he is busted for pot again if he is put under probation? His attorney is attempting to get youthful offender status in both cases so his records will be sealed. What are the chances of this? Thaks in advance for your responses.

Here's whats going to happen. I'm not a legal expert but I know a lot of people that have been in trouble with the cops in cases like these.

Since he is 16 he'll be charged as a juvinile. His records will be sealed when he turns 18. He shouldn't be charged with vandalism, and the tesspassing charge is likely to be lowered to something like criminal mischeif. I don't know the laws in New York, but its very likely they aren't too much different than Tx. In the possession charge, He'll plea not guilty, and will be given a plea bargain. The prosecutor and his attorney will work out some kind of deal. It's likely that he will be charged with unlawful possession of marijuana, and be given probation. If he doesn't break his probation before he turns 18 his records will be sealed. If he does, he'll spend time in jail and those records will probably be held against him [even though legally, they aren't supposed to hold juvinile records against you as an adult, it is a witness of character.]

If he comes out of this without serving any time he needs to lay low and stay out of trouble for the next couple years.

All I can do is wish your brother the best of luck, and hope this serves as a little bit of a wake up call.

Thank you very much for your response. As for the first case, they are not charging him with vandalism because they have no evidence he was responsible for the damage. I believe that in New York, criminal mishchief is considered a bigger crime than criminal tresspass, but there is a change they'll let him off with unlawful trespass which is a violation. Unfortunately New York law requires everyone over 16 to be tried as an adult. The only difference is that 16, 17, and 18 year old offenders get their records sealed for a first offense, and the judge can decide to seal the records for subsequent offenses. If he manages to get the possession charge down to unlawful possession of marijuana, then he would serve no probation because that charge is handled more like a speeding ticket and he would recieve just a $100 fine. Anyone with more input on the possible outcomes of this case?

Dude your brother is lucky. I am 14 and i recently got busted. I am being charged with a misdomeanor and a felony!!!!! I also maybe expelled from skewl cause thats where sum bitch ratted me out.

Wow, that sucks. What's the felony charge? Were you dealing or something?

John, why was your brother smoking weed in public? Does your brother have some form of mental disability?

A rectal-cranial inversion, perhaps?

My brother is only 16-years-old and doesn't have a lot of places to go. There's no way to hide the smell from our parents in our apartment. Our father works the night shift and our mother works during the day, so there's always someone home. I guess none of his friends are comfortable having people smoke in their houses either. Most teenagers realize that smoking outside is dangerous, especially in our town where the cops are everywhere and love to bust kids for that stuff. They would love to have a safe, indoor place to smoke. For most of them, however, they have no place to do it but outside in public. He was in a relatively secluded area, but they managed to get him anyway.

It may not be that bad though, because his attorney knows the DA and is confident he can combine the seperate charges into one incident and get the whole thing reduced to a single disorderly conduct conviction, which is just a violation. He went to court for the arraignment for the MJ charge this morning, and the judge gave him a 10 minute speach on how he can tell he's really a good kid that made a mistake.

Don't have somewhere safe to smoke? Find one. Yes, you can find one. When you do, only a couple of close friends can know about it, if you/your brother tel anyone about it.

Can't find one despite your best efforts? Expect to get busted.

Just be smart. In this post-9/11 country (Goose-stepping our way to a better Amerika!), getting busted for any crime is getting more and more serious.

Be careful and good luck.

My brother thought this place was safe. He'd smoked there dozens of times in the past. There are a lot of places in town that were always considered safe, and somehow the cops are finding them and raiding them. This isn't even the issue anymore, since they already got him.

Here's a tip:

Smoking weed outside anywhere is a bad idea, no matter how many times you have done it before. this includes outdoor concerts, at Marijuana rallies, in a park, or even in a big, wide open field in the middle of the country.

Smoke in a house where you or one of your friends live who doesn't mind you smoking. Anything else is begging for trouble, as your brother can attest.

Good luck and let's all use our heads.