Guilty or Not Guilty

although a little out of focus proof that they could have instantly produced me a photo on the spot as i did with my camera phone. 

     This Thursday the 18 th, is the day I go to court on my ticket for being in possession of pot or marijuana. I will need to enter a plea and that usually comes down to the judge asking if you are guilty not guilty or are you pleading no contest. I believe I am entering a plea for not guilty due to medical condition, and also due to entrapment. I have a bad back and the herb does me good at times as it takes my mind off how I feel at times. It isn’t like I am blown away or in a mind altering state, it is just me feeling average again, something a lot of people my age wish they could do in the state of Ohio. The antiquated law  prevents millions of people from administering relief in a safe proven and unfortunately illegal means of treating one’s own pain.

     It is responsible for the incarceration of thousands of individuals for varying amounts of the illegal drug, and costs the American taxpayers millions of dollars to try and prevent a harmless drug from reaching the streets, and instead of preventing its use among the populace only feeds the coffers of a black market industry that is nontaxable. Yet pot lives on and today is more prevalent than ever as millions watch progressive states like Washington and Colorado legalize marijuana and many more states allow its use for medical purposes. Am I any different than any of those people in other states who are citizens of the United States like myself?

     The only unfortunate difference is I live in Ohio. Even the federal government is taking steps to eliminate and offer early parole to drug offenders who have been incarcerated in the federal prisons due to selling or possessing huge amounts of strictly marijuana. I was caught with a very minuscule amount of pot, I would say less than a quarter of the amount needed to roll a joint. The amount was so small that at one point I thought of disposing of the pot and baggy there at the site, but instead decided to shove it back in my pocket and carry it back to the car and not litter the area where I was and where many before me had left their trash. I left no traces in those woods of myself and believe that I also threw the roach in the bag.

    The number of times I have carried pot on myself in a vehicle is very limited and close to none. They searched my vehicle and found no traces of any other pot or even a burned roach in my car. So if there is 28 grams to an ounce I would say they have less than half a gram to test. I imagine they will have to dig into their own stash to find enough to test, maybe they can contribute a few buds to their cause. Out of that one joint that was burned the amount of THC that was extracted from smoking had to be close to nothing,  just enough to ease my pain at that moment and let me enjoy the surroundings. I negotiated steep hills I had to climb out of and showed no signs of being under the influence. I just felt good till the god squad showed up to enlighten me that they had pictures of me from above smoking a joint.

     I am not one to lie, and after being presented with the so called evidence that they had observed me smoking a joint from surveillance and then saying they would make it easier on me if I agreed to cooperate, I figured I should do the right thing and admit that I had pot on me as if figured they would search me one way or another, especially if they knew I was smoking from their surveillance photos. It was only after a later discussion with the officer that I asked for a copy of the photo they had taken as evidence that I was indeed observed smoking a joint only to find out that no photo existed . He looked at me dazed as if he had just smoked a big fatty and asked me what photo. I thought surely they would have taken photos or possibly videos of this encounter to later be used in court as evidence in such a major drug bust. After all this is 2014 and it’s not like he couldn’t take the phone out of his pocket and snapped a photo of me putting a joint to my lips. Instead he said he the camera only picked up me going through the motions of me smoking a joint. I was pissed I was duped by this guy into believing if I was honest with them they would be honest with me. So I asked for a copy of the surveillance camera actually showing me going through the motions and again I was told it didn’t exist. That they had a right to protect their surveillance although it was used as a means to hold and detain me and search my vehicle on the premise that I was a major drug dealer. It was at this point of me quizzing the wildlife officer that his superior stepped in and said I should stop asking questions or fear being taken into custody for being unruly. Learning when to be quiet although I had a lot of questions and a feeling that I was being shafted is  lesson I have learned from police before, and this is a battle I needed to fight another day as I was outnumbered by four wildlife officers.

      At the same time they had detained five other individuals at the same time. One for underage drinking and pot smoking, another friend of hers for pot smoking and drinking and having an open container in vehicle, also they detained three other individuals for the same offense as me, and when checking their licenses and id’s found that they all received driver license suspensions for various reasons. These honorable folks whom I enjoyed a lively chat with had offered to replace my pot that was lost. As far as I know I was the only one issued a ticket a summons to appear. I will wait for my court date and see if any of the others appear to answer a ticket. Nobody was allowed to leave in their vehicles and I had made arrangements to be picked up and my brother drove me home.

 in fact i did take a photo of them hassling other patrons of the park with my phone. so where's their pics

       Whether any of these individuals were guilty of doing anything is not for me to decide but was only stated to show the extent to which these officers made a search of all our vehicles without any probable cause. They just swooped in and detained all who were in the parking lot at the time and made generalizations about their guilt, and hoped for the best. They kept asking if I had needles and abused other drugs, even though they had supposed evidence of me smoking pot. I was questioned first about pot , as it would be most people’s illegal drug of choice , and then heroin I guess is what they were looking for next.  They were grasping at straws hoping to be the officer who scored the big bust and would get his name in the paper or possibly even a higher position in the chain of fools. At one point they asked if that was all I had on me after scoring less than a joints worth and knowing they were going to search my vehicle . I asked them how much they wanted me to carry on myself would a pound make them happier. I told him I could only smoke one joint at a time and that what they had was all I had left.

      As one being accused of a crime I know for a fact I have a right to see the evidence produced to support a legal search, as well any statement by the officer who arrested me. He led me to believe that he had evidence and that they would go easier on me if I helped them out by being honest with them. In fact they had no evidence to even formulate a suspicion I was smoking that they can produce in today’s age of surveillance techniques that we as citizens pay the police departments dearly for. So their lack of supporting evidence would tend to make one believe it was a witch hunt. Being honest only allowed them to search my vehicle and my person to find the evidence they needed to detain me in the first place. This is called entrapment where they get you to willingly admit against your right to testify against yourself without advising you to what extent they have evidence to support their accusations. They had no right to detain me in the first place. I have no criminal record and no motor vehicle citations in the last 15 years I am aware of. Simply running my plates would have yielded no information. Apparently they have no supporting evidence on their part except my testimony that I even was guilty of anything. They interfered with my right to move freely without fear of prosecution.

      This country since 9/11 has become a police state. Guilt by association is the norm when matters are handled by the police departments. In fact if you look guilty of something it is enough probable cause to stop you and search your possessions, to see if you are guilty of being a domestic terrorist. If you don’t believe me then try climbing on a plane without going through security.   Although you may not have committed any crime you are still treated like a criminal before you have committed a crime. What has all this cost us in terms of monetary support to provide the protection necessary and individual loss freedom rights associated with the guilt association laws in effect today? I could be termed a terrorist and forbid from enjoying any rights just by saying the wrong thing, whether I meant it or not. In fact me being a citizen of the United States, I could still be whisked away to an unknown location and held indefinitely without my family or friends having any idea of what happened to me just by being labeled a terrorist. Tell me we don’t live in a police state. George Orwell’s predictions are becoming clearer daily.

      For the principles that involve me where they have infringed on my rights by outright deception in order to find evidence I will vehemently oppose any proceedings against me. I will appear as stated and have no intention of pleading guilty or of accepting the no contest status they offer. But instead choose to plead not guilty and take my chances in front of a jury trial and accept my consequences. Since I am disabled I will be requesting a public defender as my income level is such that I qualify and also the officer who has brought charges against me will be required to present his evidence and at this time I will be allowed to view all evidence prior to a trial and dispute any findings that violate anything that will be construed as testifying against myself. I am sure this will be a long and complicated procedure taking up a lot of the court’s time and money , but since they asked for a fight against my principles I say bring it on , even if it means going to jail over this. I doubt if it will come to that but I am prepared to accept the consequences and stand before a trial of my peers.