[OT] Marshawn Lynch charged with felony

[SwampD]

They couldn't charge anyone because they didn't know who actually had possession of the blunts? Wouldn't that just eventually fall on the owner of the car?

"Blunts or Swisher Sweets" are just cigars. Are they used to smoke pot? Yep, but they didn't find any pot on them. Otherwise I would think that they would have been charged with possession. The cops said that they smelled a strong odor of marijuana and that gave them probable cause to search. Sure they did[/sarc].

[shrader]

"Blunts or Swisher Sweets" are just cigars. Are they used to smoke pot? Yep, but they didn't find any pot on them. Otherwise I would think that they would have been charged with possession. The cops said that they smelled a strong odor of marijuana and that gave them probable cause to search. Sure they did[/sarc].

 

That quote doohickie posted just sounds like the cop trying to pile on and get his name in the papers. True or not, I don't see why he has to throw that one out there. Nothing is gained from it for the officer. I think in the end it may just make him look bitter.

 

Now, I'm not trying to say he made it up, I just don't see the point in sharing that detail especially since no charges came as a result. It's the classic "throw something out there to make what you did look justified" move that we see way too often (thanks a lot lawyers). I haven't read very much of this at all, so I have no idea. Have there been a lot of questions about the cops stepping their bounds a bit?

[darksabre]

That quote doohickie posted just sounds like the cop trying to pile on and get his name in the papers. True or not, I don't see why he has to throw that one out there. Nothing is gained from it for the officer. I think in the end it may just make him look bitter.

 

Now, I'm not trying to say he made it up, I just don't see the point in sharing that detail especially since no charges came as a result. It's the classic "throw something out there to make what you did look justified" move that we see way too often (thanks a lot lawyers). I haven't read very much of this at all, so I have no idea. Have there been a lot of questions about the cops stepping their bounds a bit?

 

Also, at least in NYS, smelling what you think is marijuana is not acceptable grounds for a search. You have to see it or have a drug dog smell it in order to search the vehicle. Smell alone is not enough to warrant a search. So at least in NYS, they weren't guilty of any crime at the time the vehicle was searched, so anything found, like the gun, would have been part of an illegal search and therefore inadmissible in a court of law.

 

So, providing Cali has similar laws to New York, Marshawn should get off regardless of whether he was guilty or not.

 

Presumption of innocence.

[deluca67]

Also, at least in NYS, smelling what you think is marijuana is not acceptable grounds for a search. You have to see it or have a drug dog smell it in order to search the vehicle. Smell alone is not enough to warrant a search. So at least in NYS, they weren't guilty of any crime at the time the vehicle was searched, so anything found, like the gun, would have been part of an illegal search and therefore inadmissible in a court of law.

 

So, providing Cali has similar laws to New York, Marshawn should get off regardless of whether he was guilty or not.

The more I hear about this the dumber Lynch looks. He was parked in a car, motor running, with his friends smoking pot with a loaded gun in the trunk. And by the way he didn't have the proper tags on the car? I think I know why his gun wasn't registered. He is too stupid to be approved for a permit. How in the hell is he licensed to drive? Did someone take the written test for him?

[shrader]

The more I hear about this the dumber Lynch looks. He was parked in a car, motor running, with his friends smoking pot with a loaded gun in the trunk. And by the way he didn't have the proper tags on the car? I think I know why his gun wasn't registered. He is too stupid to be approved for a permit. How in the hell is he licensed to drive? Did someone take the written test for him?

 

So do they have this thing going where they say they're not actually going to charge Lynch for certain things, but they decide to list them anyway? That comes off as being quite bitter to me. But like I said, I haven't read much, so I'm going by what you guys say here. Ultimately, I can't really find myself caring all that much about what happens with that team and its players.

[apuszczalowski]

Good point. To me, the $64,000 question is "why aren't the agents and players union doing more to educate these idiots about gun laws, gun safety, etc.?"

The apparently do, I think Reuben Brown said on the radio (103.3 with Shredd and Reagan) after the Buress incident that it was ging to piss off alot of players because it would mean even more gun classes and that players have alot of classes regarding weapons and public actions, etc. The problem is, just because they have to attend those classes, it doesn't mean they actually learn anything and that it doesn't go in one ear and out the other.

 

It doesn't matter why they searched the car, that will only help him get off in a court of law, he still did something illegal (carrying a weapon without a permit) and should be given some sort of punishment for it. Its the same with people who excuse charges for pot posetion/use by saying "Well it should be legal/is safer then alcohol". That doesn't matter, alcohol consumption is legal for people over a certain age, pot is not at the moment, so if you are caught with it, you should be punished.

 

And athletes need to realise that they are "role models" and "public figures" who will be scrutinized and viewed differently then regular citizens, and its the reason why they receive those million dollar contracts. That is part of their jobs, they represent the leagues they play for.

[wonderbread]

Also, at least in NYS, smelling what you think is marijuana is not acceptable grounds for a search. You have to see it or have a drug dog smell it in order to search the vehicle. Smell alone is not enough to warrant a search. So at least in NYS, they weren't guilty of any crime at the time the vehicle was searched, so anything found, like the gun, would have been part of an illegal search and therefore inadmissible in a court of law.

 

So, providing Cali has similar laws to New York, Marshawn should get off regardless of whether he was guilty or not.

 

Presumption of innocence.

 

Fruit of the posionous tree is what I believe it is called.

[deluca67]

So do they have this thing going where they say they're not actually going to charge Lynch for certain things, but they decide to list them anyway? That comes off as being quite bitter to me. But like I said, I haven't read much, so I'm going by what you guys say here. Ultimately, I can't really find myself caring all that much about what happens with that team and its players.

There was pot but they can't establish ownership. It's not bitter it's just the facts of the case as reported by the officer. In New York the owner of the car would be charged they must have softer drug laws in Cali.

[thesportsbuff]

When are they just gonna make pot legal?

[deluca67]

Also, at least in NYS, smelling what you think is marijuana is not acceptable grounds for a search. You have to see it or have a drug dog smell it in order to search the vehicle. Smell alone is not enough to warrant a search. So at least in NYS, they weren't guilty of any crime at the time the vehicle was searched, so anything found, like the gun, would have been part of an illegal search and therefore inadmissible in a court of law.

 

So, providing Cali has similar laws to New York, Marshawn should get off regardless of whether he was guilty or not.

 

Presumption of innocence.

I don't think this is true. I do believe that the smell of pot is a justified reason for a search. What is your frame of reference?

[Saudi Arabia Rob]

Also, at least in NYS, smelling what you think is marijuana is not acceptable grounds for a search. You have to see it or have a drug dog smell it in order to search the vehicle. Smell alone is not enough to warrant a search. So at least in NYS, they weren't guilty of any crime at the time the vehicle was searched, so anything found, like the gun, would have been part of an illegal search and therefore inadmissible in a court of law.

 

So, providing Cali has similar laws to New York, Marshawn should get off regardless of whether he was guilty or not.

 

Presumption of innocence.

 

 

In many states and at the Federal level, cops and agents go through marijuana burning training, which would give them the grounds to ask for a warrant or do a cursory search in conjunction with the stop. It doesn't allow them to go into closed compartments of the car without a warrant or consent. I don't know the details, but they may have given consent to search the car.

 

This is like the Phelps thing, when you're famous, you'd better be sure exactly who your friends are and what they are up to. That's why many of these folks (Jim Kelly is one example) get their family around them, since they may be the only ones they can fully trust.

[deluca67]

In many states and at the Federal level, cops and agents go through marijuana burning training, which would give them the grounds to ask for a warrant or do a cursory search in conjunction with the stop. It doesn't allow them to go into closed compartments of the car without a warrant or consent. I don't know the details, but they may have given consent to search the car.

 

This is like the Phelps thing, when you're famous, you'd better be sure exactly who your friends are and what they are up to. That's why many of these folks (Jim Kelly is one example) get their family around them, since they may be the only ones they can fully trust.

The bad tags and odor would be enough in NY to impound the car and search it completely. In NY no consent would have been needed once they smelled the pot.

[SwampD]

There was pot but they can't establish ownership. It's not bitter it's just the facts of the case as reported by the officer. In New York the owner of the car would be charged they must have softer drug laws in Cali.

That's not what the cop reported.

"They (officers) knocked on the window of the car. Someone unrolled the window. They saw three people in the car and they could smell a strong odor - marijuana coming from the car. They had the occupants exit so they could further investigate to see if there was any marajuana in the car. What they found were four, not marajuana cigarettes - what they call blunts or swisher sweets that appeared to contain marijuana in them," says Tankenson.

 

Tankenson says neither Lynch nor the other two individuals were charged with possession of marijuana because they could not determine who was smoking, or whom the cigarettes belonged to.

They appeared to have marijuana in them? He's a cop and he cant tell. Give me a break. He screwed up and now he's trying to cover his ass. Since when do you not get charged with it just because you said it wasn't yours? There was no pot in the car or someone would have been charged.

[deluca67]

That's not what the cop reported.

 

They appeared to have marijuana in them? He's a cop and he cant tell. Give me a break. He screwed up and now he's trying to cover his ass. Since when do you not get charged with it just because you said it wasn't yours? There was no pot in the car or someone would have been charged.

Was the officer supposed to take a hit and confirm on the spot? That's legal talk. When someone is staggering around drunk the cops report " he appeared to be drunk."

 

Do you know all the drug laws in California?

[SwampD]

Was the officer supposed to take a hit and confirm on the spot? That's legal talk. When someone is staggering around drunk the cops report " he appeared to be drunk."

 

Do you know all the drug laws in California?

I do not. Do you? I figured that they finally made tobacco illegal in CA and arrested him for having cigars in his car.

 

You are right though. That was legal talk. Legal talk that says,"the officer thought they were marijuana cigarette, and that's why we searched the car..um, eh, but it turns out they were only cigars. Oops. Our bad"

 

I'm sorry. I'm just not buying it. If there was pot in the car they wouldn't say they found four "not marajuana cigarettes - what they call blunts or swisher sweets that appeared to contain marijuana in them." They would say they found four marijuana cigarettes.

[shack & duff]

I think professional sports, football in particular because it is such a violent sport, should move away from attempting to put these people forward as role models. Hockey is probably the closest sport to actually having a good number of high character players and that is probably more a demographic coincidence (a lot of rural guys, middle class guys or whatever). Most players in the NFL come from harsh backgrounds (I strongly agree with Dudly on this point) and I hope my kids don't look upon these people as role models. In interviews they sound only semi-literate and their lifestyle decision-making is too often highly questionable. They play professional sports because they are athletically gifted, period. The NFL should allow the legal system to deal with the infractions with the only sport penalties being significant financial penalties and I mean like our man Marshawn should be fined somewhere in the area of 50% of his annual salary for violating league personal conduct rules (with their agents also chipping in a similar pro ration of their take). I'd drop the suspensions (that really punishes the fans as much as the athlete) and let them play for the reduced sum. I've grown very cynical about this matter and with good reason.

[darksabre]

I don't think this is true. I do believe that the smell of pot is a justified reason for a search. What is your frame of reference?

 

My criminal law teacher who used to be an assistant D.A. I had a friend that got stopped for failure to signal and the cop searched her car because he thought he smelled weed. But he never saw it and it was deemed an illegal search and he was reprimanded for it. This was Rochester PD btw.

 

In many states and at the Federal level, cops and agents go through marijuana burning training, which would give them the grounds to ask for a warrant or do a cursory search in conjunction with the stop. It doesn't allow them to go into closed compartments of the car without a warrant or consent. I don't know the details, but they may have given consent to search the car.

 

Somewhat correct. They can search the interior of the car because it is "visible" but they cannot search the trunk without reasonable cause. They don't need a warrant, just reasonable cause. It's a very weird situation, largely decided by case law.

 

As far as consent goes in NYS, you cannot give consent to an illegal search. So even if you say "yeah you can search my trunk" they still can't do it, because they have to have reasonable cause to search it. A drug dog flipping #%^$#! would be reasonable cause to search for drugs. Smelling what you think is pot, and then asking to search, is not.

[apuszczalowski]

I think professional sports, football in particular because it is such a violent sport, should move away from attempting to put these people forward as role models. Hockey is probably the closest sport to actually having a good number of high character players and that is probably more a demographic coincidence (a lot of rural guys, middle class guys or whatever). Most players in the NFL come from harsh backgrounds (I strongly agree with Dudly on this point) and I hope my kids don't look upon these people as role models. In interviews they sound only semi-literate and their lifestyle decision-making is too often highly questionable. They play professional sports because they are athletically gifted, period. The NFL should allow the legal system to deal with the infractions with the only sport penalties being significant financial penalties and I mean like our man Marshawn should be fined somewhere in the area of 50% of his annual salary for violating league personal conduct rules (with their agents also chipping in a similar pro ration of their take). I'd drop the suspensions (that really punishes the fans as much as the athlete) and let them play for the reduced sum. I've grown very cynical about this matter and with good reason.

Why should NHL players be considered any different then NFL players? They all play sports and are in there positions for being athletically gifted, They are looked at as role models because kids see them and want to be just like them because they want to spend their life playing a game they love now too. NFL players coming from bad neighborhoods should be better role models then others because they can teach kids from those bad areas that they can make it out too and become something of themselves, unfortunatly more often then not, the players don't take full advantage of their free gift of education they are given, and they get back into the lifestyle of their former neighborhoods even when they are out.

[shack & duff]

The spotlight is a lot brighter on the NFL than the NHL and we're probably fortunate that the NHL is still, in spite of league efforts, a regional entity. The microscopic number of people who make it into the NFL compared to the general population is the best argument for these folks not being put forward as role models. Even if you're moderately good at the Division 1 level of college ball, you're probably going to be better off in life by actually learning something in college. Not that we're going to affect it by speaking to it, but we really reward the lesser human talents-and there aren't too many bigger Bills/Sabres fans out there than me (I discussed it with my wife the other day and I figured out that I probably have missed less than a half dozen Monday Night Football games since it began).

[shrader]

There was pot but they can't establish ownership. It's not bitter it's just the facts of the case as reported by the officer. In New York the owner of the car would be charged they must have softer drug laws in Cali.

 

Is that actually listed in the police report though? If it's not and the officer just decided to share it in public instead, it definitely doesn't look right.

[Lethbridge Broncos]

fred jackson is SOOOOOO HAPPY. he just got a HUGE CONTRACT. nice going freddie...

[deluca67]

My criminal law teacher who used to be an assistant D.A. I had a friend that got stopped for failure to signal and the cop searched her car because he thought he smelled weed. But he never saw it and it was deemed an illegal search and he was reprimanded for it. This was Rochester PD btw.

I have it on good authority that the odor of pot is justifiable cause to search in NYS. I don't know all the particulars in the case you mentioned there may have been other mitigating circumstances. In NYS the odor of pot would justify the search of the vehicle and the finding of blunts filled with pot is enough to impound the car and search it thoroughly locked compartments and all.

[deluca67]

I do not. Do you? I figured that they finally made tobacco illegal in CA and arrested him for having cigars in his car.

 

You are right though. That was legal talk. Legal talk that says,"the officer thought they were marijuana cigarette, and that's why we searched the car..um, eh, but it turns out they were only cigars. Oops. Our bad"

 

I'm sorry. I'm just not buying it. If there was pot in the car they wouldn't say they found four "not marajuana cigarettes - what they call blunts or swisher sweets that appeared to contain marijuana in them." They would say they found four marijuana cigarettes.

I don't know all the CA laws but from what I understand they are a bit more lax than say New York.

 

Have you ever seen a blunt that contained pot? It is easy to tell when it has been altered. When the officer saw the cigarettes he would know right away they had been altered and could easily guess why.

 

No matter how the entire arrest went down there are certain facts that are indisputable. Lynch is a moron and needs to smarten up or hire himself a babysitter. That arrest will cost probably four game checks and millions in future earnings. Another fact is that Lynch has nowhere the talent that makes putting up with his stupidity worth it.

[deluca67]

Is that actually listed in the police report though? If it's not and the officer just decided to share it in public instead, it definitely doesn't look right.

I was hoping the smoking gun would have the report. I'm sure they will soon.