Arrested and taken into custody for possession of cannabis but never issued citations

Question

I was recently arrested for possession of cannabis and paraphernalia and was arrested and stayed in jail for a couple of hours before i was bailed out. I left jail only with a yellow bond paper stating my court date but no citations. Will this hold up in court? Last time i recall getting arrested i had to show those yellow citations to the judge and now i simply wont have them. Also the way i got was arrested was a little weird too. I was in the back seat of a friend's car and he was simply pulled over for obstruction of view because he had a necklace hanging from the rear view mirror. Then out of nowhere the cops bring search dogs. Can they do that? They pulled the driver aside and i think he made the mistake of telling the cops they could search the car. He wouldn't legally have to agree to something like this would he? They had no probable cause unless the dog catching onto a sent would pass for probable cause(which i dont think it smelled anything, that dog looked like it thought it was going for a walk). Do i have any defense here whatsoever? And please...no answers from people who think their perfect and are gonna give me one of those "well dont do drugs" line.

Answer 1

Lee J: Dont gimme that bullsh*T, i've been smoking dope for 12 years, i got good grades in high school and college, and make a good wage, my life is on track, never had a criminal record.

Dont blame dope for idiots mistakes. The idiots are idiots, with or without the dope.

Just because you dont like it, dont give been bull about it, because weed hasn't killed a single person. It the safest drug out there, h**l, aspirin has killed more people that weed.

Answer 2

In some instances, the prosecuting attorney drafts a criminal complaint, and that is used the charge you, instead of a citation.  There is no requirement to give you the citation, or the complaint, before you are released. You could be served right up until your court appearance.

Police can walk a drug dog around the outside of your vehicle without a warrant, and without consent. The US Supreme Court ruled you have a lesser expectation of privacy when in a vehicle on a public road, and you have no expectation in the area outside the car, where the dog works.  In this case, it sounds like the driver gave consent anyway.

If a dog hits on the car, that gives the police probable cause to search. The legal term for this is "judicial notice". This means the court recognizes the dog is well trained,  and if he hits, it is very likely there are drugs in the car.