Can my mother be arrested for my brother's hypothetical crime?

Question

My mother and I have a strong suspicion that my little brother (19, senior in high school) has been smoking marijuana. If he is, we think he would/may be keeping it somewhere in the house, possibly in his room (eventhough we haven't found it yet).

**My question is this: If, for some reason, the police searched our house and found marijuana that my brother had stached, could my mother be charged and/arrested for it?

Answer 1

She can be charged for it, but she will not get convicted unless she took part in hiding/possessing/using the drugs.  

My advice to you would be to tell your mother and any other guardian to search the house themselves to see how big the problem is, not involve the police so soon.  Your mother has to realize that since he is 19 and has a room he has rights to that room since he is an adult.  The police would not, and if they did, would lose in court if they searched the room with only mom's permission.

Answer 2

The legal term that describes your scenario is "constructive possession". There are two elements that must be established.

1. The area the drugs are found are under her control, and

2. She had knowledge of the presence of drugs.

If she was not aware the drugs were present, she can not be charged.