Articles Posted in Drug Offenses

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We have discussed the realities of being arrested for possession of controlled substances in Boston. We have investigated the importance of the location of that arrest. I have painted, I suppose, a fairly bleak picture. However, I have also told you that an experienced criminal defense attorney can make a difference as to the disposition of the resulting criminal matter.

There are certain defenses which are available in drug possession cases. Some of them may seem obvious, but given the state of the law, they need to be pursued in a particular way.

For example, it is probably already apparent that if there are no drugs in your possession when the police come, that it makes it harder to prosecute you. This is probably why I see many cases in which, upon seeing the police approach, the soon-to-be-defendant simply drops the bag of drugs down and runs away in hopes that, since the drugs are no longer in his hand, he cannot be prosecuted. Actually, that little gesture has not helped him at all. In fact, it has hurt him.
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You have been arrested for drug possession. You had some cocaine in your pocket as you were going home last night. You are a visitor to Boston and so brought lots of cash to get you through your visit. As you returned home last night to your hotel, the police thought you looked like a suspect they were looking for in a robbery. The good news is that you were not identified by the “muggee”.
The bad news is the police found the cocaine. And the money. Now, you are in custody waiting to meet your defense attorney.

Does this sound like an unlikely scenario to you? It really isn’t. But I have not even hit the worst part yet. Remember that “lots of cash” I mentioned above? That has convinced law enforcement that you were possessing the cocaine with the intent to sell it. Not bad enough yet? How about that you are also being charged with being in said possession in a “school zone”?

That last little charge opens you up to a mandatory sentence to be served after the sentence for the possession with intent to distribute.

Now, not being terribly familiar with Boston, you look at your lawyer in disbelief as he tells you this. You did not see any schools around where you were walking.

The fact is…you did not have to.
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So, you were out last Saturday night in Boston, enjoying the ten minutes or so that it was not raining. You figure you will celebrate with the herb of your choice. After all, this is 2009 and you can just light up some marijuana you have in your pocket and toke away, you figure. So…why do you find you need a defense attorney come Monday?

The current drug laws, including those involving marijuana, can be somewhat confusing…on or off of campus

For example, passage of the so-called decriminalization of marijuana has created a certain amount of misunderstanding. While it is not actually criminal to be in possession of an ounce or under of pot, it is not exactly celebrated either. The marijuana can be taken from you under the statute and you may have to pay a civil fine.

On the other hand, the circumstances of the arrest can still bring you back into the spotlight of criminal prosecution. For example, if there are reasons to believe you may be sharing or selling the drug, you can still be prosecuted for either trafficking or possession with intent to sell. Further, if you are under age, there are other provisions in the statute that effect you.
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Between press conferences that threaten to bring the Professor Gates’ arrest for disorderly conduct back into headlines, Boston joins the rest of the world in watching the latest Michael Jackson thriller. This time, it features potential clashes between the legal and medical professions and may well end up starring over a dozen doctors teamed up with their very own criminal defense attorneys.

Los Angeles detectives and coroners have been very busy gathering information on doctors who have treated Michael over the years. In fact, their pursuits have included making the requisite showing to courts in order to get subpoenas and search warrants to obtain medical files and search residences as well as offices.

It has apparently been determined that Jackson was taking a lot of drugs. No, we are not talking about illegal drugs such as cocaine and heroin. These are legal drugs…so long as you have a valid prescription. However, when misused, they can be life-threatening. It is said that Michael used more than two dozen aliases in order to get these drugs. Nineteen of these identities are apparently mentioned in affidavits used by law enforcement to secure search warrants in their investigation. These 19 were said to have been used in connection with Dr. Conrad Murray.

Dr. Murray was apparently Jackson’s primary doctor who had a very “hands on” attitude when it came to Michael. According to according to Kai Chase, a professionally trained chef hired by Jackson to, ironically enough, maintain a healthy food regimen, Dr. Murray was at the scene of the death. On that morning, however, Dr. Murray did not follow his usual procedure of taking Michael his breakfast foods and bringing down his oxygen tanks.

On the day that Jackson died, Ms. Chase saw the doctor do neither…which was a sign that something was wrong.
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Last week, I posted a blog about a group of do-it-yourself sleuths who tried to solve the murder mystery of fallen 21-year-old Justin C. (hereinafter, the “Deceased”) at Harvard University. The result? The investigators they hired ended up arrested instead. That posting, by the way, can be found here. Meantime, the professionals were busy at work trying to solve the murder mystery that had come to Cambridge. The police arrested Jabrai C., 20, of New York, (hereinafter, the “Defendant”) for the crime. The Defendant and his lawyer have answered “Not Guilty” to charges of murder, accessory after the fact to murder and Massachusetts possession of a firearm.

The Deceased had been shot in the basement common room in a dormitory of the Cambridge campus. It has been determined that multiple shots were fired at the scene and that there were individuals aside from the Defendant and Deceased, who were present and involved in the shooting.

The Defendant, a New York songwriter, turned himself in to the Cambridge Police, according to the District Attorney’s office of Middlesex County, and will be held without bail until his July 15th hearing. However, the DA has also announced that two female Harvard students are linked to the incident. It is suspected that they allowed those involved in the murder to gain entry to Kirkland House.

Leone declined to comment on what if any charges might be pressed against the two Harvard students, but they both were asked to leave campus and are not be allowed to graduate this month. One of the two women is Chanequa C. (hereinafter, the “Accused”)

“This is a highly educated, independent young woman who has literally been cared for since she was a teenager by Harvard-and now they have terminated her right to be on campus,” the Accused lawyer has complained. “There is no justification for it. She may have known the people involved, but you know, it’s not guilt by association in this country.”
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Two Massachusetts Criminal Defense Attorneys have new clients resulting from their dealings with local police departments this past weekend. The two men handled the situation differently, but both methods ended in the same place…custody.

First there was the adventure of Randy G., 25 of Boston (hereinafter, “Defendant 1”). Defendant1 indicated that he was rather fond of doing business with a certain undercover police officer. In fact, he liked him so much, he thought it would be nice for the undercover to be a regular customer for his drug trade.

How did he do that? Well, the good old fashioned way – he tried to entice him with a bargain. He offered the undercover detective a lower price on crack, cocaine, if he would buy in volume.

The bargain was that Defendant1 would sell the UC seven or eight bags of crack for only one hundred dollars if he agreed to join his cadre of regular customers.

Not a bad deal…if you are in the market for that sort of thing.

The UC, however, wasn’t. He responded by offering Defendant1 a pair of the Commonwealth’s Bracelets of Shame. It was a deal Defendant1 could not refuse. Literally.
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As last week ended, many of us were still preparing for the summer weather which seems to taunt us in the Boston area every few days. Other, less mundane, issues were consuming the thoughts of Robert L. of Gloucester (hereinafter, the “Defendant”). He and his defense lawyer were awaiting a verdict in his Homicide trial in Lawrence Superior Court.

The jury returned Friday with a mixed verdict for him. He was found to be not guilty of manslaughter, but will still be serving the next three to six years in state prison for the selling of prescription painkillers.

The case dates back to December 17, 2004, when Richard B., 38, (hereinafter, the “Deceased”) died after paramedics found him in cardiac arrest, unconscious and not breathing, in his car outside his Essex Street house. Law enforcement believed that the Deceased had overdosed on a drug known as Fentanyl which had been contained in a patch designed for slow absorption through the skin that he had apparently opened and ingested.

After more than a year of investigation, the Commonwealth decided that the Defendant, 43 at the time, had sold the Deceased, his co-worker, the drug for $50 after a Christmas party. Given the unhappy result, they not only charged him of the sale of the drug, but also with manslaughter.
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I remember years ago, before I was a lawyer, growing up in the Boston area and hearing commercials about what happens if you are arrested for possessing a gun. “If you are caught with a gun”, I recall it saying, “you will go to jail for one year…and nobody can get you out”. The tone of the announcement made it clear that the possession of guns was behind the ever-worsening crime problem.

And, then, came the other public service announcements which declared, “Guns don’t kill people, People kill people.”

And so it seemed to me that the obvious solution would be to simply send the guns to jail for a year with no hope them of getting out.

Then came my education at the hands of the Boston University School of Law, the Kings County District Attorney’s Office and, finally, my many years as a Massachusetts criminal defense attorney. Throughout these years, I have seen the gun issue from many different perspectives. All of these perspectives get a voice in the realities of the criminal justice system.

The result?

There is no one clear and simple answer as to how gun possession is handled by the courts. As with most things in the criminal justice system, it depends on the circumstances. There is no simple, issue-free gun possession case. This is why you need an experienced criminal defense attorney to guide you through the morass of potential scenarios when facing prosecution for possessing a firearm.

And that is why this week’s Attorney Sam’s Take discussion is about gun possession in Massachusetts.
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Dogs are considered “Man’s Best Friend”. In the Boston area, though, they are particularly close with “man” involved in criminal prosecutions. After almost a quarter century as an attorney, I can finally see the day coming when I may have to cross-examine a pooch. A number of cases this very month underscore the canine war against crime.

Let’s start with a story from the Boston Herald this very Tuesday. Michael P., 52, of Allston (hereinafter, “Defendant 1”) had a bit of an altercation with his neighbor’s German shepherd. Yes, the altercation included Defendant1’s assault of the dog.

You see, Defendant 1 says he was frustrated and angry with the dog because it constantly barked at him from behind a fence. For some reason, Defendant1 apparently thought that throwing hot coffee in the dog’s face might clear up the issue.

The police were called to the scene. While the dog’s owner told prosecutors that his dog suffered no injuries, the officers were still able to smell the coffee on the dog’s fur.
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You’ve heard of Costco, haven’t you? It is a very popular chain of stores that specializes in cost-cutting by purchasing in volume. You know, why buy one box of napkins when you can by 80 and get a bargain in the process? It looks like some Boston-area entrepreneurs took the idea alittle too far this week. And, in case you are wondering, no, one cannot retain attorneys in bulk…although two North Shore gentlemen may wish one could.

It was in the Costco parking lot on Route 1. It was Wednesday at noon. And it was, according to law enforcement, more than 500 pounds of marijuana that was recovered.

How much is 500 pounds? Well, you know that new law that says it is no longer a crime to have a “small amount” of marihuana for your own use? Well, this would be over 8,000 x that amount.

Probably not a simple error in measurement.

The Massachusetts State Police believes that the operation was a large-scale narcotics delivery in Danvers.

The troopers set up surveillance in the parking lot in connection with an ongoing investigation. According to the officers, Brian T., 42 of Revere (“Defendant Greeter”) arrived in a rented truck as Phillip W., 37, of Saugus (“Defendant Lookout”) acted as the lookout. Then, occupants of a tractor-trailer with Indiana license plates met with Defendant Greeter.
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