Tampa criminal court case results
- questions about drug possession
- facts: The client was a passenger in a vehicle when his friend (driver) was stopped for Driving Under the Influence. As the client was asked to exit the vehicle for safety reasons the Tampa Police Officer asked him if he had any drugs or weapons on him. Our client responded, "no". As the officer patted down the client for weapons he noticed that the client's legs were unusually close together. The officer asked the client to spread his legs. When he did, the officer found cocaine on the ground beneath the client's pant's leg. He was placed in handcuffs and arrested for possession of cocaine.
- defense: The client claimed that the driver threw the cocaine at him shortly before the car was stopped by police and he panicked and placed the cocaine in his pants. The driver was on probation for trafficking in cocaine. Apparently, the driver acknowledged our client's story when friends called the driver to get bond money for the client. During a phone call to the jail the co-defendant acknowledged that our client, "took the rap" for him. Once we took sworn depositions of these witnesses we went to the State Attorney to address not only the issue of possession, but also the procedures followed by law enforcement when they encountered our client (passenger).
- results: The felony Cocaine Charge was eventually DISMISSED.
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