contents of garbage was factor in probable cause
This is a discussion on contents of garbage was factor in probable cause within the Drugs Charges forum, part of the Arrests, Searches, Seizures category; I am a female in my early 30's and currently facing criminal charges for drug possession and intent to deliver? ...
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#1 |
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I am a female in my early 30's and currently facing criminal charges for drug possession and intent to deliver? Well obviously this isn't unheard of, but I am struggling with the facts or factors that resulted with these charges. I'm going to try to stick to the basics, but will try to give additional information later if necessary.
One morning in August this last summer, I awoke to what i thought was going to be a better than normal day. But about 20-30 min after waking, before I knew what was happening, my home was surrounded by narcotics police officers and found myself running to the front door to answer the loud pounding on my door and yelling announcing who was pounding and of their intention to serve a no-knock search warrant. Before i got to the door, it flew open and many men with guns came running towards me and my roommate pointing their guns and screaming at us to get down on the ground. They continued to yell at us, and asking one of us to confirm our identity as they incorrectly stated a first and last name. I was the only tenant listed on the lease, and though they were saying it incorrectly and they were directing it at my roommate, it was my name they were screaming and indicating that they wanted verification that one of us was the person that they were naming. I immediately told them who i was and to please please not let anyone hurt my son who was in bed in his room and only 7 years old. When I asked why they were there they handed me a copy of a search warrant stating the address & description of my home and that they were looking for narcotics known as methamphetamine, its dirivatives, evidence of the manufacturing of the drug, any illegal drug records or instruments used to conduct an illegal narcotics operation and venue items showing persons residing at the address. What was the probable cause? Two anonymous phone calls nearly two months apart from each other stating that they had observed heavy short term traffic. The first call also refered to different colored lights on the back porch at different times. And the second call stated that unknown persons would go to back of house and on the contrary to short term traffic would go into the shed for long periods of time. They found that to be unusual because of the hot summer temperatures and that they suspected there was a lab for manufacturing methamphetamines. Next the officers claim that they pulled 5 bags of garbage from the curb in front of my house and the contents that they call probable cause were several torn baggies and a broken glass smoking pipe with residue and venue items belonging to my roommate and an additional item giving the name of another friend of mine but did not indicated that she resided there. From the trash and a utility check, they ran background checks on myself and my roommate, one of us had a possession of marijuana (less than an ounce) from 5 years prior and the other had nothing. Charges resulting from this search were for possession of a controlled substance for both of us. They recovered 1.5 grms, misc paraphenelia, $320 total from everyone in the house, etc. but no meth lab or evidence that there was ever a lab to manuf methamphetamines. They found a air conditioned music studio in the shed that they suspected to be a lab. At what point was their probable cause grounds for a search warrant? And what is grounds for a search warrant, possession or manufacturing? And does a knock & announce warrant really mean knock and kick the door in anyway? And believe it or not, two months later, they returned only this time with a no knock warrant and a swat team. This time my roommate was not home. And upon the recovery of approx 4 grms and hardly any other justifiable evidence arrest me and i remained incarcerated for almost two weeks. When i returned to my home had been burglarized (after my front door being kicked in twice), a car stolen from my drive way and found caught on fire and later impounded, an eviction notice from my landlord, loss of my job, and my roommate who knows where. Most importantly, my son, was taken that morning of the second warrant, by the state's child protection services and though placed with my parents under their foster care, my parental rights and custody was revoked and my son became a ward of the state. Surely there is an abundance of information and details that i can provide if requested or needed to correctly answer my questions, but I think there's enough info to get something started. I am so overwhelmed by the loss of my child, my life, my career, my home, my friends, my dignity, my independence, faith in everyone and everything, ability to trust myself or logic, and complete loss in faith in our justice system and my lawyer who is my paid defense attorney - that I can barely get out of bed everyday, let alone keep up with this recovery process, or even make a decision. I just need a brake. One person, or one lawyer that will be able to see that someone made a mistake and that none of this makes any sense. I personally feel like the attorneys and police, and judges have the system by the balls and even if they're walking a fine line, they get to walk it. If i could find the right person to listen or help, I may have a chance to salvage something, if there's anything worth while, of myself, my life or my dignity. I am guilty of possessing illegal narcotics for personal use, but I wasn't arrested on the street or at some party, I was in my own home! I had a legitimate job, had earned a $38,000 a yr salary, had a clean house that drugs or drug use were not apparent or in plain veiw. My son was never subjected to drugs or the use of drugs. He does well in school, didn't have excessive absence from school, had everything a kid needs or wants, nice clothes and cool toys, there was food in the fridge and we had electricity. Oh yea, there wasn't a bunch of stolen items, or luxurious belongings indicating other illegal activity or supplemental income. I never claimed to be perfect, but I guarantee you that I led a more honest, law abiding life than the majority of other single, middle income, minority, high school graduates in this city. Can someone please help me! I'm dying, inside and out. |
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#2 |
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Is legal counsel involved now? Where is your child now? Still gone from you?
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#3 |
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I retained an attorney when i was arrested the first time, and when i was arrested the second time & went to my bond hearing I advised the judge that i had an attorney (though he didnt show up). Then about a week later, while i was still incarcerated i recd a letter stating that the state or judge had appointed my attorney to represent me for the charges that I was currently incarcerated for.
I also have an attorney that was appointed to represent me in juvenille court. My son is still a ward of the state, but lives with my parents and they are acting as foster parents. I was approved my the judge to live in the same household about 6 wks ago. Prior to that approval, when I got out of jail my son and I were limited to 1-2 supervised visits a week. Then after about 3-4 weeks, I was allowed daily visits but still under my parents supervision and then also 2 scheduled supervised visits per week with an agency who assigned our family to one worker who would then document all visits and activity during those visits. Neither one of these attorneys, or anyone else in the system seem to care about the circumstances which led to my arrests. And I realize that I am not an innocent party, but when they have to break my door in and invade my privacy to convict a person who is a "user", why arent they breaking down doors where there is a large amount of criminal activity and conspiracies involving criminal activity, let alone the manufacturing of the drugs which I was suspected of manufacturing. And why wasn't there a police investigation with some substancial evidence? Also, isn't it against the law to have a search warrant validate what seems to me to be more like a "fishing" expedition? Why isn't my landlord or the police , or both liable for not securing my home and my belongings once they made forcible entry? |
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#4 |
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By the way, I forgot to mention that there is a chance that the second charge may get dropped all together. One reason being that I pointed out to my lawyer that they had misrepresented their evidence at my bond hearing and priliminary, overstating the quantity that they stated they recovered.
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#5 |
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The arrest seems valid to me, now you may want to make sure counsel negotiates a solution so you can get back with the kids over time--and stay away from the drugs . The judge is going to want to see that your kids are the most important thing to you;
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