Drug Arrests

Published on: July 12, 2012

Will The Maryland Legislature Address Synthetic Marijuana?

In the past few years the Maryland legislature has weakened its stance on the prosecution of marijuana possession cases. This trend began with the passing of laws that allow defendants charged with possession of marijuana to assert the legal defense of medical necessity. The Maryland legislature also went on to pass a law that will decrease the maximum jail sentence that a defendant charged with a first offense of possession of marijuana can receive. Come October, a first offense for marijuana possession will carry a 60 day maximum jail sentence rather than the scarcely used 1 year maximum jail sentence. Surprisingly though, the Maryland legislature has remained silent on the issue of synthetic marijuana.

Synthetic marijuana is not a new substance, as it has been around for almost 10 years, but it has become increasingly popular over the last few years. More gas stations, convenience stores, and liquor stores are beginning to stock their shelves with the substance often referred to as spice or K2. And the synthetic marijuana has been flying off these shelves lately as a legal, easy to obtain alternative to marijuana. The substance is also desirable because although it can be tested for, it does not produce a positive drug test for marijuana or cannabis. With the increase in synthetic marijuana’s popularity comes increased attention by lawmakers and law enforcement, but will lawmakers actually take action to regulate the fake marijuana?
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Published on: June 20, 2012

Will Maryland Medical Marijuana Laws Increase Teen Marijuana Users?

By Benjamin Herbst

The recent movement to legalize medical marijuana in Maryland has been gaining steam each year, and the state legislature is slowly moving toward joining 17 other states and Washington D.C. as medical marijuana states. Although there is no medical marijuana bill currently being debated, the Maryland legislature is trending in the medical marijuana direction, as evidenced by recent bills that have modified state marijuana laws. Just last year, the Maryland governor signed off on a law that effectively decriminalizes marijuana use provided that the accused can produce a valid note from a licensed medical doctor that indicates a medical necessity for the drug. In addition, the Maryland legislature passed a law that will lower the maximum penalty for simple possession of marijuana from 1 year in jail to 90 days in jail. On the other hand, medical marijuana is still not legal in Maryland, and regardless of where the state legislature is trending, thousands of Marylanders are still being arrested for possession of the drug each year.

The medical marijuana decriminalization law only comes into play after a defendant has been arrested or ticketed for marijuana possession, because the law only authorizes a judge or prosecuting lawyer to dismiss criminal charges upon production of a valid doctor’s note. In other words, a person with a doctor’s note for medical marijuana use cannot simply show the note to a Maryland police officer and expect to be told to be on their way. Decriminalization of medical marijuana does not mean legalization, but there is no doubt that in the next few years Maryland will take the next step to full medical marijuana legalization. It is simply unrealistic to assume that the state’s justice system will continue to support a policy that requires producing doctor’s notes to judges and prosecuting lawyers. When medical marijuana becomes legal in Maryland, and undoubtedly during legislative debating sessions, a critical question that will be asked is whether medical marijuana legalizations will result in increased numbers of teen drug use.
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Published on: May 30, 2012

Maryland Robbery Victim Reports Stolen Marijuana To Police

By Benjamin Herbst

A Maryland man was recently the victim of an armed robbery in his home in College Park. Amongst the property the man reported stolen to the police was about $600 of rent money and the man’s stash of marijuana. Yes, you heard that correctly. The College Park man reported to police that the robbery suspects were armed with handguns and had demanded that the man turn over his money and his drugs. The robbery suspects reportedly assured the man that he would not be in any danger if he complied with the request to give up his money and his marijuana. A nice gesture by the armed home invasion robbers, but a gesture that will certainly not help the suspects in court if they are ever arrested. The Maryland man complied and handed over his rent money and an unknown quantity of marijuana, and then the robbery suspects left the house. Police also reported that the armed robbery suspects took laptops and cell phones from the house, but the Maryland man was not aware of this missing property at the time he initially reported the crime to police.

As unbelievable as it may seem, theft, burglary, and robbery victims often report to police that their drugs have been stolen. Drugs such as marijuana and cocaine are certainly properties hat have value to the owners, and the owners of these drugs feel wronged if they are stolen. On the other hand, calling the police to report stolen drugs will never benefit the owner of the drugs in his or her quest to get the drugs back. If police do happen to locate the stolen property, they will simply confiscate the drugs and place them in an evidence locker or destroy them. At least this is what police are supposed to do with the drugs they confiscate, but criminal lawyers tend to hear numerous stories about police keeping the drugs for themselves or even selling them back to the original owners. Reporting stolen illegal drugs such as marijuana, cocaine, and pills also creates numerous other legal questions, such as whether someone who reports stolen illegal drugs can be arrested for possession of drugs, or whether someone who steals illegal drugs can be arrested for theft of drugs.
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Published on: May 21, 2012

Maryland Traffic Stop Turned Heroin Bust Presents Legal Issues

By Benjamin Herbst

A routine traffic stop over the weekend led Maryland police to nearly 100 grams of heroin as well as a forged oxycodone prescription. The traffic stop took place in Annapolis and resulted in the arrest of 3 Maryland residents for various criminal offenses including drug possession, theft, and drug possession with intent to distribute. Although the traffic stop was routine, the events that followed the stop and led police to the drugs were hardly routine, and could raise multiple legal issues. Annapolis police stopped the bright green Lincoln at around 5 p.m. for an undisclosed traffic violation. The undisclosed traffic violation could be for anything from a broken taillight to failure to stop at a stop sign but chances are that the bright green car caught the eye of the Annapolis cops. As many criminal lawyers know, when a car raises red flags police typically will not wait for a traffic infraction to occur before making a traffic stop. Rather they will make the stop and then figure out a believable traffic infraction later.

After Annapolis police made the traffic stop they approached the vehicle and learned that the driver was driving with a suspended license. Police also discovered that the passenger had three outstanding criminal bench warrants for his arrest. Right there, the police had probable cause to arrest both occupants of the car, which they did. Search incident to arrest also allowed police to search the vehicle, and this led police to an unlabeled bottle filled with Percocet and a digital scale. Percocet is a brand name prescription drug consisting of a combination of 5 to 10 mgs of the narcotic oxycodone, and 500 mgs of acetaminophen. Police also searched the passenger incident to his arrest and found a stolen oxycodone prescription in his pocket. The driver was charged with 2 crimes, driving on a suspended license and drug possession, while the passenger was charged with theft. Both were arrested, and legally speaking it appears that arrests of the passenger and driver will hold up in court. The heroin bust did not directly involve the stopped green Lincoln or the passenger and the driver of the Lincoln. Rather, the heroin arrestee was a woman who approached the Lincoln while police were conducting their investigation. The circumstances surrounding the heroin arrest appear to have legal issues.
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Published on: May 7, 2012

Marijuana Possession Penalties Reduced In Maryland

By Benjamin Herbst

The Maryland Legislature recently passed a bill that will lower the maximum penalty for possession of marijuana from 1 year in jail to 90 days in jail. Maximum fines for marijuana possession will also drop from $1000 to $500. The bill was signed into law by Governor O’Malley and will go into effect in October of 2012. The Maryland marijuana bill only applies to simple possession of less than 10 grams of the plant, a compromise between the two legislative chambers. The Maryland Senate wanted the new bill to apply to possession of any amount less than 14 grams of marijuana, or one half ounce, but the Maryland House wanted reduced punishments only for less than 7 grams, or one quarter ounce of marijuana. The Maryland law makers eventually agreed on the 10 gram limit, and the bill easily passed both chambers by a vote of 41-5 in the Senate, and 92-31 in the House.

Maryland law makers have recently been focused on streamlining the judicial system, and the marijuana bill appears to be a small step in that direction. According to the FBI, Maryland police officers made nearly 24,000 marijuana arrests in 2010. Many of the resulting criminal marijuana cases can linger for months in Maryland circuit courts, because defendants who face more than 90 days in jail are entitled to a circuit court jury trial. Only a fraction of these circuit court cases are actually tried in front of a jury. Criminal defense lawyers, and the defendants themselves are aware that these cases often end up being dismissed or reduced after months of stagnation in circuit court. The theory that good things happen to those that wait out their criminal cases is often true for defendants, but the judicial system ends up bearing the burden, and has become increasingly and unnecessarily bogged down.
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Published on: May 3, 2012

Baltimore Police Not Meeting Terms of False Arrest Settlement

By Benjamin Herbst

The Baltimore Police department has not been meeting the terms of a settlement regarding illegal arrests according to the ACLU. The settlement arose out of a 2006 lawsuit, which alleged a pattern of thousands of unlawful arrests for various non violent, low level crimes such as drug possession, trespassing, and loitering in Baltimore City. The civil lawsuit was filed by the ACLU on behalf of 14 people that were arrested in Baltimore without probable cause. The lawsuit stated that due to Baltimore City’s zero tolerance policy, Baltimore police officers began unlawfully arresting people on the street at an alarming rate.

In 2005, after the Mayor O’Malley enacted the zero tolerance policy, Baltimore police made nearly 110,000 arrests. A majority of these arrests were for minor offenses such as trespassing, loitering, or drug possession. Baltimore prosecuting lawyers never filed charges in many of these criminal cases because the Baltimore police officers simply had no justification for making the arrests in the first place. To make matters worse, Baltimore police officers frequently neglected to indicate their observations used to determine probable cause in these arrests. The most important function of an arrest report is indicating probable cause for an arrest so that a first appearance judge can determine a bond, or if the arrestee is entitled to release. Including probable cause observations in an arrest report is a basic law enforcement skill, which all police officers learn in the police academy.
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Published on: April 23, 2012

Maryland Man Arrested For Selling Marijuana From Ice Cream Truck

By Benjamin Herbst

A Maryland man was recently arrested for selling marijuana and other drugs from his ice cream truck according to police in Charles County. The alleged Maryland drug dealer was arrested based on a tip from Crime Solvers. The tip apparently informed police that the 20 year old man had been illegally selling packets of marijuana while at the same time legally selling frozen treats in southern Maryland neighborhoods. Police responded to the tip and sent a investigative unit to attempt to observe the ice cream drug dealer in action. Police investigative units apparently were not able to catch the Maryland man actually performing a hand to hand transaction with a would be marijuana buyer, but they were able to secure an arrest with the help of a canine police unit.

Police initiated the arrest by conducting a traffic stop on the ice cream truck. After pulling over the ice cream truck, police called for a canine unit in order to effectuate a drug sniff. The canine drug sniffer alerted police to the presence of marijuana within the truck, thus giving the southern Maryland police officers probable cause to conduct a search of the area in question. Cops were able to locate baggies of marijuana packaged for sale from within the truck, as well as on the person of the Maryland man. Police also discovered a large amount of cash in the truck that was stored separately from the ice cream proceeds.
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Published on: April 10, 2012

Baltimore Drug Dealer Sentenced To 20 Years In Prison

By Benjamin Herbst

A Baltimore area marijuana dealer has been sentenced to over 20 years in prison after the jury found him guilty at trial. Defense lawyers were unable to overcome the strong evidence that federal prosecutors presented during two weeks of testimony in United States district court in Maryland. The convicted Baltimore drug dealer was arrested in 2010 and charged with distribution of marijuana and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Both the internal revenue service and the federal drug enforcement agency participated in the investigation, which ultimately let to a multi count indictment.

The Baltimore man had been charged with selling marijuana over a span of more than 5 years, with the first drug deals allegedly taking place in 2004. Government witnesses testified that the Baltimore dealer was the supervisor of a large scale organization responsible for transporting for sale hundreds of pounds of marijuana from the southwest United States to the east coast and Maryland. Testimony revealed that the Baltimore man had sold nearly 10,000 pounds of marijuana over the course of the drug conspiracy. State witnesses also testified that the drug dealing began with the purchase of about 100 pounds of marijuana from a source in Arizona. These 100 pound purchases grew substantially over time, and by the end of 2005 the Baltimore man was purchasing as much as 900 pounds of marijuana at a time for sale on the east coast.
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Published on: April 2, 2012

Jail Strip-Searches Here To Stay In Maryland And All 50 States

By Benjamin Herbst

Maryland jails will continue to have the power to strip-search a person who is arrested for any crime, regardless of whether cops are suspicious that contraband may be present. The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 in favor of upholding jail house strip-searches in an April 2 decision. The ruling will allow Baltimore police to strip-search any person arrested before he or she is admitted into the jail for any type of crime. Defendants arrested for minor crimes such as driving without a license, failing to pay child support, or even violating a dog leash law are also subject to strip-search upon being booked into the jail.

The five Justices explained that they should not have the power to second guess the judgment of corrections officers that are faced with the daily prospect of guns and other weapons, and drugs being smuggled into the jail. Drugs such as marijuana and cocaine can be smuggled on the person of an arrested individual, not to mention prescription pills such as oxycontin that are easily concealed. Justice Kennedy wrote that corrections officers must be concerned about the health of the public and with potential gang affiliations. Kennedy also wrote that each of the nearly 13 million people whom are arrested each year “may be required to undergo a close visual inspection while undressed”.

The opinion pointed out the substantial risk that a new inmate could by his own will or by coercion smuggle contraband that could put other inmates as well as the corrections staff at risk. The majority Justices were not surprised that jails would feel the need to institute strict strip-search policies for drugs, weapons, gang affiliations, and disease due to the crowded, unsanitary, and dangerous conditions at many jails and prisons. Chief Justice Roberts did leave room for some modification of the ruling in the future, as his concurrence stated that exceptions were still possible to prevent unnecessary embarrassment.
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Published on: March 10, 2012

Should Maryland Decriminalize Marijuana And Other Drugs?

By Benjamin Herbst

Each year thousands of defendants are arrested in Maryland for possession of marijuana and other drugs such as cocaine and and prescription pills. The costs of enforcing Maryland marijuana laws and other drug laws were revealed in part one of this post. In part two we will discuss the possible positive effects of decriminalizing marijuana in Maryland.

Decriminalization does not necessarily mean that drugs would be legal, rather it simply means that those caught possessing marijuana or other decriminalized drugs would not face criminal sanctions such as jail time. Penalties could still be imposed, including fines, and tickets similar to parking infraction tickets. Decriminalization must occur at the state government level and at the local level in order to be effective.

To initiate decriminalization of marijuana the Maryland Legislature would elect take its drug laws off the books, forcing local governments such as Baltimore City or Baltimore County to instruct its police officers to stop making drug arrests. If local governments have their own drug laws, they could choose to continue to enforce them unless the Maryland legislature enacts specific legislation prohibiting this. Ideally decriminalization would be a joint state and local effort, but Maryland state law would prevail in case of a conflict.
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