Under the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution, law enforcement officers are not permitted to perform a search of someone’s property without a warrant, reasonable suspicion, or probable cause that the search would reveal evidence of illegal activity. When a police officer performs a search without a…
In a recent opinion from an Arizona court, the defendant’s motion to suppress evidence of drug possession was denied. Originally, the defendant was charged and convicted of transportation of dangerous drugs for sale when a police officer found 40 individually packaged bundles of methamphetamine in the defendant’s truck. On appeal,…
Earlier this month, a state appellate court issued a written opinion in an Arizona drug case affirming the defendant’s conviction for selling methamphetamine. The case illustrates the lengths that law enforcement will go to when investigating drug crimes. The Facts of the Case According to the court’s opinion, the Prescott…
Recently, a state appellate court issued an opinion in an Arizona drug case involving the automobile exception to the search warrant requirement. According to the court’s opinion, an officer initiated a traffic stop of a vehicle with two passengers after noticing the vehicle swerve across the fog line of a…
The U.S. Supreme Court has long held that when the prosecution uses drug courier profiling evidence mainly as a way to prove guilt, it violates a person’s constitutional right to a fair trial. While police can use drug courier profiling evidence to establish reasonable suspicion for purposes of stopping someone…
In a recent Arizona Court of Appeals drug case, the court considered a defendant’s conviction for narcotic drug trafficking charges. The defendant was sentenced to a presumptive five-year term of imprisonment and appealed the conviction. The defense argued that (1) the drugs found in his car should have been suppressed,…
If you have criminal charges, it is likely that you will be faced with the decision of whether or not to take your case to trial. As an alternative to trial, you may be offered a plea deal. In some cases the prosecution can offer participation in a deferred prosecution…
The aftershocks still linger following U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s eruptive and indignant dissent in this case: “The Court today holds that the discovery of a warrant for an unpaid parking ticket will forgive a police officer’s violation of your Fourth Amendment rights. Do not be soothed by the…
Is this too difficult to imagine? You’ve just been released from prison. You are struggling to become a productive member of society. You’re looking for job, and trying to get your life on back on track. So far, no employer has been willing to hire you, due to your criminal…
Imagine the lethal game of “Russian Roulette”, but with different rules of chance. Let’s say the chambers in a revolver with 6 rounds are all loaded with bullets, with the exception of only one chamber. As if the risks weren’t enough in the traditional game. They just increased drastically. Now…