West Palm Beach Criminal Lawyer Blog : Ronald Chapman: West Palm Beach Criminal Lawyer | Florida Criminal Attorney: DUI, Assault & Battery, Felonies | Criminal Law Firm

          During the last few years, I have represented several clients in both State and Federal Court who have been charged with growing marijuana plants in their homes.  Therefore, I was particularly interested to learn that on July 1, 2008 a new law went into effect in Florida called the Marijuana Grow House Eradication Act.  The following is a news article about that Act:

          TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Attorney General Bill McCollum announced Tuesday that the Marijuana Grow House Eradication Act has been signed into law, giving Florida’s prosecutors and law enforcement essential tools to combat for-profit growers of marijuana.

The New Law

          The new law, sponsored by Senator Steve Oelrich (R-Gainesville) and Representative Nick Thompson (R-Ft. Myers), passed as House Bill 173 during the 2008 Legislative Session and was signed into law by Governor Charlie Crist Tuesday. The bill was developed because of the increasing number of grow houses operating in the state and violent crime which tend to be associated with these operations.

          “Grow houses are not only furthering this dangerous drug trade within our state, they are bringing violent crime into our neighborhoods,” said Attorney General McCollum. “This new law will help protect our families and communities.”

          The new law makes it a second-degree felony to grow 25 or more plants, targeting for-profit growers who exploit Florida’s previous threshold of 300 plants. The law will also make it a third-degree felony to own a house for the purpose of cultivating, packaging and distributing marijuana and a first-degree felony to grow 25 or more plants in a home with children present.

          “Marijuana is the most commonly used illegal drug in America and we must take a stand against the for-profit growers who were previously exploiting higher thresholds,” said Sen. Oelrich. “By lowering the number of plants necessary for criminal charges, we’ve given Florida’s authorities valuable tools in the fight against these criminal operations.”

• Print
• Comments (8)
• Trackbacks

According to Florida law, the term "drug paraphernalia" includes many different types of devices that can be used to consume or to make controlled substances such as cocaine, marijuana, and hashish.  This article contains a list of 19 such devices.

1.  Scales and balances used to weigh or measure controlled substances.

2.  Blenders, bowls, spoons, and mixing devices used to make controlled substances.

3.  Capsules, balloons, and envelopes that are used for packaging small amounts of controlled substances.

4.  Syringes and needles that are used to inject controlled substances into the human body.

Objects used or designed for use in ingesting or inhaling controlled substances into the human body including:

5.  Metal or wooden pipes.

6.  Water pipes.

7.  Smoking masks.

8.  Roach clips.

9.  Miniature cocaine spoons.

10.  Carburetor pipes.

11.  Electric pipes.

12.  Air-driven pipes.

13.  Bongs.

14.  A "cracker" which is a small metal or plastic device that contains a pin that may be used to expel nitrous oxide from a container.

15.  A "whip-it" which is a device that may be used to expel nitrous oxide.

16.  A tank.

17.  A hose or tube.

18.  A 2-liter-type soda bottle.

19.  Duct tape.

Given the fact that I drink quite a bit of soda from 2-liter soda bottles, number 18 on the list causes me a little concern.

• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks

When the police search a car and find drugs such as marijuana or cocaine, the person located closest to the drugs is often arrested even though there were other people located in the automobile just before the car was searched.  In that situation, the person who was arrested may well have a good argument that he is not guilty of possessing the narcotics if the prosecutor is unable to prove that he was in "constructive possession" of the drugs.

In order to prove that someone is in constructive possession of narcotics, a prosecutor in Florida must show that the accused individual:

1.  Had dominion and control over the drugs;

2.  Knew of its presence;

3.  Had the ability to maintain control over the narcotics; and

4.  Had knowledge of its illicit nature.

When drugs are found in a car containing more than one person, a jury is not permitted to simply infer that the accused individual knew about the presence of the narcotics nor is it permitted to infer that he had the ability to maintain control over the drugs.  Instead, the prosecution is required to present independent evidence that the individual knew about the presence of the narcotics and that he had the ability to maintain control over them.  Such evidence might consist of statements made by the accused to the police or evidence that that individual's DNA or fingerprints were located on the drugs.  But unless such evidence is presented at trial, the accused individual should be found not guilty.

• Print
• Comments (2)
• Trackbacks

I am sometimes contacted by individuals who have been charged with the crime of possessing less than 20 grams of marijuana.  In Florida, that crime is a misdemeanor.   Often these individuals ask me if they can resolve their case quickly by simply going to court and pleading guilty.  I explain to them that although they may do that, it is probably not a good idea since their driver's license will be suspended by the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles for 2 years if they are convicted of that particular offense.

If the case cannot be won at trial or at the pretrial stage (by, for example, filing a motion to suppress evidence), then it is essential that a person facing such a charge not be convicted.  Instead, his or her lawyer should try to get the prosecutor or judge to withhold adjudication or else try to get his client accepted into a pretrial diversion program so that the charge will eventually be dropped by the prosecutor's office.

• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks

Federal drug laws can sometimes lead to paradoxical results.  Consider the following story from the Drug Law Blog:

The United States Gets Tough on Methamphetamine By Locking Up All Its Cold Medicine, Forcing Tweakers To Import Speed From Mexico Instead and Messing Up the Formula For Nyquil. In March, President Bush signed the renewal of the Patriot Act, which included the Combat Methamphetamine Act. As a result of that piece of legislation, drugs like Sudafed that contain pseudoephedrine, which can be used to make methamphetamine, had to be put behind the counter of pharmacies. The result is that domestic meth production has indeed fallen, but much of the slack has been taken up by skyrocketing production of meth south of the border. Not only that: they changed the formula in Nyquil to take out the pseudoephedrine so they wouldn't have to put it behind the counter! As the blog The Consumerist noted: "Nyquil has ditched the decongestant pseudoephedrine in favor of phenylephrine and doxylamine succinate. Neither apparently works as effectively as the pseudoephedrine, either on a sick person's nose, or in the crusty coffee machine carafe of the apocryphal neighborhood meth cooker."

Florida drug offense lawyer Ronald Chapman has been representing people accused of committing drug crimes since 1990. You can read more about Mr. Chapman’s experience as a Florida drug offense attorney as well as review news articles about some of his cases.  Some of the types of cases and issues that Mr. Chapman has handled since 1990 include:

• Death Penalty Cases
• Assault and Battery Cases
• DUI Cases
• Drug Cases
• Sex Crimes Cases
• Sealing & Expunging Criminal Records
• Bond|Bail
• Mistaken Identification and Wrongful Conviction
• Police Interrogations
• Sentencing

• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks