236 results for 'cat:"Drug Offender" AND cat:"Evidence"'.
J. Watkins finds the trial court properly denied defendant's motion for a new trial after a jury convicted him of methamphetamine trafficking, charges he faced after law enforcement pulled over a car in which he was a passenger and more than 100 grams of methamphetamine were found under his feet, along with plastic baggies and a digital scale. Defendant's challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence fails, and there is no error in the jury's verdict against him. Defendant's 12 ineffective assistance claims all fail, in part because some claims lack any specific supporting arguments and because others, including two claims stating defendant was prejudiced by his lawyer's blindness, are baseless. Affirmed.
Court: Georgia Court of Appeals, Judge: Watkins, Filed On: October 3, 2023, Case #: A23A1156, Categories: drug Offender, evidence, Ineffective Assistance
Per curiam, the appellate division finds that defendant was properly convicted of weapons charges and using drug paraphernalia since defendant failed to preserve certain arguments and evidence does not indicate he received ineffective assistance. Meanwhile, surveillance video caught defendant firing a weapon at two men after waiting outside of a store for them to arrive. Affirmed.
Court: New York Appellate Divisions, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: October 2, 2023, Case #: KA 20-00982, Categories: drug Offender, evidence, Weapons
J. Soto finds a lower court ruled correctly in convicting defendant of possessing methamphetamine with intent to deliver. Defendant argued there was not adequate evidence to show he had intent to deliver, but “a jury could have reasonably inferred” this intent as defendant “possessed more methamphetamine than is customary for a mere user” and “possessed a larger and smaller bag of methamphetamine, indicating an intent to divide the larger amount into smaller amounts for resale.” The discovery of marijuana paraphernalia was also taken to mean that defendant was a “marijuana user” and therefore that “the methamphetamine was for sale and not for personal use.” Affirmed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Soto, Filed On: September 28, 2023, Case #: 08-23-00084-CR, Categories: drug Offender, evidence
J. Stone finds that defendant was properly convicted of possession of methamphetamine, attempted illegal possession of a firearm, and attempted possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. In this case, there was no evidence of a Miranda violation when defendant confessed to the crimes, and the police officer testified that the confession was spontaneous. Further, the confession was internally consistent and was not contradicted by any other evidence introduced. Affirmed.
Court: Louisiana Court Of Appeal, Judge: Stone, Filed On: September 27, 2023, Case #: 55,261-KA, Categories: drug Offender, evidence, Miranda
J. Thompson finds that defendant was properly convicted of distribution of cocaine and marijuana. In this case, there was police officer testimony that defendant sold drugs to a confidential informant. Further, based on surveillance video, the confidential informant was seen getting into defendant's vehicle, and the containers for the cocaine and marijuana can clearly be seen. Also, defendant's sentence as third felony offender of 20 years on each count, to run concurrently, is the minimum sentence on each charge under the statute for a third felony. Affirmed.
Court: Louisiana Court Of Appeal, Judge: Thompson, Filed On: September 27, 2023, Case #: 53,345-KA, Categories: drug Offender, evidence, Sentencing
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J. Ortega finds the trial court properly determined that officer-safety concerns, reasonable suspicion and probable cause justified extending a traffic stop to order defendant out of his truck and to handcuff him, which led to discovery of disputed evidence. The officer’s "actions up to the point of handcuffing defendant did not violate defendant’s constitutional rights.” Affirmed.
Court: Oregon Court of Appeals, Judge: Ortega, Filed On: September 27, 2023, Case #: A174471, Categories: drug Offender, evidence
J. Arterburn finds the trial court properly convicted defendant for possession of meth, sentencing her to two years of probation. Defendant, who was not part of the officers' investigation, consented to their search of the apartment she shared with the suspect after he had been arrested. Defendant consented to a search of her bedroom, where a pipe containing drug residue was found. All evidence supports the conviction and was properly allowed and entered. Affirmed.
Court: Nebraska Court Of Appeals, Judge: Arterburn , Filed On: September 26, 2023, Case #: A-22-641, Categories: drug Offender, evidence, Search
J. Duncan finds that the trial court properly convicted defendant for numerous drug offenses related to his ownership and operation of a pharmacy that was actually an illegal pill mill. His argument that recordings vetted by a government filter team and turned over to prosecution intruded into privileged conversations with his deceased attorney, prejudicing his defense, is without merit. Neither defendant nor his attorney responded by objection to or by a motion for reconsideration of the court's order to release the tapes. The recordings were arguably vitiated due to the pharmacy's having forfeited its charters, with the state terminating its registrations. Affirmed.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Duncan , Filed On: September 26, 2023, Case #: 22-20337, Categories: drug Offender, evidence, Judiciary
J. Soto finds a lower court ruled correctly in finding defendant guilty of being a felon in possession of a firearm and in determining that he deserved a repeat offender enhancement on his sentence. Defendant raised a number of issues with the trial, including arguing that the state could not show that he owned a firearm found in a vehicle he was driving and that the initial vehicle search had not been lawful. The initial search was lawful because defendant was in the park after closing, violating a city ordinance, and when an officer confronted him, he noticed a “strong smell” of marijuana coming from the car, which defendant admitted to smoking. Defendant also never moved during trial to suppress evidence of the firearm found in his vehicle. Affirmed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Soto, Filed On: September 22, 2023, Case #: 08-23-00112-CR, Categories: drug Offender, evidence, Firearms
J. Moore finds the trial court properly convicted defendant by plea agreement for contributing to the delinquency of a child and procuring alcohol for a minor. Defendant sent Facebook messages requesting to be reimbursed for alcohol and marijuana to the mother of the 15-year-old and 12-year-old for whom he made the purchases. The messages included videos of him drinking and smoking with the minors, evidence that supports the conviction. Defendant’s plea was made knowingly and voluntarily, and the record is insufficient to resolve the claim of ineffective assistance for counsel's failing to depose specific witnesses. Affirmed.
Court: Nebraska Court Of Appeals, Judge: Moore , Filed On: September 19, 2023, Case #: A-23-345, Categories: drug Offender, evidence, Child Victims
J. Golemon finds that the trial court properly convicted defendant for second-degree felony possession of cocaine in an amount greater than four grams but less than 200 grams. Defendant was caught in the act of attempting to break into an officer's truck in order to steal decoy money gotten from a bank that defendant had been surveilling. The drugs were later found in his vehicle. All motions regarding evidence and testimony were properly overruled or dismissed. Affirmed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Golemon , Filed On: September 13, 2023, Case #: 09-21-00154-CR, Categories: drug Offender, evidence, Conspiracy
J. Wood finds the trial court properly convicted and sentenced defendant for trafficking meth, maintaining a drug premises within 1,000 feet of a church, and possessing drug paraphernalia and marijuana. After the investigator responded to several anonymous tips about drug activity centered in defendant's apartment, he spoke with her, noticing an odor of marijuana coming from inside her apartment. All evidence supports the convictions. No directed-verdict motion provided a specific ground. Counsel did not mention constructive possession or joint occupancy, which are defendant's sole arguments on appeal. Affirmed.
Court: Arkansas Court Of Appeals, Judge: Wood , Filed On: September 13, 2023, Case #: CR-22-783, Categories: drug Offender, evidence
J. Neeley finds the trial court properly convicted defendant for possession of meth in an amount less than one gram. The court properly overruled defendant’s motion to suppress evidence discovered during a search of his vehicle as he and a passenger were parked in a stranger’s driveway. The officer had probable cause due to his observation of defendant’s unusual movements, speech and demeanor, along with the passenger’s frequent interjections. The behaviors caused the officer to suspect criminal activity. Affirmed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Neeley, Filed On: September 6, 2023, Case #: 12-22-00235-CR, Categories: drug Offender, evidence, Search
J. Rushing finds the lower court improperly denied the defendant's motion to suppress evidence from an allegedly unlawful seizure leading to his conviction for possessing a firearm as an unlawful drug user. A postal inspector called his friend from the police department after he saw a man he found suspicious walking through an alleyway near an unoccupied home with an "Oh, no, I’m caught” look on his face. The postal inspector spotted him. The police searched the defendant despite not having any evidence of him committing any wrongdoing, leading to them finding a gun and prescription drugs. Vacated.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Rushing, Filed On: August 31, 2023, Case #: 22-4063, Categories: drug Offender, evidence, Firearms
J. Levine finds the trial court properly convicted defendant for trafficking and conspiracy to traffic in cocaine. Defendant moved to dismiss based on objective entrapment by his being moved to help the confidential informant because she claimed that she was unemployed, had no place to live and had two children. Defendant also alleges that the informant sexually induced him, though the initial affidavit from defendant did not contain any allegation of sexual inducement. The facts do not violate parameters of the state's conduct as being “so offending” that the court must act to prevent its reoccurrence. Affirmed.
Court: Florida Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Levine, Filed On: August 30, 2023, Case #: 4D20-1522, Categories: drug Offender, evidence, Entrapment
J. Klappenbach finds the trial court properly convicted defendant for simultaneous possession of fentanyl, heroin, and marijuana with the purpose to deliver, and a firearm. After being stopped for a moving violation, it was discovered that defendant had an outstanding warrant. The officer arrested defendant, telling him to leave a bag he had on his shoulder in the car. A search of defendant’s pockets yielded a substantial amount of cash and a rock of fentanyl. A search of the bag yielded the handgun and more drugs. All evidence supports the conviction. The patrol vehicle’s dashboard camera confirmed that a passenger in the vehicle did not appear to have touched anything on or around the driver’s side of the car as claimed by defendant. Affirmed.
Court: Arkansas Court Of Appeals, Judge: Klappenbach, Filed On: August 30, 2023, Case #: CR-22-652, Categories: drug Offender, evidence, Firearms
J. Booth agrees with the lower court that the counsel provided a man convicted of distribution of heroin was sufficient. The man, arrested by one officer after a strip search revealed he was carrying heroin in his underwear, protests the counsel who represented him because the attorney failed to move to compel production of the arresting officer’s internal affairs division files. However, the attorney’s failure to do so does not demonstrate a deficiency in his representation, and the man has not shown any evidence that his conviction would’ve been different had the officer’s file been produced. Affirmed.
Court: Supreme Court of Maryland, Judge: Booth, Filed On: August 29, 2023, Case #: 112222006, Categories: drug Offender, evidence, Ineffective Assistance
J. Waldick finds defendant's admission drugs in his home, including fentanyl and marijuana, belonged to him, along with expert testimony regarding the weight of the drugs, was sufficient for the jury to convict him of possession. Meanwhile, testimony from defendant's parole officer was properly admitted because his admission he knew defendant as his parole supervisor was not prejudicial and was used only to establish the reason for his presence at defendant's home on the day the drugs were discovered. Affirmed.
Court: Ohio Court Of Appeals, Judge: Waldick, Filed On: August 28, 2023, Case #: 2023-Ohio-3039, Categories: drug Offender, evidence
J. Jackson-Akiwumi finds that the lower court properly convicted defendant of possession with the intent to distribute controlled substances. The state presented sufficient evidence to prove that defendant knew the bus contained controlled substances. Further, there is no clear evidence that the jury engaged in premature deliberations, so it is presumed the jury abided by the court's instruction not to talk about the case with anyone until deliberations began. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Jackson-Akiwumi, Filed On: August 24, 2023, Case #: 21-2434, Categories: drug Offender, evidence, Jury
J. Joyce finds the post-conviction court properly denied relief to defendant, convicted of drug offenses. “Given that petitioner has admitted that he was guilty of the substantive crime, the validity of his convictions cannot be affected by any antecedent constitutional infirmity of the police’s search because his convictions do not rest in any way on evidence that may have been improperly seized; instead, his convictions rest on his guilty plea.” Affirmed.
Court: Oregon Court of Appeals, Judge: Joyce, Filed On: August 23, 2023, Case #: A175317, Categories: drug Offender, evidence, Sentencing
J. Moore finds the trial court properly convicted defendant for meth possession. Officers made contact at defendant’s apartment building upon response to an unrelated welfare check call. It was found that defendant had an active warrant, and by her permission officers searched her belongings and found a scale with meth residue. The scale was properly entered as relevant to determine whether defendant intentionally possessed meth. It was for the jury to determine the evidence’s weight. Her counsel did suggest the possibility of a pipe having been planted even if he didn’t explicitly argue the point. His performance cannot be said to have been deficient. Affirmed.
Court: Nebraska Court Of Appeals, Judge: Moore, Filed On: August 22, 2023, Case #: A-22-785, Categories: drug Offender, evidence, Ineffective Assistance
J. Osowik finds defendant was not prejudiced by the trial court's admission of recorded phone calls between herself and the family member who had custody of her children at the time the victim died of a drug overdose. Her attorney was able to effectively cross-examine the family member about the circumstances of the calls, while her custody of the children did not automatically harm her credibility. Meanwhile, although the trial court erroneously refused to admit text messages from the victim to defendant on hearsay grounds, the error was harmless because the messages have no value to defendant's case and were not exculpatory in any way. Affirmed.
Court: Ohio Court Of Appeals, Judge: Osowik, Filed On: August 18, 2023, Case #: 2023-Ohio-2905, Categories: drug Offender, evidence, Manslaughter
J. Mooney finds the trial court properly denied a motion to suppress evidence for defendant, convicted of possession of methamphetamine. The officer had information that there was a knife in the car, therefore he was authorized to search the car for the knife and other evidence of a parole violation. Affirmed.
Court: Oregon Court of Appeals, Judge: Mooney, Filed On: August 16, 2023, Case #: A175647, Categories: drug Offender, evidence
[Consolidated]. J. Kelly finds a lower court improperly sentenced three defendants after they pleaded guilty to federally controlled drug crimes. The government argued that the lower court properly convicted all three defendants on five counts of conspiracy to sell meth and imposed sentences of 240, 190, and 300 months in prison respectively. However, the defendants presented sufficient evidence in court that their convictions for "offer-to-sell" may have fallen short based on an incomplete drug transaction. Vacated.
Court: 8th Circuit, Judge: Kelly, Filed On: August 15, 2023, Case #: 21-3524, Categories: drug Offender, evidence, Sentencing