I just received some really good news. Moments ago, a Texas lawyer contacted me and advised the prosecutor in a certain Texas county is going to dismiss a felony Possession of Marijuana charge against our mutual client. This means my client will go free.
When the accused hired me as his expert witness, it seemed there was no hope. His lawyer stated he could not win an evidence suppression hearing because he could not find any holes in the government's case.
Most drug cases are won or lost during an evidence suppression hearing which usually takes place long before the trial date. Lawyers and their defendant's rarely take a drug case to trial because juries are predisposed to convicting persons for drug crimes. It is also very difficult to win a jury trial because the judge, prosecutor and the police always form a triad against the defendant. For these reasons, defense attorneys try to "beat" all drug cases during a suppression hearing.
A suppression hearing looks like this: The defendant and his lawyer are on one side of the courtroom. The prosecutor and the police are on the other side. The judge is sitting on his throne in front of the two parties. There is no jury and rarely an audience.
The defense lawyer starts the hearing by giving the judge reasons why the evidence should be "suppressed" or thrown out. The reasons are usually errors the cops made during the search and seizure of the evidence. For example, if a cop did not have probable cause to search a car and did not get permission to search the car, the judge should "suppress" the evidence. This means anything the cop found during the illegal search cannot be used against the defendant at his trial. Since the government no longer has evidence to use during the trial, the case is dismissed and the defendant goes home...free and clear.
If the judge does not agree with the defense lawyer the judge will deny the motion to suppress the evidence. When this happens, the defendant usually takes a plea bargain because the next step is the trial. As I explained above, it's too risky to take a drug case to trial. Taking a plea bargain is much safer than risking a "guilty" verdict which will usually lead to the defendant being given the maximum punishment.
As an expert witness, I am allowed to review my client's evidence. I use my experience as a former drug cop to find holes in the government's case. In this particular stack of evidence, I noticed the police officer had probable cause to search because his K9 alerted to my client's mini-van.
I reviewed the traffic stop video and although police dogs often false alert, this K9 alerted properly. After the alert, the cop searched the van and discovered the marijuana hidden in the roof liner of the van.
The K9 may have alerted properly but I noticed the police officer held my client for thirty-three minutes while waiting for the K9 to arrive. The Supreme Court recently ruled police cannot detain a motorist while waiting for a drug dog unless the officer has probable cause.
This cop did not have probable cause. There are only a few things that amount to probable cause which allows the police to search an automobile during a traffic stop: A K9 alert, the officer detects a narcotic with his senses or an informant's tip.
The arresting officer noted in his report the driver was nervous and his story seemed suspicious but these two "suspicions" are not probable cause. According to the new Supreme Court ruling, he should have allowed my client to go.
My client's lawyer spoke to the prosecutor after I pointed out the search and seizure error. Since the prosecutor knew she would lose during the upcoming suppression hearing, she decided to dismiss the case.
I am really happy for my client because he has a family and was facing a lengthy prison sentence. Some may wrongly judge my client for having that much pot. It's wrong to judge him because although possessing marijuana is illegal, there is nothing wrong or immoral about possessing the wonderful plant. Since we don't throw beer and wine dealers in jail, we shouldn't imprison weed dealers either.
When I was a cop, I received training that was intended to help cage people for non violent drug crimes. Now, it's very satisfying for me to use the same training to free people. Today is a good day for me and is especially a good day for my client.
Photo of cop with dog: That's me in the 1990's after making a large pot bust
Photo of marijuana in roof of van credit: cbp.gov
Photo of courtroom credit: murderpedia.org
The war on drugs is a war against the people.
Truth!
Yup, that is indeedy Mr Cooper's platform I believe!
@barrycooper This is a great post, I bet it would be a great addition to the Official fb page Marijanes Diary now used exclusively to create awareness for cannabis related steemit posts. Check it out and if you are keen I will share this post with over 4k people on facebook. Cheerz
https://steemit.com/steemit/@bitminter/i-used-my-sbd-savings-to-buy-a-fb-fan-page-with-4150-likes-to-promote-my-posts-on-steemit
Sure bitminter. I would love for you to share it. Thanks.
@barrycooper Much appreciated Thanks for great content! You can view your post by following the link below.
https://www.facebook.com/MarijanesDiary/
Great post Barry! Thank you for turning your back on your old ways. I too was raised in the Statist system. Thank goodness for people like you who have opened my eyes over the years.
THIS is why Barry is so much worth caring about, and following.
We pay him back - each one of us - for his love and kindness by doing so.
What you put out we do our best to give back brother.
The man is a serious hero to me.
Big love to you matherly. Thanks for the love and support. It makes a big difference in my life.
You should do a post about how the down fall of people like pablo escobar caused cocaine to become more expensive and as a result more cut up making the drug far more dangerous. Also how violence in the area increased. I'm not saying these cartels are good, i'm saying its fucking sad they can do a better job than the acting government.... Much love barry <3
Congratulations! The war on marijuana has got to stop. It's immoral to withhold this safe, effective substance from people who can benefit from its use.
Great job barry. I hope u ill have much more happy clients..
i am glad that people are actually getting off for this crap but the bigger picture is the simple fact that not everyone is getting this treatment, and most have to pay up the ass to get that kind of treatment its sad because weed is so much better then any white man medicine, in my opinion recreational use is medical use.
Glad everything worked out for everyone, drugs are scary full stop,
Great post Barry!! I was really excited about that supreme court decision when I found out about it. I'm glad to see that it is being enforced that you can't just hold someone in order to get a drug dog to give you probable cause. Great work sir!
Who you gonna call? I think we all know.
Better call Barry. lol.
I have a good friend sitting in a Texas prison because of a drug charge. She's not a threat to anyone, but the court has taken 2 years of her life from her and those who love her.
I appreciate what you did here in this case Barry.
Barry, the passion shows-- You were meant to do this-- everything else was the foundation!!!
... In Common Law... if no harm is done, there is no crime! Every man is equal under " God", which means unless a man gives consent to another's authority, there is no authority... absent a valid obligation [contact] whereby a man has knowingly signed over his authority!
Good Job!
I'm finding new respect.
Nice one!
Steemit has its own fucking police force pretty much, im trying to close it down mind you barry! They are trying to censor content they deem offensive (that is basically anything they dont like) they can fuck off...... this place is uncensored so people like you and I can talk about issues which would usually be censored.
Steemit Police
@egjoshslim, I have read your blog and many of your comments. I understand you are frustrated because you feel like people are not listening to you. I admire your passion so it's important for me to explain how you can be heard. If you want to be heard, you really do need to tone down the aggressive speech. You have every right to scream and curse because of free speech but understand that your audience also has the right to react to it. I discern that you have a lot to say and I know you want to be heard. If this is correct, start communicating in a different manner. No person wants to read aggressive outbursts but people love to read emotion and passion. There is a difference. Find that difference so people can hear what you have to say. I hope this helps because it's true and accurate advise and I sincerely care about you. Peace!
Personally the aggression has been rather successful for me because when people call me out on it i educate them on the world and tell them to get the fuck over it. We can not any longer behave as others want because of their personal opinions and views. For to long i have accepted people talking down to me about marijuana and taken it in my stride without considering the damage persecution could do to me and my future. I used to talk like everyone else on an equal level but that was to appease people. We were not born to appease others and live a straight line. No adventure goes in a straight line. I talk like this in real life when something really pisses me off. People don't listen you you try to talk on a certain level with them. I'm talking people who say marijuana is bad because it kills brain cells for example. No longer should we allow such bullshit to be said and no attacked. Just like how racism is shot down now for the most part. If i witness someone being attacked based on race i will not be empathetic to the one being racist. I will risk my own freedom too defend the victim. How i speak is nothing in comparison to the mess that this world is in and people don't listen. When ever i am at a debate locally when a piece of shit racist pipes up with some ignorant shit i no longer try and debate. There is no debate for stupid and ignorance. We tell these people exactly how it is whether they like my tone or not. I'm not like it in everyday life it is situational based. If its ignorant and i wont stand for it then i will not withhold anything. Humans need to stop pretending to be things we are not. 90% of us use swear words everyday. Steemit is the forum for that. Thats the point.
We live in a world where in my countries case politicians and entertainers were abusing children.
Where people lose entire familes in air strikes by our governments.
This world does not deserve me to show it respect and i will not.
I will show you respect and anyone who shows me. On certain subjects and people i will not. I refuse to and always will. I have 3 posts like it and about 30 that are not. My point is you can not police decentralized uncensored content with a group of 8 people. It requires far more of the community to decide something needs censoring.
Anyone who listened to punk rock in the 70's knows what aggressive writing is at its core. It seems aggressive but we are showing our anger and explaining why. Understanding someones motives is very important to determining why they did something. Much love barry, Peace brother <3
this is news to me.
Are you certain of this?
And can you point to any 'offensive' stuff being stymied?
have you wrote a post that was aggressive and written with profanity? or anything controversial? The problem is they nuke the post with downvotes then it becomes buried and how would you know about it :/ 2 of my posts this has happened too because i write aggressively sometimes. (Which it is my right to do so here) its the profanities that got the post downvoted but regardless.....
I understand. Don't let it bug you.
Work to change it from within, keep it stealthy.
In other words, better kept covert not overt.
Here is a post that i wrote without aggression or that level of passion.
https://steemit.com/marijuana/@egjoshslim/stop-calling-marijuana-a-drug
Wow, Barry. You are an amazing soul!
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Glad to hear you were able to help free this human being from the cage he was kidnapped and forced to live in. Were you also able to get his property back and if not what happens to all the plant matter, vehicle, and other items the police stole from this person during their highway robbery?