• FreeAdvice has a new Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, effective May 25, 2018.
    By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our Terms of Service and use of cookies.

Arrest, Search, Seizure and Forfeiture

Accident - Bankruptcy - Criminal Law / DUI - Business - Consumer - Employment - Family - Immigration - Real Estate - Tax - Traffic - Wills   Please click a topic or scroll down for more.

H

hoj527

Guest
What is the name of your state? TEXAS

My wife was arrested on a charge of Possession of a Controlled Substance by Fraud.
She had taken our sick 10 year old to see the family doctor. While she was there, she inquired about a refill for her Xanax prescription, which he wrote. She returned home and faxed the prescription to our usual pharmacy. I was to pick it up on my way home from my out of town job, so she wouldn't have to drag our son all over town.
Two days later, she gets a knock on the gate of our house and its the Animal Control Officer. Thinking one of our dogs is out, she goes out the gate and out to the street to talk to the Animal Control Officer. While standing in the street, three narcotics officers swarm in and say they have a warrant for her arrest and search warrant. She asked repeatedly to see the warrant, but the officers refused and put her in the car and sent her off.
I was on my way home from work and came in on three men trashing my house. My 18 year old son and two of his friends were sitting on the couch in the living room not saying a word. I asked the men who they were and what they were doing and they proceeded to ask me they same. When I said I was the owner of the house, they searched me and then told me my wife had been arrested and that they had a search warrant. I asked to see it and was given the run around. 15 or 20 minutes later, and after having asked several more times, they gave it to me.
It was a warrant for arrest of my wife and search of her immediate area. There was no address, no description of the property, and nothing listed as to what they were looking for. During the search they found a prescription from an out of state pharmacy for Phenteramine that she had purchased from an online pharmacy (using their doctor for the prescription). 2nd Felony charge of Possession of a Controlled Substance by Fraud.
While searching the premises, they found a joint in my son's room and some "white powdery residue" in the bathroom. They say its Meth and go crazy. 3rd Felony charge of Possession of a Controlled Substance plus a Misdemeanor for the pot.
They begin their search all over again. They get her private diary out of our bedroom and begin reading it and there is a passage where she confesses to me that a friend had got her started on the Meth to help her loose weight. Never using much, just enough to curb her appetite. I never knew or suspected.
They then accuse me of using Meth also and make me show my arms to see if I have any track marks. This was even after I told them they my job required me to submit to drug testing and I didn't know anything about the Meth. I offered to take a test right then but they said I didn't need to.
They confiscate her diary, our computer and all related hardware, our printer/fax/scanner unit and say it was used in the commision of a Felony.
I have received a Civil Citation of Original Notice of Seizure and Intended Forfeiture. This Civil case comes before the court in about a week, months before the Felonies.
My questions: Was the search valid with no description of the property or address and no description of what they were searching for? They used the Animal Control Officer to get her out of the house because we have a 120# Rottweiler. She was arrested in the middle of the street, about 30 yards from the gate into our yard plus another 20 feet to the front door of the house. Is the inside of the house considered her immediate area?
We have talked to the doctor and he said he wrote the prescription for the Xanax, but didn't chart it because he was seeing my son. The police talked to his assistant who looked at her chart and said no prescription was written on that day.
I don't condone her use of Meth, but what are her chances in all of this?
Sorry for being so long winded, but I needed to get all the facts out.

TIA
 


V

vernon2g

Guest
Hire a Lawyer, keep the copy of the warrant handy that they gave you. Was there a judges signature? Im fighting a similar case but if they had an arrest warrant that does not give right to search if, if there's nothing to search for why are they searching! sounds like a bunch of malarky. I would go with the public defender to see what he says for the first hearing and if it's not thrown out then hire a private attorney which should get it thrown out and all property returned with proof of purchase of course.
 
G

GKris

Guest
Yea right. Forget the public defender and get a real attorney. The warrant is supposed to list the house as well as describe it so as it cannot be confused with any other. It does not always happen to the degree it should but if a judge signed it then it satisfied him/her and that is all that matters at that point. It can be argued later the validity of the warrant which if found to be no good MAY throw out the evidence seized. They judge can say "Yep, warrant wasnt right but were goin anyway". That is usually the case. It sounds like there was no search warrant anyhow and it was an arrest warrant. Being outside the house when the arrest was made they could not legally search the house. Unless they were let back in by the getting the wife's consent or the 18 yr old let them in. Of course there are any number of ways to legally search without the consent but its the easiest. I've never heard of meth being used to control appetite, something else is going on there - that is not the reason I promise. If there is no past criminal history she would be looking at rehab and probation for a few years. The marijuana case will be dropped I am sure, right now its a bargaining chip to get her to cooperate. Just hope nothing else pertaining to the purchase of controlled substances is on your harddrive.
 
H

hoj527

Guest
Thanks for your replies . . . . . The 18 year old was in bed asleep and they woke him up. She did not consent because they would not show her the warrant.

One of the side effects of the METH is a lack of appetite. I have researched it very well. We are already working on getting her into a voluntary rehabilitation program. They said they would drop the marijuana charge if she would tell them whose it was, and she's not giving up our son.

The reason they gave for confiscating the computer and all was they found a copy of the prescription she had faxed in the Fax Program.

Thanks again. . . . .
 
G

GKris

Guest
A side effect of meth is severe lack of appetite. Thats why all crack, coke, herion, and meth heads are usually about 85 lbs when their hearts explode. I'm not going to preach BUT, when I went into my local Walgreens for my milkyway dark fix I passed an entire aisle of legal appetite suppresants. Good luck - truly. Your biggest battle is not the legal one.
 
H

hmmbrdzz

Guest
I bet the people at that doctor's office (especially the doctor) are about to have a COW that he didn't chart the refill on the Xanax. I'm just curious -- was she seeing this doctor only, or was she doctor hopping, too, and for how long has she been getting Xanax and from where (multiple pharmacies), and is she being seen for weight control / anxiety / any psychotherapists involved in her care ? My feeling is that she's in some hot water and definitely needs a real attorney.

And now I must go to the store to get that daggone milky way I've been thinking about for the last 5 minutes!



hmmbrdzz
 
G

GKris

Guest
Ms Humdinger, check out a thread I started in Employment LAw - Hiring and Firing tittled A General Question. I'm interested in your opinion.
 
H

hexeliebe

Guest
The advice for an attorney

is the best you've gotten. From the facts that you stated (and there could be others not yet known so take this with a grain of salt) if the search warrant doesn't spell out the specific area of search, including the house number, the contents being searched for or "immediate area incident to the arrest" then the search of the house when your wife was coaxed out of the house to the street, was illegal.

HOWEVER, the laws for each state are different and you really need to take the warrant and the list of property taken from your home to an attorney to attack the warrant.

I agree that the legal problem isn't the biggest you'll be facing, but it is the most immediate so take care of it now.
 

Find the Right Lawyer for Your Legal Issue!

Fast, Free, and Confidential
data-ad-format="auto">
Top