Drug Case Question

[KAKAG5]

About 1 yr ago, a friend of mine was caught with marked drug money and cocaine. He told the police that the drugs were mine. They then let him go and picked me up. He is now gone and no one can find him. I, however, am fighting a drug case for something that is not mine. They took all my cars. They originally charged me with an Enhanced Class X. They are now trying to make a deal that if I give up one of the cars and plea guilty to a Class 2 with a 5 yr cap, that everything will be done. They are also saying that if I do not take the deal, they are going to charge me with a seperate Class X felony in which I was with someone 1 1/2 yrs ago who ran from the police and drugs were found in the path of where the other guy ran. I did not run and I had nothing on me (except for money which I did forfit). I do have a prior drug conv. on file, but that was 9 yrs ago.
If I was not caught with anything, and lived in a totally different county (and have proof of where I was on the date in question, which was no where close to where everything happened) how can they charge me with Manufact and Deliv of a controlled substance? And should I take the plea since I do have a family and job to consider? They are telling me that I have a good chance for receiving probation, but there are no guarantees, nor do we have the money to fight a 2nd case or post bond money if I don't take the deal that the state is offering.
What advise if any can you give me?

 

[Tracey]

This is a very serious situation. A third drug conviction makes you elegible for habitual offender sentence enhancements. You don't want to hand them their second conviction for free!

All the DA can charge you with is conspiracy to mfg/distribute. If the DA is willing to bargain a class X down to a class 2 and keep only 1 car, the DA's case is very weak & the DA knows it. The case is weak because they can't find your friend either! Without his testimony, all they have is that drugs were found in your car when someone else was driving it. (The friend's statement is inadmissible hearsay, so the cop can't tell the jury about it.) This is insufficient evidence of conspiracy & cannot support a conviction.

If you'll pass a hair analysis test, have one done privately. You can use the results to show that you don't take drugs. This makes it less likely that you mfg'ed them. Your prior conviction can't be used to shot that you more likely committed the crime this time. (Although it might come in for other purposes if you testify.)

Go out and hire an experienced defense attorney right away. You need to get this case scheduled for trial ASAP, before police locate their witness. I hope you haven't waived your speedy trial rights yet!

------------------
This is not legal advice and you are not my client. Double check everything with your own attorney and your state's laws.

 

[KAKAG5]

Maybe I am confusing you Tracy, or maybe I am not understand you correctly.
There are 2 things going on here. One case has been going on since July 1999 and this is the one where my friend was caught with marked money and drugs. I was no where around when this happened. He just said that they were mine, they let him go, and picked me up. This is the one that they went from a class x to a class 2 with a 5 yr cap.
The other situation is something that happened December 1998. A friend was in my driveway, we were talking in his car, the police came up behind us and told us to get out of the car, he jumped out and ran, and I stayed there. They took my money and again, found 112 grams of crack in the path of where he ran. I was not aware he had this on him or I would have never put myself in that situation. This case they never came to me about until now, since I did not want to take the plea offer for the other case. They have told me that if I do not take the plea, they will indict me on this Class X.
My concern is how the 2nd case looks. I tried to put myself in others shoes, and I would probably think that there was a drug deal going on, however, I know that that really was NOT what was going on there.
With that in mind, I start to think, just go with the plea, and hope for probation. But, how good of a chance would I have for getting this? I do have 2 jobs, a wife, and 3 kids. Will they really take this into consideration when they sentence me? And again, the only other conviction I have is from 9 yrs ago.

 

[Tracey]

You're old enough to have 3 kids & are still so niave as to think the DA is offering you a sweetheart deal? That the judge will give you an easy sentence because you're a nice person? They're railroading you on a weak case. Get a lawyer & don't talk to them anymore. You have a clean record right now. Don't mess it up because you want to avoid the bother of a trial. You WILL get jail time & lose your jobs & put your family on welfare. You won't be able to get new jobs once you get out either. Sell a kidney if you hav to, but hire a lawyer immediately.

------------------
This is not legal advice and you are not my client. Double check everything with your own attorney and your state's laws.