Drug Crimes

Jacksonville Area Police Are Focusing on Pain Clinics

Published on: November 16, 2010 | by Lasnetski Gihon Law

As criminal defense lawyers in the Jacksonville, Florida area, we have noticed that local police and prosecutors are significantly increasing their attention towards the pain clinics that have been opening up in the area over the last couple of years. Sheriffs in Duval County, Clay County, St. Johns County and Flagler County have taken notice as drug cases involving pills have gone up exponentially as opposed to the more traditional drug cases involving cocaine, crack, marijuana and methamphetamine. As police make more and more arrests of people illegally using or selling pain pills and other pills that require a valid prescription, law enforcement authorities are increasingly going after what they think is the source of these pills. The police believe that some pain clinics are giving out huge amounts of pills for a relatively low price to people who ultimately sell them individually for a much higher price. And they think the people running some of the pain clinics are aware of this practice.

Pain clinics can certainly be legal. There are a lot of people with various painful conditions who need to see a doctor quickly, whether they have health insurance of not, and have a right to be treated with medication to alleviate their pain. Of course, pain clinics can also be illegal if they are not run properly and in accordance with the laws and regulations, which are constantly changing. If you have a question about a pain clinic or any of the legal issues involved with running or working with a pain clinic, whether in Florida or anywhere else, feel free to contact us to discuss any relevant legal implications.

Florida Trafficking in Cocaine Case Reversed When State Uses Improper Evidence

Published on: October 16, 2010 | by Lasnetski Gihon Law

In a recent drug trafficking case near Jacksonville, Florida, a police officer stopped the defendant as he was driving by himself in a rental car. The police officer ultimately searched the rental car and found a trafficking amount of cocaine in a closed compartment in the vehicle. The rental car had been rented by the defendant’s wife in her name.

The defendant was charged with trafficking in cocaine and went to trial. In order for the state to prove a trafficking in cocaine case of this nature, the state would have to prove that the defendant was in constructive possession of the cocaine in the closed compartment of the rental car rented by his wife. This means the state would have to show that the defendant knew the cocaine was in the vehicle, and that he had some control over the cocaine. The defendant argued that he was just borrowing the car from his wife and had no idea the cocaine was in the vehicle. At the trial, the police officer was allowed to testify that, based upon his training and experience, the fact that a third party, the defendant’s wife, rented the vehicle was evidence that the defendant knew the cocaine was in the vehicle. This testimony was enough for the appellate court to reverse the defendant’s conviction for cocaine trafficking.

The state is generally not allowed to introduce evidence to the jury about what other criminal offenders typically do in an effort to prove the defendant in a specific criminal case did the same thing. The idea is that each defendant in a criminal case is supposed to be judged based on the specific facts of his/her case, not what other people might have done in the past. This would seem to be particularly true in this case where it is a stretch to say that a person driving a rental car rented by his wife is some indication that he is a cocaine trafficker.

Clay County, Florida Police Making More Arrests for Marijuana Grow Houses

Published on: October 13, 2010 | by Lasnetski Gihon Law

Police in Clay County, Florida (which is adjacent to Jacksonville, Florida) are making an increasing number of arrests for operating marijuana grow houses, according to an article on Firstcoastnews.com. A Clay County Sheriff’s Office representative said they made 15 arrests for marijuana grow houses in 2009 and 12 already this year. Police say that these houses look just like any other house from the outside. However, inside, there is often an elaborate system that creates an environment where marijuana can grow indoors.

So if marijuana grow houses look normal from the outside, how do police find out where they are? The number one way police find out about who is growing, manufacturing or selling drugs is from other people. When police make arrests, the person arrested may talk about others in the drug business to try and gain favor in their cases. However, marijuana grow houses have certain characteristics that can alert police. There may be a generator outside that is used to power the lighting equipment. There may be security cameras used to see who is approaching the house. The windows may be taped shut so no one can see through any cracks in the blinds or between the blinds and the windows. The electric bill may be inordinately high because of the lighting equipment inside. Marijuana grow houses may look like normal houses in the neighborhood, but the police have developed ways to locate them and have been making more arrests as a result in the Jacksonville, Florida area.

A Doctor and Several Others Arrested At Pain Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida

Published on: October 5, 2010 | by Lasnetski Gihon Law

If you have driven around Jacksonville and other areas in the Southeast, you may have noticed signs for pain clinics, which are clinics people who have chronic pain can go to to get evaluated and receive prescriptions for pain medicine. However, federal law enforcement agents and local police are raiding these pain clinics and arresting the people who work there, including the doctors and those who have an ownership interest in the pain clinics. The police are alleging that the pain clinics are providing a large number of prescription pills such as Oxycodone, Hydrocodone, and Oxycontin to people either without performing the appropriate medical exam or at excessive numbers not indicated by their medical conditions, and the people who receive the pills are turning around and selling them on the street for a significant profit.

In the most recent raid of the Northeast Florida Pain and Urgent Care Center on Dunn Avenue in Jacksonville, the doctor was arrested for allegedly trafficking in Oxycodone for providing large amounts of Oxycodone without meeting the appropriate medical standards. According to Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office officials, this is the third pain clinic shut down in Jacksonville in the last month.

At the law firm of Lasnetski Gihon Law, we have significant experience representing doctors in front of administrative review boards and otherwise. We also have extensive experience defending doctors and other pain clinic employees in these pain clinic drug cases that are appearing more and more as federal agents and local police officers are focusing in on them. If you have a question about an affiliation with a pain clinic or a related investigation, feel free to contact us for a free consultation.

Police Find Marijuana Grow House in St. Marys, Georgia

Published on: October 4, 2010 | by Lasnetski Gihon Law

Police in Florida and Georgia are on the lookout for homes in which marijuana is being grown. Marijuana grow houses, as they are often called, often use elaborate equipment to create an environment where marijuana can be successfully grown in the privacy of one’s home. The downside to that for people growing marijuana is that the police have learned certain tactics that help them locate these grow houses. They may look at electric bills, and when they find an electric bill that is much higher for one house than similar houses in the neighborhood, this raises suspicion that marijuana is being grown inside because the lights that are used to grow the marijuana use a lot of electricity. Police also look for houses with security cameras outside as people growing marijuana or storing drugs in their home often have security cameras outside to alert them when people are approaching.

Sometimes, the police come across a marijuana grow house by accident. In St. Marys, Georgia, which is about an hour north of Jacksonville, Florida, police were investigating a house fire on 4th Street that was caused by a generator used to power the lights that helped grow the marijuana. When the police went to investigate the fire, they found the marijuana plants inside a room in the home. Normally, the police are not allowed to enter a home without a search warrant signed by a judge. However, in certain emergency circumstances and/or circumstances where the police or fire department are conducting a valid investigation, i.e. a house fire investigation, the police can enter the home to follow up on the emergency or investigate the fire. If they come across the marijuana plants or other evidence of illegal activity, they are permitted to investigate the new evidence. In this case, not only did they find the marijuana grow house when they investigated the fire, but they also found documents in that house which informed them of the location of another grow house. These documents may have given the police probable cause to obtain a search warrant for the second house, depending on what was in those documents.

This case will likely result in some interesting search and seizure issues that can be challenged by the criminal defense lawyers for the people charged with growing the marijuana. However, people need to understand that some of the items that accompany these marijuana grow houses, such as generators, lighting equipment and large electric bills, can alert police to the existence and location of a marijuana grow house.

Police Made A Lot of Marijuana Arrests in 2009, Fewer Violent Crimes Arrests

Published on: September 30, 2010 | by Lasnetski Gihon Law

With all of the talk about the terrible economy and out of control state and national deficits, one has to wonder how much sense it makes for law enforcement to spend so much time, effort and money on arresting and incarcerating people for minor drug offenses. However, recent statistics for 2009 show that the police are arresting people for minor drug offenses almost as much as ever despite the fact that arrests for violent crimes and property crimes have steadily decreased over the last couple of years. FBI crime statistics for 2009 show that police in the United States made more than 1.6 million drug arrests in 2009. More than half of those arrests for for marijuana related crimes. Therefore, in one part of the country, marijuana is legally considered medicine that people can use to alleviate symptoms from their medical conditions. Travel a certain distance in one direction or another in this country and the use of the same plant labels that person as a criminal for which he/she may get serious jail time and the local, state and county governments will spend exorbitant amounts of taxpayers’ money to prosecute that person.

Of the over 850,000 marijuana related arrests in 2009, most of them were for simple marijuana possession. Very few of those arrests were for marijuana trafficking, sales or manufacturing. Police are still arresting many more people for simple drug possession crimes than for more serious crimes like violent crimes, burglaries and white collar crimes.

Drug Trafficking Case Thrown Out Due to Lack of Evidence of Possession

Published on: August 21, 2010 | by Lasnetski Gihon Law

In a large drug trafficking case south of Jacksonville, Florida, several defendants were charged with being in possession of 200 to 400 grams of cocaine, which qualifies for a cocaine trafficking charge in Florida. However, the trafficking charge against one of the defendants was thrown out because the state could not prove that he was in actual or constructive possession of the drugs. Actual possession is straightforward- if you are holding drugs or have drugs in your pocket, you are in actual possession of the drugs. Constructive possession is more of a gray area. A person can be convicted of possession of drugs even though the drugs are not actually in the person’s possession. If the person knows of the drugs and has the ability to control the drugs, he can be convicted of possession of the drugs. A good example would be the CD’s in my car. I am not anywhere near them, but I know they are there and I have the ability to access and control them since they are in my car and I have the key.

In this cocaine trafficking case, the police received information that several individuals were manufacturing and selling cocaine from some apartments. The police found cocaine in one of the apartments but only drug paraphernalia in the second apartment. There was no evidence that the defendant had any ownership or control over the apartment with the cocaine. He did have control over the second apartment, but no actual cocaine was found there. When the defendant was arrested, there was no cocaine on his person or in his vicinity. The defendant did not make any statements admitting to possessing any cocaine.

The state did present evidence that suggested the defendant was involved with cocaine, but no actual evidence linking the defendant to the possession of any specific amount of cocaine. As a result, the state could not prove actual or constructive possession of 200 to 400 grams of cocaine, and the drug trafficking charge against him was dismissed.

Police in Florida Can Get Your Pharmacy Records Without a Subpoena and Without Notice

Published on: August 15, 2010 | by Lasnetski Gihon Law

In a recent criminal case near Jacksonville, Florida, the defendant was charged with obtaining prescription drugs by fraud, which is a felony crime. This crime is actually more common these days as more people gain access to various prescription drugs. Many police departments have special units designed to make arrests relating to illegal possession and sale of prescription drugs.

In this case, the police received a tip that the defendant was doctor shopping. Doctor shopping involves a person going to different doctors to obtain the same or similar prescriptions. The suspect will not tell the subsequent doctor that he/she has already seen a previous doctor to obtain the same or similar prescription. The suspect will then obtain multiple prescriptions to be filled at different pharmacies to obtain a larger quantity of prescription drugs.

Pharmacies keep computer files of patients, their prescriptions, the dates prescriptions were filled and the doctors who prescribed them for at least two years. The police in this case obtained the computer printout for the suspect from the pharmacy without a subpoena or court order and saw that she had multiple prescriptions for drugs from different doctors in a short period of time. The prescriptions were for common drugs like Oxycontin and Oxycodone. The police then obtained the prescriptions and showed them to the prescribing doctors who indicated they did not know of the other prescriptions when they wrote their particular prescription.

Police Had No Reason to Detain Defendant, Drug Case Thrown Out

Published on: July 30, 2010 | by Lasnetski Gihon Law

In a recent drug case south of Jacksonville, Florida, the police received a call that a black male wearing a t-shirt, jeans and sneakers was selling drugs beside a particular road. Police responded to the area and saw the defendant who met the general description. However, the police did not observe the defendant selling drugs or doing anything else that appeared to be illegal. One police officer drove right up to the defendant and put his spotlight on him while the other police officer asked the defendant some questions including permission to search the defendant for illegal drugs. The defendant emptied his pockets, and the police recovered a bag with cocaine inside. The defendant was arrested for possession of cocaine.

This was a bad search, and the criminal defense lawyer was able to file a motion to suppress the evidence that resulted in the evidence of the cocaine being thrown out. Every person has a Constitutional right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures. That means the police cannot just approach someone in an intimidating manner giving the impression that the person cannot leave and request a search for drugs or anything else. Likewise, the police cannot detain or search a person based on an anonymous tip of illegal activity if the police do not verify that the person is actually engaged in any illegal activity.

In this case, the police received an anonymous tip that someone was selling drugs. They found the person described in the tip, but the police officers did not see any evidence of illegal activity. When they drove up to the defendant, shined the spotlight on him and started interrogating him, that was considered a detention. Since the police did not have any reasonable suspicion that the defendant was doing anything illegal, it was an illegal detention and any cocaine or other evidence found by the police during the illegal detention was thrown out of court and the possession of cocaine charge was ultimately dropped.

Marijuana Manufacturing and Cocaine Possession Case Thrown Out Due to Illegal Search Warrant

Published on: July 25, 2010 | by Lasnetski Gihon Law

In a recent criminal case near Jacksonville, Florida where the defendant was charged with marijuana manufacturing and cocaine possession charges, the case was ultimately thrown out because it was found that the police searched the defendant’s home and found the drugs based on an improper search warrant. In this case, the police received an anonymous tip that the defendant was growing marijuana and had a quantity of cocaine in his home. The tip also provided certain information about the defendant’s identity, home and place of employment. The police were able to confirm the details about the defendant’s identity, vehicle, home and job. However, the police did not corroborate any details that indicated the defendant was growing marijuana plants, had cocaine in his home or was actually doing anything illegal.

The police obtained a search warrant and found marijuana plants, fluorescent lights, a generator, digital scales, guns, cocaine and other drug paraphernalia in the home. The defendant was arrested for manufacturing marijuana, possession of cocaine and other charges.

The criminal defense lawyer was able to have the evidence of the drugs, guns and drug paraphernalia thrown out because the search warrant was improper. The police are allowed to search a person’s home for drugs or other evidence of a crime with a search warrant only if the search warrant is valid. A search warrant that is based on information in an anonymous tip is not valid if there is no indication that the police corroborated any of the incriminating information in the tip. It is not enough for the police to corroborate general, easily obtained information about the tip, such as a description of a person or vehicle, an address or a place of employment. The police have to actually corroborate some fact that indicates the suspect is committing a crime. Without that corroboration, the anonymous tip of illegal activity is not sufficiently reliable, and any search warrant based on that tip will be invalid.