Jacksonville Criminal Lawyer Blog
People ship drugs to other parts of the country. They do it using the US Postal Service and Federal Express and UPS and any other delivery service. They do it by shipping to a location where nobody lives expecting someone on the other end to pick it up as soon as the package arrives. Other times, they ship it to a known address but address the package to a fake name so the person who receives it can claim ignorance if the police find out. And there are other methods people use to send illegal drugs to other people. The police catch many of these packages. Many of these packages have similar appearances and methods of shipment. Law enforcement also use drug dogs at the shipping facilities to smell packages (particularly those from states where marijuana is now legal). When they find a package that contains illegal drugs, they will attempt a controlled delivery which often consists of a police officer pretending to be a deliveryman and delivering the package to the listed address. Once a person at the address accepts the package, police will come in and make arrests.
In a recent case near Jacksonville, Florida, the police discovered a suspicious package at UPS and decided to investigate. They learned that it was addressed to a fake person. They got a search warrant to open the package and found marijuana inside. One of the police officers disguised himself as a UPS driver and attempted to deliver the package, but no one answered the door. Later, the police knocked on the door to try and interview the resident. As they did so, an individual drove up to the residence. The police detained that individual and asked him questions to see if he was involved with the marijuana package. The police brought a drug dog to the scene and had the dog walk around the person’s vehicle. After alerting to that vehicle, the police searched it and found marijuana and other drugs inside.
The criminal defense lawyer filed a motion to suppress the evidence of the drugs found in the vehicle because the police did not have a legal basis to detain and keep the defendant at the scene. While the defendant did ultimately consent to a search of his car, it was after the detention which the criminal defense attorney argued was illegal. Consent is not voluntary if it is the result of an illegal detention.
The court found that there was not a legitimate basis to detain the defendant at the scene. There was no evidence that he was involved with the marijuana package other than the fact that he showed up at a residence where it was supposed to be delivered. A common legal principle that applies across just about all potential crimes is that mere presence at the scene of criminal activity is not a crime, and it did not give the police a legal basis to believe the defendant was involved in criminal activity in this case. As a result, the evidence of the drugs was thrown out.