Articles Posted in Search and Seizure

In August of this year Yehuda Cohen was arrested for his purported involvement in a drug deal in Weymouth, Massachusetts. His home was searched and police seized cocaine, drug paraphernalia and cash. At that time Cohen was charged with Possession With Intent to Distribute Cocaine, Conspiracy and Distribution of Cocaine. This past weekend Cohen was arrested again. It was reported that an informant tipped police off to the fact that Cohen was still dealing. A search warrant was obtained and executed at Cohen’s home. Apparently all the police found was a small amount of cocaine because he has been charged with Possession and Conspiracy only at this time. However, during the search Cohen’s apparent suppliers Ernesto Arias and Isa Fernandes, both from Brockton arrived with sixty bags of cocaine totaling fifty five grams. Both of them were arrested. They have been charged with Trafficking Cocaine Over 28 Grams. All cases are currently pending in the Quincy District Court.

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Brockton, Massachusetts Drug Dealers Who Arrive To Stock Customer During Raid Get Arrested For Trafficking

Cohen is probably not in as much trouble as the article suggests. Absent a lengthy criminal record people charged with possession of drugs usually do not go to jail. Rather, their cases get dismissed, continued without a finding or a period of probation is imposed. The conspiracy charge in this case will not likely survive. It will be difficult for the police to show that Cohen conspired with Arias and Fernandes. I doubt that either will testify against him. Additionally, Cohen might be able to get all charges dismissed if his lawyer is able to show that the search warrant should not have been issued. The strength of the case against Arias and Fernandes is uncertain given the details in this article. Defense attorneys will look to see where the drugs were found in the car, who owned the car, what interaction the defendants had with the police or Cohen, if any and what facts link these two to the drugs. It would not surprise me to see the charges dismissed as to one of these two defendants.

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Weymouth, Massachusetts police received a tip that cocaine was being delivered to a particular area on a regular basis. Accordingly they watched the location. A drug unit detective observed a suspected drug dealer’s car with two occupants pull up to the address around 8:00 this past Saturday evening. A woman who lived at the address got into the car. The car drove around the block and returned to the original location. Police then stopped the car and made inquiry. The woman, Cherie Kelley confessed to having purchased cocaine from the men. Police then searched the car and found over fifty grams of cocaine and over one thousand dollars cash in the vehicle. The other occupants, Juan Castillo, of Randolph, and Jose Caballero, of Boston were arrested and charged with trafficking cocaine and conspiracy to violate the controlled substances laws. Their cases are now pending in the Quincy District Court.

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Three Face Cocaine Charges In Quincy District Court, One For Possession, Two For Trafficking

Assuming this case was accurately reported there are several defenses that come to mind. The district attorney must show that the police officers had probable cause to stop the car. Picking someone up at her house and driving around the block by itself does not establish probable cause. There has to be much more for this stop to survive a constitutional challenge. If the stop is ruled illegal then the drugs cannot be used as evidence. It is also going to be difficult for the prosecutor to show which one of the two men was in fact responsible for the trafficking. If the drugs were not found in their possession and no physical evidence links them to the drugs there will not be enough evidence to convict them of trafficking.

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Last week police officers from Braintree, Quincy and Randolph were looking for Anthony Bradley after they received a tip that he was selling drugs. The police knew Bradley as he had been arrested in the past for drug charges. As a result of this tip officers observed Bradley, whom they knew had a suspended drivers’ license, pull up to another car. Consequently the police arrested Bradley and searched his vehicle. While doing so they found Oxycontin pills in a make-up container purportedly belonging to his passenger. The female’s purse contained another container in which there were more pills. Bradley has been charged with possession of OxyContin with intent to distribute and conspiracy. He also faces Motor Vehicle Charges for driving with a suspended license. The passenger will also be charged however she was not arrested. The case is being prosecuted in the Quincy District Court.

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Massachusetts Man Stopped And Arrested On Drug Charges To Be Prosecuted In Quincy

Bradley might have difficulty defending the Motor Vehicle Crime however the drug case might not be so difficult. The article suggests that no drugs were found on Bradley nor did the police see him handling at all. The drugs were not remotely in his possession either directly or constructively. There is no evidence showing that Bradley had the intent to sell the drugs. Additionally, there is no evidence establishing that Bradley and his female passenger were conspiring to sell the drugs. Bradley might have a good shot at this case.

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This past Wednesday night police officers in Weymouth, Massachusetts observed someone they knew to be a drug user drive out of a parking lot. They followed the car, saw it stop and then saw someone get in the back seat. The unnamed drug user drove around the block and the other person got out of the car. Police stopped the driver who informed them that he had just purchased Oxycontin pills from the man he had just dropped off. The suspect, William Shores was stopped and found with additional Oxycontin pills. He was charged with Distribution of Oxycontins, Possession With the Intent to Distribute Oxycontins and Conspiracy. The case is pending in the Quincy District Court.

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Drug Charges Filed Against Massachusetts Man Who Was Selling Oxycontins

As to Shores the defense of this case will focus on the legality of the stop of the drug user. Massachusetts Courts have held that police may stop motor vehicles to conduct a threshold inquiry if they have “a reasonable suspicion that the occupants have committed, are committing, or are about to commit a crime.” This suspicion must be based on specific, articulable facts and cannot be based on a hunch. The Supreme Judicial Court held that two young men in a motor vehicle at 4:00 in the morning coupled with the fact that one of the occupants tried to shield his face from the officers did not justify a stop. The facts of this case as more benign and suggest that the Weymouth police had no reason to stop the drug user. From that they could not then use that information to stop and search Shores.

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Cambridge, Massachusetts police arrested Ricky White of Dorchester for dealing cocaine in Central Square last week. According to reports, just after midnight a Cambridge Police Sergeant was on patrol when he noticed White behind the wheel of his idling car. White, who was on his cell phone drove around the block, parked and entered a local housing project. White returned to his car and was followed by the officer. The officer then reported that White failed to use a turn signal and a stop was effectuated. Upon contacting the defendant the officer smelled marijuana and saw a bag of marijuana inside a larger bag in plain view in the car. A search of White and the car followed. Seized in the course of the investigation were Suboxone pills, Vicodin pills, five bags of cocaine totaling twenty five grams, over two thousand dollars cash and some marijuana. White his being charged with trafficking cocaine over fourteen grams, possession with the intent to distribute marijuana, possession with the intent to distribute a Class B substance and more. The case is now pending in the Cambridge District Court however once an indictment issues the case will be prosecuted in the Middlesex County Superior Court in Woburn.

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Dorchester, Massachusetts Man Caught With Marijuana And Cocaine Faces Trafficking Charges In Middlesex County

The defense of this case will center on the legality of the officer’s stop of the vehicle, search of its contents and White and the subsequent seizure of the drugs. Defense attorneys will file a motion to suppress. It will be up to a judge to determine whether or not the officer had probable cause to stop the car and conduct the following search. The credibility of the officer becomes critical at this point. Here is what I see as potential flaws in the prosecution of this case. Obviously the officer had his suspicions of White. He saw him on his cell phone with his car idling. White then drove around and went into the projects for a short visit. To the officer this was suspicious activity. So what did he do? He followed White and looked for him to “slip up”. He then claims that White failed to use a turn signal so he stopped him. Is this true? I mean after all according to the officer White properly operated his car prior to entering the projects without incident. Why then suddenly abandon such caution after supposedly making a drug deal? Then, after the stop the officer detects the smell of marijuana. Come on now. The bag was sealed and inside another bag. White was not charged with operating under the influence of marijuana nor did the officer say that he smelled the odor of burnt marijuana. A good idea in this case for the motion to suppress might be to place the bag of marijuana near the judge at the same distance as it was from the officer when he stopped White. Then see if the judge smells the marijuana during the hearing. I doubt he or she will.

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Last week after receiving complaints about “suspicious activity” Methuen, Massachusetts police began a surveillance in the area of Wheeler Street and Lowell Street. Officers observed a couple of cars arrive and “engage in some sort of transaction”. Believing that they had just witnessed a drug deal the police moved in and arrested twenty two year old Gustavo Baez-Franco. On his possession and in his car the police found eighty eight grams of cocaine and thirty eight grams of heroin. The drugs that were found in the car were located in a hidden part of the console. Nearly four thousand dollars cash were also seized from Baez-Franco. No drugs were found in the other car. The case will initially be prosecuted in the Lawrence District Court and subsequently indicted to the Essex County Superior Court in Salem. The charges will be trafficking heroin and trafficking cocaine.

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Cocaine and Heroin Trafficking Charges Filed Against Massachusetts Man

The defense of this case will rely heavily on a motion to suppress the search of the defendant and the seizure of the drugs the police found as a result. Police are not permitted to act on a hunch that a drug deal was just consummated. They must have reasonable articulable facts that warrant the intrusion. Their actions must meet the Constitutional protections afforded the defendant. Searches like this one are often suppressed. The result of suppression is typically a dismissal of the case.

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On July 8, 2009 Cambridge, Massachusetts Police arrested Manuel Pimentel. He was charged with trafficking cocaine and a school zone violation. According to reports Pimentel was caught in a surveillance effort that originated after complaints for drug activity were reported in a specific part of Cambridge. Here is what happened. Shortly after 6:00 p.m. Pimentel drove into the surveillance area in a minivan. He was seen making a phone call. He then started looking around for someone. A plain clothed detective approached him and identified himself. Pimentel reached towards the center console. Officers then forcibly removed the defendant from the minivan. In the process they located cocaine on the passenger seat in a container. Assorted drug paraphernalia was seized as well.

Cambridge Massachusetts Police Bust Man For Trafficking Cocaine, School Zone Violation

So how is the defendant going to fights this case? A motion to suppress the search would be a nice start. The Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution and Article 14 of the Massachusetts Declaration of Rights prohibit police officers from subjecting individuals to warrantless and unreasonable searches and seizures without probable cause. There are exceptions to the warrant requirement however case law suggest that that does not apply here. In a recent case with facts similar to this one suppression of the evidence resulted. That case, Commonwealth v. Klement, 2007 WL 1079993, 1 (2007) reported that the stop was based on a hunch where a man flagged down a minivan. The minivan slowed and pulled up to him and the man went to the minivan’s passenger side window, leaned in and appeared to speak to the occupants. The police stopped and searched based on a hunch. The United States Supreme Court and the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court have both held “hunches” do not provide a legal basis for searches and seizures. Klement held that the officer was acting on a hunch.

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Just the other day Boston, Massachusetts police arrested Amando Avila, a thirty four man from Newton, Massachusetts. The charges, trafficking more than two hundred grams of heroin. It is alleged that Avila tried to sell two kilograms of pure heroin to an undercover police officer. According to reports Avila’s overall role in heroin trafficking is unknown at this time. He will however stand charged with trafficking and a school zone violation in Suffolk County. The case will no doubt be indicted by a grand jury and prosecuted in the Suffolk County Superior Court.

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Boston Massachusetts Police Make Heroin Arrest, Man Charged With Trafficking, School Zone Violation

Trafficking heroin over 200 grams in Massachusetts is a felony punishable by a minimum mandatory 15 year state prison sentence. The school zone adds another minimum mandatory 2 years to the sentence. If convicted of these charges Avila will have to serve 17 years in a Massachusetts state prison. Here are some of the problems he faces in terms of defending this case. The quantity of heroin is enormous by Massachusetts standards. Two kilo heroin cases are not common in this state. The purity is a major issue. The Boston Police claim that the street value of this seizure is over two hundred thousand dollars. The greater the purity the more likely the substance will be diluted prior to distribution so that the profits of the drug dealers increase. The final street product of the heroin seized would be substantial. It would end up serving a great number of heroin users by the time it was ultimately cut up and sold. Hand to hand sales to undercover officers are very difficult to defend. When these cases are won they are usually done so through motions to suppress. At trial, the only defenses to cases such as this are duress or entrapment. Avila’s lawyers have lots of work ahead of them.

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