When arrested and charged with a crime, a person has to post bail to be released from custody, and agree to abide by certain conditions pending the resolution of their case.
My client was charged with Violation of Conditions of Release based on a search of his apartment, which turned up some marijuana. My client had originally been on bail for a charge of Operating Under the Influence.
The Friday before Memorial Day, 2015, we finally had a suppression hearing in the Operating Under the Influence case. The judge granted our motion. He agreed there was no good reason to stop my client’s motor vehicle and that all of the evidence gathered as a result of the traffic stop was suppressed.
The Tuesday after Memorial Day the State dismisses the Operating Under the Influence. However, the Client was still on bail for two other minor matters. At 9 pm a Lincoln County Sheriff’s Deputy shows up at my client’s apartment in Jefferson. He got a call from Knox County deputy and was asked to go do a bail search. The first room the deputy heads into in the bathroom where he claims to find burned paper and ashes in the toilet (which he doesn’t collect or photograph). He then searches a cabinet (which was empty) in the bathroom and in a cubby hole in the wall inside the cabinet finds a small amount (1.9 grams of marijuana). The deputy doesn’t smell any marijuana in the apartment or on my client. My client denies knowing the marijuana is in the apartment and tells the deputy he only lived there a month. The deputy admits he made a dozen visits to that apartment for calls before my client moved in.
For someone to possess a substance, they must know that it is present or exercise lawful control over it. In other words, if you don’t know it exists you can’t really possess it. I argued to the jury that this wasn’t knowing possession because the officer didn’t smell any marijuana in the air and because the material was found in an area in which my client hadn’t stored any of his personal belongings. The jury deliberated 1.5 hours and found my client not guilty.
The lesson here is that not all cases are as straightforward as they might seem at first glance. Most times when a search pursuant to a lawful bail order is conducted and contraband is found, it is can be very difficult to defend. In this case the State thought they had a rock-solid case and there was no way they could lose. However, a close examination of the facts and the law regarding possession indicated a very clear and logical defense that a jury found very persuasive.
Be informed. Protect yourself. Defend yourself. Call me at NICHOLS & CHURCHILL 207-879-4000 for a free consultation. Or check me out at www.nicholschurchill.com.
Disclaimer: This article is intended to provide general, not specific, information about Maine law. The publication of this article does not constitute an attorney-client relationship between the author(s) and the reader(s).
