Dallas Criminal Defense Lawyer Blog

Good stuff from Reason.TV. Whenever our government masters want more control over our bodies they send out the addiction boogeyman. In reality, addiction hype is just another trojan horse whereby our government offers the convenient liberty for safety trade.

Should the government ban effective pain mediations like Vicodin? Watch this before you decide.

The last 70 years of failure call for a new approach.

DEA Recruits Lil Wayne To Use Up All Drugs In Mexico

You know what America needs, more people in jail on federal drug charges. Why limit the tyranny of cannabis prohibition to Americans? Let's spread Nixon's WOD all over the continent and import Canadians for incarceration! Hope and Change!

Our latest political prisoner in the war on weed is Marc Emery. Marc is a marijuana activist/cannabis seed distributor in Canada. Marc sells marijuana seeds and the Canadian government happily taxes the profits. Marc is the founder of the British Columbia Marijuana Party and a leader in the movement towards cannabis sanity in the Great White North. Marc was recently arrested in Canada, and is awating deportation to America to face a 5 year sentence on federal drug charges.

Marc is being prosecuted for sending cannabis seeds through the US mail. A google search will show you that there are a few dozen operations offering a similar service. Consensual crime enforcement is nothing if not arbitrary and capricious. When millions are breaking the law the government can pick and choose whom to prosecute. While Marc was arrested for conspiracy to distribute his real crime was being an advocate for cannabis reform. Nothing pisses of the DEA mutawas like political dissent.

Think your federal government is above using the criminal justice system to destroy free speecht? This isn't the first time, nor will it be the last.

Pain patients (and providers) are yet another sacrifice to the angry jealous god of Prohibition. Reason.TV hits a home run detailing the ongoing tragedy of those with chronic pain. In order to "sent the right message" to kids we sentence millions of Americans to a lifetime of under treated, or untreated pain.

I've seen a lot of drug cases and represented scores of drug defendants. The legal issues are generally the same- search and seizure, affirmative links, etc. What is always different is the defendant. Drug defendants can be broken down into three categories- addicts, users, and the innocent.

By far, addicts are the most difficult group to represent. Addicts can and do miss court dates (not to mention payments), pick up new cases, dress inappropriately (eg pajamas in court) and lack the mental stamina required for criminal litigation.

By definition addicts are short term thinkers. They see coming to court and worrying about their case as a problem with an easy solution- plead guilty and get probation.

Not so fast. Addicts make horrible probationers. State jails in Texas are a monument to the futility of putting addicts on probation and magically expecting behavior to change.

Probationers may hate their PO, hate doing community service, fall behind on payments, unable to find work, etc. Stress triggers drug use. Community supervision is stressful. Failing drug tests can often lead to a revocation hearing and/or incarceration. The road goes on forever, the party never ends.

I'm a criminal defense lawyer. I solve legal problems. Addiction is a medical issue that requires medical attention. I've had enough CLE on addiction (and viewed enough Intervention episodes) to know this is not an area I can personally assist clients. What I can and do recommend is that all clients with substance abuse issues seek treatment immediately.

The time between arrest and case disposition varies from county to county. In Dallas/Kaufman the average state jail dope case can take anywhere from a few months to nearly two years to finalize. I encourage all drug defendants (except the innocent non user) to use this time to address any addiction problem they may have.

Going to treatment is a win/win for drug defendants. I'm often asked if by defendants if they will "look guilty" if they seek help. My answer is always the same.

SEEKING TREATMENT WILL ONLY HELP YOUR CASE. It's a win/win for the defendant no matter how the case ends.

If your case is going to end in a plea bargain completing treatment helps. Part of plea bargaining is selling the defendant. If my client has completed treatment that will set him/her apart and often leads to better plea offers.

Unlike legal/factual problems which your defense lawyer may or may not share with the State (depending on the case/court/prosecutor the decision to divulge legal/factual issues must be carefully weighed) information about positive change in the defendant's life is always shared.

If your case goes to trial and you win, then completing treatment will help you avoid the rap, and the ride in the future. If your case goes to trial and you lose, then your defense lawyer can put on evidence (at the punishment hearing) that you are addressing your addiction problems head on, rather than waiting for the case to finalize. This can sway a judge/jury to grant a better sentence.

I'm in a jury trial so this will be a short post. But holy shit, this is amazing. A very honest prosecutor had the courage to challenge the War on Drugs on the TDCAA message board. It's a short thread at this point. But the point is made, even prosecutors know this is a failure. I'm assuming B Leonard can be so honest because he is not running for office anytime soon.

Prohibition is the Wizard of Oz. We need to all pay attention to this opinion from behind the curtain.

Here is BLeonard from Fort Worth

BLeonard Member posted 11-05-04 Sometimes it happens this way: I'm scratching out a plea on a case or revocation of one more dope defendant and the fear takes me. We are losing the "war on drugs." More than a decade ago, my father, a former prosecutor himself, told me that my job was to identify the truly bad actors and quarantine them from their prey. As to the rest? Keep them dogies rollin'. I'm not smart enough to know how to handle the drug problem but I can recognize what doesn't work and this is it. We cannot fill our prisons with dopers and allow the predators to roam free. In my view we shouldn't fill the prisons with dopers. And the small voice whispers,"If we did win the war on drugs what would you do all day?" Posts: 747 | From: Fort Worth, TX, USA | Registered: 07-30-02

Now this is Texas, so of course the deviation from prosecutor group think will have some rebutall. The prohibition apologist's response are common fallacies- think of the children, some drug dealers are also pedophiles etc, and we should jail addicts who don't want treatment.

Martha W. Warner Member posted 08-25-09 Drug dealers are dangerous to kids I too had hit the wall with sending drug dealers including college kids without records to prison. Last week I tried a 28 year old man who was providing marihauna to young girls, 13 and 15 year old. While manipulating and having sex multiple times every day with the 15 year old this Defendant who was 22 started molesting her 4 year old sister while everyone was asleep.The 4 yr old also watched them put brown stuff in a paper ,roll it up and smoke it. Afterwards she was told not to tell, "Its their secret" He threatened to kill the child's family if she ever told anyone what he was doing. After being confronted about stealing the Defendant moved out and picked up the cute wild little 13 year old and again had sex every way for about a month and half. He then gets arrested and neither girl saw him again until 4 years later.

Ok. I have a suggestion. If we stopped incarcerating every user and dealer we could focus our criminal justice resources on those who sell drugs to children. We have it backwards right now. We arrest all drug users and providers because some may be child rapists. Why not focus on the predators? If cops weren't so busy arresting for every dime bag they find, we could better use our limited criminal justice resources.

Not content with the recent domination of the US in soccer Mexico is also winning the race to embrace freedom, liberty, and drug war sanity. What caused Mexico to embrace a common sense approach to personal drug use instead of maintaining a US style "tuff-on-crime" approach?

Police corruption played a big part. In Mexico being a drug addict was a defense to possession of small quantities of drugs. Ergo, simple possession cases were rarely prosecuted after arrest. Meanwhile Mexican LEOs made great money shaking down users for cash.

We have a similar system in America. We waste billions prosecuting simple possession cases across our country. The State Jail system in Texas is a monument to this perpetual failure.

American LEOs are usually bribed by dealers not addicts (at least the ones that get caught are). Consensual crime enforcement has always been synonmous with corruption. In America we ignore these drug war exteranlities or blame them on users. The truth is that corruption and violence are the inevitable result of Prohibition.

From the Associated Press-

Mexico decriminalizes small-scale drug possession By MARK STEVENSON (AP) – 2 hours ago MEXICO CITY — Mexico decriminalized small amounts of marijuana, cocaine and heroin on Friday — a move that prosecutors say makes sense even in the midst of the government's grueling battle against drug traffickers...

The new law sets out maximum "personal use" amounts for drugs, also including LSD and methamphetamine. People detained with those quantities no longer face criminal prosecution.
Espino del Castillo says, in practice, small users almost never did face charges anyway. Under the previous law, the possession of any amount of drugs was punishable by stiff jail sentences, but there was leeway for addicts caught with smaller amounts.
"We couldn't charge somebody who was in possession of a dose of a drug, there was no way ... because the person would claim they were an addict," he said.
Despite the provisions, police sometimes hauled in suspects and demanded bribes, threatening long jail sentences if people did not pay.
"The bad thing was that it was left up to the discretion of the detective, and it could open the door to corruption or extortion," Espino del Castillo said.
Anyone caught with drug amounts under the new personal-use limit will be encouraged to seek treatment, and for those caught a third time treatment is mandatory.
The maximum amount of marijuana for "personal use" under the new law is 5 grams — the equivalent of about four joints. The limit is a half gram for cocaine, the equivalent of about 4 "lines." For other drugs, the limits are 50 milligrams of heroin, 40 milligrams for methamphetamine and 0.015 milligrams for LSD.

On a side note- I'm going to Mexico in 3 weeks for a much needed vacation. I'll report back on whether this common sense measure turns Mexico into Sodom overnight. My guess, those in Mexico who wanted to use drugs and marijuana, were already using them. Maybe I'm wrong and everyone will be smoking crack when I arrive, but I doubt it.

From the Drug Policy Foundation-

A recent World Health Organization study on cocaine came back with these findings, inter alia,

By far the most popular use of coca products worldwide is the snorting of cocaine hydrochloride. Most participating countries and sites did not report significant cocaine-related problems among this group of users.

and

Health problem; from the use of legal substances, particularly alcohol and tobacco, are greater than health problems from cocaine use. Few experts describe cocaine as invariably harmful to health. Cocaine-related problems are widely perceived to be more common and more severe for intensive, high-dosage users and very rare and much less severe for occasional, low-dosage users.

This isn't that surprising. Coca cola anyone? Barack Obama and countless other successful individuals have used a little blow at some point in their lives (W can't remember). Most users do not end up like Chris Rock in New Jack City. The WHO report adovcates a harm reducation approach instead of the American lock em up by the thousands approach.

Anyone care to guess how our US government reacted to this WHO report? Basically, the feds threatened to pack up their toys and leave unless WHO distances themselves from the findings and adopts our country's cocaine hysteria propaganda.

"The United States Government considered that, if WHO activities relating to drugs failed to reinforce proven drug control approaches, funds for the relevant programmes should be curtailed. In view of the gravity of the matter, he asked the Director-General for an assurance that WHO would dissociate itself from the conclusions of the study and that, in substance abuse activities, an approach would not be adopted that could be used to justify the continued production of coca."

The War on Drugs, where Ignorance is Strength.

Polka Fest 09-
This weekend is the annual Ennis Polka Festival. I'll be at the KJT (Katolická Jednota Texaská) Saturday night (around 8ish) to see the Czechaholics and Brave Combo.

Come to Ennis and experience this one of a kind polkapalooza. Most of the polka dances can be accomplished with a slight variation of the country two step (quick, quick, slow, or something like that). No problem for most people to pick up. However, I largely rely on my wife to count the steps out loud while we are dancing. If NHTSA ever adopts the two step as a field sobriety test I"ll quit driving because I would fail every time.

DMN on DWI-
I'm not surprised that the various DMN "blogs" take a less objective journalism tone and adopt the informal blogger style. However, this DWI blood draw post seems to have been written by MADD. I've never seen such enthusiasm for blood tyranny before outside of MADD.

If you get pulled over for drunken driving this Memorial Day weekend, don't bother refusing to blow. Dallas police are gonna get a warrant for bulletproof evidence - your alcohol-laced blood. And they'll take it whether you like it or not.

First, "don't bother refusing to blow" is some pretty blunt legal advise. The decision to blow or not is complicated with legal and factual considerations. The kind of decision we used to allow defendants to make with counsel.

For example, in deciding to blow or not you should be aware that we still don't know what kind of software the Texas breath machine uses. Should we believe that our breath machine software is any less flawed than the Alcotest? Certain medical conditions can affect a breath score, as well as breath temperature. Should you blow or not? Depends, ask a lawyer, not a journalist.

Second, blood is only "bulletproof evidence" if you don't know anything about blood testing, or evidence. Blood tests are complicated and require precision in every step or the results will be corrupted. Precise scientific evidence and law enforcement don't always mix.

Also, just because a blood result is over .08 does not mean that the driver was over .08 when driving. We allow the make believe science of retrograde extrapolation to make that leap, but it's far from "bulletproof."

Finally, "take your blood whether you like it or not"? That sentence says a lot about the current state of DWI hysteria. We've gone GITMO on DWI suspects. You have no rights, and DPD has their needles ready.

Pot leads to crack and death says FBI director
Forcing our bureaucrats to advocate such ridiculous positions in public makes us all look bad. I'm sure this Robert Mueller guy is embarrassed and having to promote this idiocy. We should legalize pot if for no other reason than to end the public humiliation of our bureaucrats.

This must be some kind of secret federal government hazing ritual. Mr. Mueller is the pledge and before he gets a cabinet level position he has to get "punk'd" in front of Congress to show his loyalty. That makes more sense than his idea that we should treat pot like crack.

Thank you sir, may I have another!

I have discovered the precise formula to measure the outrage felt by liberty minded individuals over a news event regarding government malfeasance.

EA x SOL= $#@!

EA= the enforcement action taken by the government. Basically, what means are used to achieve the government's goal. The lower end would of this scale would be public service announcements, at the higher end waterboarding at GITMO.

SOL= Stupidity of law. How stupid is the law being enforced? My feelings about consensual crimes are well known. At the low end of this scale would be crimes with actual victims, the higher end would include malum prohibitum offenses. The highest score would probably be revenue generation "crimes" like truancy enforcement.

$#@! is the outrage felt by people who value liberty, privacy, freedom etc.

This video would probably achieve one of the highest values possible (until we send a DISD truant to GITMO).

Visit SWATReform.org to find out how to help.

Kaufman is the county east of Dallas. Kaufman county is served by three major east-west highways; I-20, 175, and I-80. These highways see a steady flow of Dallas commuters, locals driving to Dallas and back for entertainment, Shreveport gamblers, and drug couriers. Basically, money comes from the east to Dallas, drugs flow out of Dallas towards Atlanta.

Kaufman law enforcement officers (LEO) dutifully carry on the futile sysiphean quest of highway drug interdiction. KC LEOs regularly intercept drug couriers and most of the cases shape up the same way. Let's look at the similarities.

Dirty license plates and out of state plates
LEO only needs reasonable suspicion of any traffic violation before pulling a driver over. The pretext stop classic in KC is the dirty license plate light. If you are driving with Louisiana plates I'd suggest you check your license plate light before entering Kaufman county.

What were you doing in Dallas?
Kaufman LEOs know that Dallas is the the Sam's Wholesale club of narcotics. If you are on a quick one or two day trip to Dallas the cops are going to assume you are riding dirty.

In Texas you are under no obligation to share travel plans with police. It's always better to shut up than ramble on. If the driver has any criminal history LEO won't believe the story anyway. Popular reasons for Dallas travel are job interviews and family functions. If you are going to tell the police you went to a family reunion over the weekend but you don't have any luggage in the car that raises a red flag.

Sit down and shut up
LEO can smell fear. Cops equate nervousness with guilt. If a suspect is over talking, has shaking hands, or gets out of the car before the police walk up it's usually downhill from there.

The Consent Search
Once LEO hears your lame ass trip to Dallas story and sees your hands shaking he will move in for the kill- the consent search request. I've written about this ad naseum. Here is the cliffs notes version- never, ever, give LEO permission to search your car.

Fresh angles are hard to come by in the blogging era. Just when I thought there weren't any new ways to comment on the legalization debate, this video came out.

Everything does sounds better auto tuned. Wait for the second segment in this video, after gay marriage, before Angry Gorilla.

Brilliant. H/T to The Agitator.

Here is a shocking video from MPP. The field drug tests used by police around the country are wildly inaccurate leading to false arrests. I can't say I was shocked by these results.

An open records request I filed last year found over 500 cases over a two year period in Dallas county in which a suspected was arrested for drug possession and lab tests proved the substance was not drugs. Undoubtedly, these cheap field tests were used in some of these cases.

Here is an idea. How about a presumption that a substance is not drugs until proven in a quality controlled run by real scientists (not cops) using real equipment? Or maybe a presumption that a suspect is innocent? Nah, those measures would "send the wrong message" to kids. Onward Prohibition!

Dallas law enforcement is concerned about border/Phoenix levels of drug cartel violence coming to the Metroplex. I'm usually one to knock law enforcement fear mongering, especially when it comes to drugs. However, the rash of kidnappings in Phoenix shows that Mexican drug cartels will fight for turf in the US.

From DMN-

So far, the only thing that has kept the Gulf cartel from using its brazen tactics in Texas is a fear of attracting too much attention, said James Capra, special agent in charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration office in Dallas.

"The propensity for violence in dealing with these trafficking groups is huge," he said. "We hear daily about things like beheadings, heinous torture, that we are not used to seeing domestically. Are we going to start seeing that here? That's the fear."

Also of concern was the November discovery of the largest cache of drug cartel weaponry ever seized in Mexico – just south of the border. In Reynosa, across the river from McAllen and Pharr, Mexican authorities found 540 assault rifles, more than 500,000 rounds of ammunition, 14 cartridges of dynamite, 98 fragmentation grenades, 67 bullet-proof vests, seven .50-caliber sniper rifles and an anti-tank rocket.

I'm hoping the DMN editorial board reads this story. For too long they have engaged in knee jerk Prohibition apologetics, and a Pollyannish quest to shame each user into giving up drugs (how's that working?). I would implore DMN to consider a new approach.

Mexican drug cartels can only afford to wage a bloody turf war because our government has given them a multi billion dollar monopoly to fight with, and to fight over. It's time to quit blaming drug users for the problems caused by drug suppliers. Instead, we should accept that our government has chosen the wrong supplier.

Only three entities can provide the drugs Americans want- government, business, or organized crime. We've stuck with the third option for nearly 100 years now.Instead of admitting failure and rectifying a policy mistake, we have watched Mexico become a narco state.

Albert Einstein opined that insanity was "doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”

You don't have to be Einstein to realize our government's drug war is a grand delusion perpetuated by histrionics, vested interests, and wanton hubris. If this is really the time for Change, let's start by changing suppliers.

Two great stories from DMN. First, the number of executions in Texas decreased from 27 in 2007 to 18 in 2008. What's the cause of the 30% reduction in government killing? DMN attributes the enormous cost of death cases, a zealous defense bar, new sentencing options, and the decreasing number of murders.

From DMN-

Executions nationwide and in Texas were down in 2008. So were death sentences. The numbers don't lie – but not everyone agrees on what they say. Defense attorneys think the statistics indicate a waning enthusiasm in the Lone Star State, the death penalty capital of the country, for the ultimate sanction. Also Online Link: Texas Department of Criminal Justice schedule of executions "It has taken a little longer for the transformation to be felt here," said Rob Owen, co-director of the Capital Punishment Clinic at the University of Texas at Austin. "I think we are seeing the leading edge of that national transformation." "> Executions nationwide and in Texas were down in 2008. So were death sentences.

The numbers don't lie – but not everyone agrees on what they say.

Defense attorneys think the statistics indicate a waning enthusiasm in the Lone Star State, the death penalty capital of the country, for the ultimate sanction.

"It has taken a little longer for the transformation to be felt here," said Rob Owen, co-director of the Capital Punishment Clinic at the University of Texas at Austin. "I think we are seeing the leading edge of that national transformation."...

The 18 executions that took place in Texas in 2008 occurred in the last half of the year, following a decision by the U.S. Supreme Court that had temporarily halted capital punishment. And 13 executions have been scheduled in the next nine weeks.

Some sad comments follow including calls for speedy public executions. I'll got out on a limb and assume the execution zealots have limited contact with the criminal justice system.

Why should you oppose the death penalty? I'll skip the religious/moral debate on killing defendants. Our government is too corrupt and incompetent to administer something so permanent. The DNA exoneration parade confirms that our criminal justice is not only fallible, but that wrongful convictions are a certainty. Until we provide some basic protections for all criminal defendants, say some sort of bill providing rights for the accused, the state has no business killing anyone.

Politicians of the Year- El Paso City Council
No doubt inspired by my Einstein quote, the El Paso city council passed a bold resolution this week. The unanimous measure calls for a discussion on the possibility of changing federal drg policy. El Paso is hardly a fringe libertarian hotbed. The narco civil war at their doorstep, including 1,600 murders in Juarez in 2008, is the inspiration for change.

Luckily for drug warriors, the asshat mayor vetoed the measure. Status quo protected. Our federal government continues to fiddle while Mexico burns. Supplying American drug demand is so profitable, that drug cartels have billions to spend on a bloody power struggle. Demand creates supply. We can choose a new supplier (government, free market, Pfizer, CVS, Canada) at any time.

From DMN

Concerns about the bloody drug war being fought just across the Mexican border led to a short-lived resolution Tuesday asking the federal government to consider legalizing drugs.

Mayor John Cook vetoed the resolution hours after it was unanimously approved by the City Council.

Beto O'Rourke, an El Paso city councilman, pushed the resolution that asked the U.S. government to start an "open, honest, national dialogue on ending the prohibition of narcotics."

"We think it should at least be on the table and so far it hasn't," O'Rourke said.

Stuff White People Like
I have to admit I'm guilty as charged on a few of these.

Via the Agitator via nevergetbusted.com.
Regardless of how you view the drug war, we should all applaud efforts to rid the criminal justice system of corrupt law enforcement. That's what makes this story so significant. Until now the libertarian/anti drug war movement has been reactionary; waiting for news to happen and responding. Now those who value freedom have the tools to set up traps for the police. This should make great reality television.

From nevergetbusted.com-

It's called an informant plant. The Odessa narcotics unit illegally compelled an informant to plant drugs on Yolanda Madden. The informant testified in federal court he planted the drugs on her and he passed a polygraph confirming the same. Yolanda also passed a polygraph along with a hair follicle and urine test. Our broken criminal justice system ignored the evidence and railroaded her through court sentencing her to 8 years in prison.

Her father hired KopBusters, a new reality show produced by NeverGetBusted, whereby Barry and Candi along with their detectives set up stings across America to catch crooked Kops.

KopBusters rented a house in Odessa, Texas and began growing two small Christmas trees under a grow light similar to those used for growing marijuana. When faced with a suspected marijuana grow, the police usually use illegal FLIR cameras and/or lie on the search warrant affidavit claiming they have probable cause to raid the house. Instead of conducting a proper investigation which usually leads to no probable cause, the Kops lie on the affidavit claiming a confidential informant saw the plants and/or the police could smell marijuana coming from the suspected house.

The trap was set and less than 24 hours later, the Odessa narcotics unit raided the house only to find KopBuster's attorney waiting under a system of complex gadgetry and spy cameras that streamed online to the KopBuster's secret mobile office nearby.

The attorney was handcuffed and later released when eleven KopBuster detectives arrived with the media in tow to question the illegal raid. The police refused to give KopBusters the search warrant affidavit which is suspected to contain the lies regarding the probable cause.

The team of eleven freedom fighters wore red "Free Yolanda" shirts as they clashed with the police demanding answers for the illegal raid and the drug plant. The police would not comment but later stated they were trying to charge KopBusters with a crime.

I've met Barry Cooper. He is one of the most interesting and entertaining personalities in marijuana reform. Whereas some view his self promotion as detrimental to his credibility, I believe he is sincere about changing our nation's obscene marijuana laws.

His Never Get Busted videos generated a lot of media coverage and presented an easy to digest media story (Ex Cop Shows How To Hide Drugs!! Story at Nine!!). Unfortunately, this undercover work is a bit more complicated and therefore has not generated as much media attention. I couldn't find a story on the Odessa newspaper's website.

Finally, without more information there's no reason to believe that there must be dishonesty or corruption behind this search. It could be old fashioned incompetence. I hope the media pays attention and stays with this story. The police can only keep this search warrant hidden for so long. Eventually, the truth has to come out.

DCDLA Christmas Party
The Dallas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association Xmas party was tonight at Pappadeux on Oak Lawn. My only complaint was that there were only two food options; fried and dessert. I pitched my open records project to more people than probably wanted to hear about it. One more time- If you are a defense lawyer with a collection of useful open records let me know. I'm working on a database of open records for TCDLA.

Happy Prohibition Day!
75 years ago our forefathers were wise enough to end the disaster of alcohol Prohibition. LEAP is celebrating, The Agitator has noted the holiday.

To celebrate I had court today for a state jail felony possession drug case. If Texas law had a monument to the drug war it would be the state jail felony.

State jail felony drug cases are used for possession less than a gram of meth, crack, etc. Years ago the lege decided we should get tough on drugs and create a special jail for small time dope cases. State jail cases carried a minimum sentence of 6 months with no possibility of parole.

Guess what happened? State jails quickly filled up with addicts and costs spiraled out of control. The lege should have accepted defeat and made these misdemeanor offenses. In a small nod to reality most state jail felony defendants today are required to be put on probation. Prosecutors are also allowed to sentence these defendants to misdemeanor punishment (county jail time, saves the state money).

The police pull you over and find a suspicious white powder in your car. You swear this powder is for your athlete's foot. The police believe this powder is cocaine.

You are booked into jail. Bail is set at $25,000. The powder is sent to the DPS lab for further testing. You spend two weeks in jail but the DPS lab report comes back negative. Vindicated, you leave jail, short two weeks of life you will never get back.

Think that never happens? You must not practice criminal defense in Texas.

A similar situation with a client led me to file an open records request with DPS. I asked for documentation of cases in which "drugs" were sent to the DPS lab, tested, and found not to be drugs. Here is a copy of my email I sent to the DPS Public Information Office. (To learn how to send your own Open Records Request, click here).

Please accept this email as an open records requests.

Please send all documentation of DPS lab drug testing in which a substance turned out not to be a controlled substance (including marijuana). Please send all offense/arrest reports for these cases.

Please include Dallas and Kaufman County. Please limit this request to cases from 1/1/2006.

I would also like any training manual for testing controlled substances in the field, and DPS lab testing of substances.

I received 62 cases from Kaufman County, and over 500 from Dallas County!! I am still awaiting the police reports on these cases.

Questions I have-
Were these substances all field tested? Were those field tests positive?
Did the suspects tell the police these were not drugs? Did the cops ignore these pleas?
How long did these suspects sit in jail? What was bail set at?
How many of these tests were for marijuana? In Texas, the police can testify that a substance is marijuana. For other drugs, a lab test is required to confirm the substance is narcotics.

Finally, whenever Dallasnews.com does a story on the horrible conditions in the Dallas jail, there are always a few comments on the lines of "Don't break the law, and you won't go to jail!" I wonder what these people would say to the 500 people arrested in these cases?

I'll update as the story progresses.

Texas' Drug Free Zone (DFZ) law is a testament to the failure of Prohibition. If our drug war worked special laws to keep drugs out of certain areas wouldn't be necessary. But I digress.

So what is a Drug Free Zone?
Basically in, on, or within 1,000 feet of premises owned, rented, or leased by an institution of higher learning, the premises of a public or private youth center, or a playground; or in, on, or within 300 feet of the premises of a public swimming pool or video arcade facility or on a school bus.

The DFZ fantasy is that cops are busting drug dealers who prey on innocent school children. In my experience most DFZ charges are brought against adults with a joint in their car 900 feet away from a prohibited area. Local cops quickly learn which roads are in a DFZ, and adjust their traffic stop/fishing for drugs activity accordingly.

What happens to a DFZ case?
This is fairly complicated. Basically, the punishments are increased. More jail time, probation can be denied, sentences can be stacked. Read this great article from TDCAA for more info.

Wait a minute, this law would make every college a drug free zone. I've been to college and it's no drug free zone.
Good observation. Since most legislators went to college, and/or have kids in college, some DFZ provisions don't apply to college campuses. For example, simple marijuana possession on a college campus doesn't fall under the DFZ law.

Cindy McCain is speaking tonite at the Republican Convention. Her husband John is the GOP presidential nominee. John is anadvocate for federal prosecution of medical marijuana patients.

Cindy is an ex addict who allegedly stole prescription drugs from a charity she worked at. Fortunately for Cindy she had an excellent defense to federal prosecution; her husband is John McCain.

Unfortunately thousands of other addicts who are not John McCain's wife are arrested and incarcerated every year.